Morepork Information Report

Introduction

Ruru is native to New Zealand And not endangered to New Zealand because
nobody goes out
at night and hunts them. Moreporks are nocturnal; that means they only sleep
in the day and
come out at night time. Moreporks are part of the owl family.

What does it look like?

Moreporks are brown and white And have big Kōwhai (yellow) eyes that they use to see
in the dark. Moreporks can turn their heads  270° so they can see if something is
sneaking up behind them.

Habitat/Where does it live?

Ruru is found all over New Zealand forests
. They are native to New Zealand; that means they are not in other countries
and they don’t migrate. Moreporks are uncommon in eastern areas.

What Does Moreporks Eat?

Moreporks eat large insects, small birds, and small mammals.
Moreporks very silently swoop up on their prey.
At night you can’t hear them fly because they have soft edges on their wings,
that helps them to catch their prey.

Breeding Behavior

Moreporks breed in summer and spring because it’s warm.
Their nests are made out of broken logs, twigs, leaves or dead and alive bits of trees.
They have 1-3 eggs at a time.  Both adults look after the young.
Their social behavior is that they strongly defend their territory

What are the  threats

Their threats are rats, possums, stoats, weasels, and ferrets.

What can we do to stop these threats?

We could set traps for the pests that kill these birds.

By Milan