Laughing Owl
Weißwangenkauz ( Sceloglaux albifacies ) Illustration John Gerrard Keulemans, from Ornithological Miscellany, Vol I, 1875
The Weißwangenkauz (also Lachkauz, Sceloglaux albifacies ) was an owl, which occurred in two subspecies on the island of New Zealand. In the Maori he was Whēkau. Other names were Hakoke or Felseneule.
Description and life
Upon arrival of European settlers in New Zealand during the first half of the 19th century the Weißwangenkauz was still quite common. Bellows were brought to England, where they were first described in 1844 by the British Ornithologists George Robert Gray as Athena albifacies. 1848, the owl was classified from Darmstadt zoologist Johann Jakob Kaup in the new genus Sceloglaux. From 1880, the Weißwangenkäuze were also seen in captivity, such as in England, in Amsterdam, where an animal survived a year and in New Zealand the known New Zealand ornithologist Sir Walter Buller.
The Weißwangenkauz reached a length of 35 to 40 cm and a wing length of 26.4 cm. The weight was about 600 g Its plumage was yellowish brown and streaked dark brown at the top and bottom. Shoulder, wings and tail were banded dirty - white. The beak was black with a bright top. The veil was white. The eyes were yellow-brown. The feet were yellow feathered to reddish brown.
The name " Lachkauz " has this species from its reputation. He sounded like a mixture of the glu glu glu a turkey and human laughter.
The Weißwangenkauz was ground-nesting birds, which he was mainly due to the introduced weasel undoing. The nest, which usually consisted of two white eggs, was in cavities, on the bare ground or in getrockenen grass. The incubation period was 25 days. Males and females shared the breeding business.
The owls have apparently hunted their prey on foot on the floor. Their diet consisted of beetles, lizards, small birds, rats and mice.
Distribution and extinction
Two subspecies were known from Weißwangenkauz. The Rotwangenkauz or Northern Weißwangenkauz ( Sceloglaux albifacies rufifacies ) was located on the North Island of New Zealand in wooded areas on Mt Taranaki, a volcano near the city of New Plymouth, and in the Wairarapa and is around 1890 by introduced species such as cats, weasels and rats as well as extinct by habitat destruction.
The Southern Weißwangenkauz ( Sceloglaux albifacies albifacies ) or Lachkauz lived in the alpine regions of the South Island, particularly in Nelson, Canterbury and Otago. Additional copies were discovered in 1880 on the island of Iceland Stewart. The last documented report there was in July 1914 when a dead specimen was found at the Blue Cliffs in the Canterbury region.
Unconfirmed sightings were up in the 1940s and around 1960 eggs fragments were found near Canterbury.