The South Island Laughing Owl, as its name implies, was found on the southern main islands of New Zealand.
The species reached a size of about 32 cm; it is also known as whēkau, which is one of its Maori names, or as White-faced Owl.
Originally, the South Island Laughing Owl fed on birds and especially on geckos and skinks, whose subfossil remains still can be found at former roost sites, after the arrival of human settlers it also took mice and rats, and actually there exists at least one photograph that shows an owl with a mouse in its beak.
The species died out sometimes during the early 1920s.
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Depiction from: ‘George Dawson Rowley: Birds of New Zealand. Part 1. Ornithological Miscellany 1: 1.18. 1876’
(public domain)
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edited: 05.11.2021