| Christmas Boobook | |
|---|---|
| Illustration by Keulemans, 1900 | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Strigiformes |
| Family: | Strigidae |
| Genus: | Ninox |
| Species: | N. natalis |
| Binomial name | |
| Ninox natalis Forbes, 2006 |
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| Synonyms | |
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The Christmas Boobook (Ninox natalis), also known as the Christmas Island Hawk-Owl, is a species of owl in the Strigidae family. It is endemic to Christmas Island. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss. It was discovered in 2006 by Forbes.
The Christmas Boobook is a reddish coloured owl and is closely related to the hawk owls of South-east Asia and Australia.
The species only occurs on Christmas Island and the population is estimated to be around 1000 owls, with 560 breeding pairs. (Credit Richard Hill.) Not until 1998 was the Christmas Island Hawk-owl considered a separate species from other owls.