The New Ireland boobook or New Ireland hawk owl (Ninox variegata) also known as the Bismarck boobook, Bismarck hawk owl or barred boobook, is a small to medium-sized owl measuring 25to in length.[1] It is a dark rufous-brown above, with barred scapular feathers and variable amounts of spotting or barring on the wings and tail. Its underparts are whitish, with an unmarked pale throat, a dark barred upper breast and barring on the remainder of the underparts. Its face is dark brown, its eyes are brown or yellow, and its bill and legs are yellow.[2] It is short-tailed and has heavy tarsi (the part of the leg above what is commonly referred to as the foot).[3]
Endemic to the Bismarck archipelago, it occurs on the islands of New Britain, New Ireland and New Hanover,[4] where it lives in forested lowlands, hills and mountains, up to an altitude of 1000m (3,000feet).[1]
It was first described as Noctua variegata by French naturalists Jean René Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Gaimard in 1830.[4]
Although its population size has not been quantified, it is widespread and fairly common in forest and forest edges within its range, and its numbers are thought to be stable.[5] Deforestation is thought to be a likely threat to the species.[6]