Territorial and Nesting Behaviour in Southern Boobooks (Ninox novaeseelandiae)

During 1993-1997, three adjacent nesting pairs of the Southern Boobook (Ninox nouaeseelandiae) were located and observations made on their behavioral interactions, nests, and young in Canberra, Australia. Territory size was close to 100 ha; not the 4 to 10 ha reported in the literature. Males advertized territorial boundaries with the "boobook" call and `duelled' using this and a "croaking" call. Neighboring males entered a rival's territory to challenge the resident male, sometimes near the resident's nest. Both sexes fed the young until 2 to 4 weeks after fledging, when females stopped. Males and their young moved to `camp out' in various parts of their territories earlier defended.