First described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788, the morepork was thought to be the same species as the Australian boobook (N. boobook), native to Australia, Timor-Leste and New Guinea, something that endured for nearly two hundred years, until 1999. Similarly, it was also considered the same as the Tasmanian boobook (N. leucopsis) until 2022.
First described by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788, the morepork was thought to be the same species as the Australian boobook (N boobook), native to Australia, Timor-Leste and New Guinea, something that endured for nearly two hundred years, until 1999. Similarly, it was also considered the same as the Tasmanian boobook (N. leucopsis) until 2022