Southern Boobook Ninox novaeseelandiae Pair Feeding Combined Brood of Six Fledglings

Abstract

The nest-sites of two Southern Boobooks Ninox novaeseelandiae, males White and Orange, moved closer to each other from 1993 to 2002, apparently because two other males, Hospital and Green, pressed farther into the White and Orange territories each year (each male, and his corresponding territory and family, is identified by the colour of his leg-band or location of his territory). The White and Orange young were of similar ages in 2002, and fledged 200 m from one another; the two broods combined into one large brood of six. The White juveniles appeared to be drawn to the calls of the slightly older Orange juveniles and roosted with Orange adults and juveniles during the day. The White adults did not cross the territory border to feed their own young. Fledged juveniles appeared not to discriminate between adults, but Orange adults, at first, did discriminate between fledglings, and the Orange adults did not feed White’s fledglings. Eventually the Orange adults did feed White’s fledglings, and all six fledglings dispersed from the Orange territory.