''Ninox'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

true owl The true owls or typical owls (family (biology), family Strigidae) are one of the two generally accepted families of owls, the other being the barn owls and bay owls (Tytonidae). This large family comprises 230 living or recently extinct species ...

s comprising 36 species found in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

. Many species are known as hawk-owls or boobooks, but the

northern hawk-owl The northern hawk-owl or northern hawk owl (''Surnia ulula'') is a medium-sized true owl of the northern latitudes. It is non-migratory and usually stays within its breeding range, though it sometimes irrupts southward. It is one of the few owl ...

(''Surnia ulula'') is not a member of this genus.

Taxonomy

The genus was introduced by English naturalist

Brian Houghton Hodgson Brian Houghton Hodgson (1 February 1801 – 23 May 1894) was a pioneer natural history, naturalist and ethnologist working in India and Nepal where he was a British Resident (title), Resident. He described numerous species of birds and mammals fr ...

in 1837 with the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

as ''Ninox nipalensis'', a

junior synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

of ''Strix lugubris'' Tickell 1833. ''Strix lugubris'' is now considered a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of the

brown boobook The brown boobook (''Ninox scutulata''), also known as the brown hawk-owl, is an owl which is a resident breeder in south Asia from India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal east to western Indonesia and south China. This species is a part o ...

(''Ninox scutula lugubris''). NinoxFuscaSquamipilaKeulemans

Species

The genus contains 37 species: *†

Laughing owl The laughing owl (''Ninox albifacies''), also known as ''whēkau'', the laughing jackass, or the white-faced owl, is an Extinction, extinct species of owl that was Endemism, endemic to New Zealand. Plentiful when European settlers arrived in Ne ...

, ''Ninox albifacies'' (extinct) *

Rufous owl The rufous owl (''Ninox rufa''), also known as the rufous boobook, is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It was described in 1846 by John Gould, an English ornithologist. Its common name reflects the rufous-coloured feathers that these ...

, ''Ninox rufa'' *

Powerful owl The powerful owl (''Ninox strenua''), a species of owl native to south-eastern and eastern Australia, is the largest owl on the continent. It is found in coastal areas and in the Great Dividing Range, rarely more than inland. The IUCN Red List ...

, ''Ninox strenua'' *

Barking owl The barking owl or barking boobook (''Ninox connivens''), also known as the winking owl, is a nocturnal bird species native to mainland Australia and parts of New Guinea and the Moluccas. They are a medium-sized brown owl and have a characteris ...

, ''Ninox connivens'' *

Sumba boobook The Sumba boobook (''Ninox rudolfi'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is endemic to Sumba in the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tropical moist lowl ...

, ''Ninox rudolfi'' *

Australian boobook The Australian boobook (''Ninox boobook''), is a species of owl native to mainland Australia, southern New Guinea, the island of Timor, and the Sunda Islands. Described by John Latham (ornithologist), John Latham in 1801, it was generally consid ...

, ''Ninox boobook'' * Rote boobook ''Ninox rotiensis'' *

Timor boobook The Timor boobook (''Ninox fusca'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is found on Timor, Roma, Leti (island), Leti and Semau Islands in the eastern Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia. It has a more grey-brown plumage with no red tin ...

''Ninox fusca'' *

Alor boobook The Alor boobook (''Ninox plesseni'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is native to Pantar and Alor Islands in the eastern Lesser Sunda Islands. It was previously considered a subspecies of the Southern Bobook, before being re ...

, ''Ninox plesseni'' *

Tasmanian boobook The Tasmanian boobook (''Ninox leucopsis''), also known as the Tasmanian spotted owl, is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is native to Tasmania. Formerly considered conspecific with the morepork (''N. novaeseelandiae''), phylogenetic ...

, ''Ninox leucopsis'' *

Morepork The morepork (''Ninox novaeseelandiae''), better known as the morepork owl, and also known by numerous other onomatopoeic names (such as boobook, mopoke or ruru), is a smallish, brown owl species found in New Zealand, and to the northwest, on No ...

, ''Ninox novaeseelandiae'' *

Northern boobook The northern boobook (''Ninox japonica'') belongs to the family Strigidae (true owls) and is a raptorial owl endemic to eastern and southern countries of Asia. The species was considered, until recently, a conspecific of ''Ninox scutulata'' or b ...

, ''Ninox japonica'' *

Brown boobook The brown boobook (''Ninox scutulata''), also known as the brown hawk-owl, is an owl which is a resident breeder in south Asia from India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal east to western Indonesia and south China. This species is a part o ...

, ''Ninox scutulata'' * Hume's boobook, ''Ninox obscura'' *

Chocolate boobook The chocolate boobook (''Ninox randi'') is a bird species in the true owl family, Strigidae. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the brown boobook. It was formerly thought to be endemic to the Philippines until it was heard and rec ...

, ''Ninox randi'' *

Andaman boobook The Andaman boobook or Andaman hawk-owl (''Ninox affinis'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is endemic to the Andaman Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical man ...

, ''Ninox affinis'' *

Philippine hawk-owl The Philippine hawk-owl is a species complex of owls in the genus ''Ninox''. They are all endemic to the Philippines. Systematics and taxonomy There are seven known species: * Luzon boobook (''Ninox philippensis'') ** '' Ninox philippensis cen ...

group **

Luzon boobook The Luzon boobook or Luzon hawk owl (''Ninox philippensis''), also Philippine hawk owl or Philippine boobook, is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is endemic to the Philippines where it lives in forests. It is a brown and white mottle ...

, ''Ninox philippensis'' **

Mindanao boobook The Mindanao boobook or Mindanao hawk-owl (''Ninox spilocephala'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae that is endemic to the Philippines on the island of Mindanao. It was previously known as a subspecies of the Philippine hawk-owl, but ...

, ''Ninox spilocephala'' **

Camiguin boobook The Camiguin boobook or Camiguin hawk-owl (''Ninox leventisi'') is an owl species resident to the Camiguin island in the Philippines. It is the only owl in the country with greenish-yellow or grayish eyes. It was previously known as a subspecie ...

, ''Ninox leventisi'' **

Sulu boobook The Sulu boobook or Sulu hawk-owl (''Ninox reyi'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is endemic to the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines. It was previously known as a subspecies of the Philippine hawk-owl, but was reclassified i ...

, ''Ninox reyi'' ** Cebu boobook, ''Ninox rumseyi'' **

Romblon boobook The Romblon boobook or Romblon hawk-owl (''Ninox spilonotus''), is a species of owl in the family Strigidae that is endemic to the Philippines. It is only found on the islands of Tablas Island, Tablas, Sibuyan Island, Sibuyan and Romblon Island, ...

, ''Ninox spilonotus'' **

Mindoro boobook The Mindoro boobook or Mindoro hawk-owl (''Ninox mindorensis'') is a species of owl in the family Strigidae that is endemic to the Philippines. Description EBird describes the bird as "A fairly small owl of lowland and foothill forest and woodl ...

, ''Ninox mindorensis'' * Least boobook, ''Ninox sumbaensis'' * Togian boobook, ''Ninox burhani'' * Ochre-bellied boobook, ''Ninox ochracea'' * Cinnabar boobook, ''Ninox ios'' *

Moluccan boobook The Moluccan boobook or Moluccan hawk-owl group (''Ninox'' spp.), are a group of owls in the family Strigidae. They are found in Indonesia. Once consider a single species, the four species are now considered part of a species complex. Natural ha ...

group ** Halmahera boobook, ''Ninox hypogramma'' ** Buru boobook, ''Ninox hantu'' ** Seram boobook, ''Ninox squamipila'' **

Tanimbar boobook The Tanimbar boobook, or Tanimbar hawk-owl (''Ninox forbesi''), is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is found in the Tanimbar Islands of Indonesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatene ...

, ''Ninox forbesi'' *

Christmas boobook The Christmas boobook (''Ninox natalis''), also known as the Christmas hawk owl, Christmas Island boobook or Christmas Island hawk owl, is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. Closely related to the hawk-owls of genus ''Ninox'', which occur ...

, ''Ninox natalis'' * Manus boobook, ''Ninox meeki'' *

Papuan boobook The Papuan boobook (''Ninox theomacha''), jungle boobook or jungle hawk owl, is a medium-sized, dark-colored owl. It has a dark gray-brown facial disk with lighter colored eyebrows, sooty or chocolate underparts, and mainly dark gray wings. It li ...

, ''Ninox theomacha'' *

Speckled boobook The speckled boobook or speckled hawk owl (''Ninox punctulata''), also called the Oriental hawk-owl, is a small owl at . It is a reddish-brown hawk-owl with a white-spotted head, back and wings, a white throat patch, black facial disk, dark brow ...

, ''Ninox punctulata'' * New Britain boobook, ''Ninox odiosa'' * New Ireland boobook, ''Ninox variegata'' Genomic studies of the extinct

laughing owl The laughing owl (''Ninox albifacies''), also known as ''whēkau'', the laughing jackass, or the white-faced owl, is an Extinction, extinct species of owl that was Endemism, endemic to New Zealand. Plentiful when European settlers arrived in Ne ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

indicate that it actually belongs in ''Ninox'' rather than the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus ''Sceloglaux''. The

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

owls ''"Otus" wintershofensis'' and ''"Strix" brevis'', both from the Early or Middle

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

of Wintershof, Germany, are close to this genus; the latter was sometimes explicitly placed in ''Ninox'' (Olson 1985), but is now in '' Intutula''. ''"Strix" edwardsi'' from the Late Miocene of La Grive St. Alban, France, might also belong into this group.

In human culture

*"NINOX" is an Australian Army project to develop

night-vision goggles A night-vision device (NVD), also known as a night optical/observation device (NOD) or night-vision goggle (NVG), is an optoelectronic device that allows visualization of images in low levels of light, improving the user's night vision. The ...

; it is named after ''Ninox strenua.''

References

*Olson, Storrs L. (1985): IX.C. Strigiformes. ''In:'' Farner, D.S.; King, J.R. & Parkes, Kenneth C. (eds.): ''Avian Biology'' 8: 129–132. Academic Press, New York.

Taxonomy

Species

In human culture

References

Further reading