Laughing Owl
Ninox albifacies (Gray, 1844) — formerly Sceloglaux albifacies
The laughing owl, or whēkau, was a New Zealand owl extinct after the last confirmed specimen in 1914; introduced predators and habitat change erased a ground-friendly endemic that had no defences against stoats and cats.
Updated 25 July 2026
- Last confirmed specimen
- 1914
- Māori name
- Whēkau
- Call
- Described as a descending laughing series of notes
- Drivers
- Introduced predators, habitat change, collecting
- Nesting
- Used ground cavities and rock crevices — vulnerable to mustelids
- Living NZ owls
- Ruru (morepork) persists; laughing owl does not
The laughing owl was named for a call that early settlers compared to a descending laugh. It hunted in open country and forest edge across New Zealand and nested in ways that left eggs and chicks exposed once stoats, cats and rats arrived. Specimens were still being taken in the late nineteenth century as the species slid toward disappearance. The last confirmed specimen is generally dated to 1914. Like the huia and so many New Zealand endemics, it was not hunted out by Māori tradition alone — the decisive blow was the mammalian predator guild that accompanied European settlement.
Key facts at a glance
- The laughing owl's last confirmed specimen dates to 1914.
- Introduced stoats, cats and rats were decisive against a bird that nested within their reach.
- Open-country habitat change compounded predation pressure.
- Specimen collecting continued while numbers were already low.
- New Zealand's remaining endemic birds survive mainly under predator control.
- The kākāpō programme is the modern counterexample — intensive management the laughing owl never received.
A call, then silence
Nineteenth-century accounts describe the laughing owl's vocalisations clearly enough that the common name stuck. Sightings declined as mustelids spread and land was burned or grazed. By the early twentieth century the bird was rare enough that each specimen mattered — and collectors still took them. The 1914 specimen marks the end of the confirmed record.
Same island, same predator problem
The laughing owl belongs on the same shelf as the huia: New Zealand forest and open-country birds that evolved without mammalian predators. Once stoats and cats occupied the understorey and rock piles, ground-accessible nests failed. Living New Zealand endemics persist where those predators are fenced out or eradicated from islands — the operational definition of hope in this fauna.
Where it lived
New Zealand — both main islands historically, declining to South Island strongholds
The last one
Last confirmed specimen generally cited from 1914; later reports unverified
What caused it
- 1 Introduced mammalian predators — stoats, cats, rats
- 2 Habitat clearance of open country and forest edge
- 3 Collection of specimens while the species was already rare
- 4 Ground-nesting habits that offered no defence against mustelids
What this extinction teaches
Island owls and other endemics that nest within reach of introduced mammals disappear unless predators are removed. New Zealand's surviving rarities exist because that work is funded — the laughing owl shows the default ending without it.
Still here — for now
Still facing the same pressure: Kākāpō
Another New Zealand endemic driven nearly extinct by introduced mammals — held only by intensive predator-free management the laughing owl never received.
IUCN status: Critically Endangered
Did you know
The laughing owl kept its common name from a sound nobody living has verified in the wild — the call survives in written description longer than the bird did in the field.
Laughing Owl: frequently asked questions
When did the laughing owl go extinct?
Why was it called the laughing owl?
What killed the laughing owl?
Are there any laughing owls left?
How does it relate to other extinct NZ birds?
Sources
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