Morepork / Ruru

I heard a Morepork (or Ruru in Maori) a couple of mornings ago. The time was between 5 - 5:30am and it was the first bird of the morning. It sounded close enough to be on our property.   I can't recall having heard a Morepork in this district before.  It's definitely the first time I have heard one while living on this property and we've been here for 9 years.  But then this district doesn't have a lot of bush left.  There are only a few isolated pockets around the place.

When I was a child and living in Akatarawa we used to hear them all the time as we were surrounded by bush.  We used to try track them down by their call to see if we could see them.  Occasionally we succeeded.  Usually they would be silhouetted against the sky half way up a Black Beech tree or something similar.

You can listen to the Morepork's distinctive call here. 

The image on the right has been shamelessly linked from the Forest and Bird Weblog.   The call comes courtesy of Kiwi Wildlife Tours.