Like most New
Zealanders I am well familiar with the distinctive call of the little native
owl, Ruru, which floats out of the darkness at night demanding a second
serving of the Sunday roast like the ghost of a hungry child.
However, it was only a
few years ago I got a really good look at the bird, known more commonly
as the morepork, which is responsible for the sound.
At the time of our close
encounter, I was helping to release grey-faced petrel back into the wild.
I had just launched one of the sea birds into the night sky when out of
the corner of my eye I saw a small missile flying through the air and the
very next moment the petrel was knocked to the ground.
Although the morepork
was only half the size of the petrel, I think she would have tried to make
a meal of the larger sea bird if we had not been standing around. But instead
she glowered at us from the nearest tree with her huge yellow eyes allowing
us plenty of time to examine her as she scrutinised us back.
While grey-faced petrel
are not a normal part of a morepork diet, the small owls do occasionally
eat larger animals which are torn apart with their small but razor-sharp
hooked beak.
The morepork menu more
usually includes moths and beetles caught on the wing as well as small
animals such as mice, baby rats, lizards and birds usually no larger than
themselves.
This type of prey is commonly
eaten whole with indigestible bits like the bones and feathers being regurgitated
in a sausage shaped pellet from the mouth.
All owls have been designed
by nature as superb hunting machines with the particular intention of operating
at night. The plumage of an owl is exceptionally soft with softened feather
edges which enable the birds to fly silently through the air so that they
can approach their prey without warning. Owls have excellent hearing with
their disc-shaped faces designed to direct the slightest sound to the large
ear openings. In addition, owls have very flexible necks which can rotate
270 degrees to look for prey from every possible angle and large shining
eyes designed for optimum binocular vision in low intensity light.
Talking of large shining
eyes, Ruru is an important part of Maori mythology and tradition.
For example, many of the carved figures seen on Maori meeting houses have
had their eyes modeled on Ruru and when performing the war dances of the
haka and the pukana the glaring looks from the Maori warriors are also
imitating the fiery little owl.
It is hardly surprising
that, in Maori mythology, Ruru which hunts by night on silent wings and
has a melancholy hooting call, is associated with the spirit world. In
fact the special ancestral spirit of a family group is thought to take
the form of Ruru. Known as Hine-ruru, the "owl woman", Maori traditionally
believed that these owl guardians had the power to, protect, warn and advise.
According to such beliefs,
the presence of a morepork sitting in a conspicuous place nearby, knocking
on a window or even entering the house signifies a death the family
while the high piercing call of the morepork is thought to herald bad news
and the ordinary call to indicate good news on the way.
There is a lot of good
news going on around New Zealand today as Ruru is widespread. The morepork
call is said to be the most common native animal sound heard at night.
While archeological evidence
suggests that the now common morepork was scarce before the time of human
occupation in Aotearoa, elsewhere in its natural distribution range it
is not faring so well.
A bird known as the boobook
which lives in Australia was originally thought to be the same species
as the New Zealand morepork but recent research has suggests this species
is actually slightly larger than the New Zealand version.
The boobook on Norfolk
Island which is also known as the morepork is one of three sub species
of the Australian bird. In 1987 the sub species was down to only one female
but with the help of two New Zealand morepork males the population is now
well into the double figures.
