Mopoke

Last night I heard a mopoke
Calling from a tree
With a voice of forest folk
And nature wild and free

Ninox calls to me at night
As my emotions swirl
Bringing tales of delight
From the wild world

Mopoke Mopoke
Is how he spoke


There are few things more delightful than the call of a mopoke from the darkness outside our bedroom window. Ninox novaeseelandiae or the Boobook Owl is a small hawk like owl whose distinctive “mo-poke” call was once familiar to people all over Australia but sadly heard less frequently now as much of its forest habitat has disappeared. It is the call of the wild in the voice of the mopoke that reminds us why we made the decision to move out of the city to our forest retreat and why, despite the cost of time and inconvenience of long drives to the city, it is all worthwhile. And sometimes, when we are really lucky, we hear the mournful shrieking cry of the mopokes larger cousin the Barking Owl. The hideous hair raising shriek of the Barking Owl inspired the early settlers to call them the “Murdering Woman Owl.” It must have been a terrifying sound for lone travelers camping in the forest.