Sceloglaux albifacies

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• Classification Schemes
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• Bibliography
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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AVES	STRIGIFORMES	STRIGIDAE

Scientific Name:	Sceloglaux albifacies
Species Authority:	(Gray, 1844)
Common Name/s: English – Laughing Owl Spanish – Lechuzón Cariblanco, Nínox Reidor

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Extinct     ver 3.1
Year Published:	2008
Assessor/s:	BirdLife International
Reviewer/s:	Bird, J., Butchart, S.
History:	2004 – Extinct 2000 – Extinct 1994 – Extinct 1988 – Extinct

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:

Sceloglaux albifacies was endemic to New Zealand with the nominate race on the South and Stewart Islands (with bones known from the Chatham Islands) and the subspecies rufifacies on the North Island1. Birds were not uncommon until the first half of the 19th century, but were becoming rare by the 1840s1. The last specimens of rufifacies were collected in 1889 (with reports until the 1930s), and of albifacies, in 1914 (with reports until the 1960s)1.

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Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	The species roosted and nested among rocks in open country and on forest edge1.
Systems:	Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):

Causes of the species's extinction are obscure, possibly habitat modification through grazing or burning, or predation by introduced mammals1.

Bibliography [top]

Williams, G. R.; Harrison, M. 1972. The Laughing Owl Sceloglaux albifacies (Grey, 1844), a general survey of a near-extinct species. Notornis 19: 4-19.