MOREPORK !

We have a morepork in our valley! We have heard him quite distinctly the last few nights! "More-pork"..
In Maori these little native owls are called 'ruru'.



The ruru are an important part of Maori mythology, for example, many of the carved figures seen on Maori meeting houses,(marae) have had their eyes modelled on Ruru, and when performing the war dances of the haka and the pukana, the glaring looks from the Maori warriors imitate this little owl.



In Maori mythology, the ruru, which hunt by night and have a melancholy hooting call, is associated with the spirit world.
The ancestral spirit of a family is thought to take the form of Ruru.
Known as Hine–ruru, the “owl woman”, Maori traditionally believe that these owl guardians have the power to, protect, warn and advise.



According to these beliefs, the presence of a morepork sitting in a conspicuous place nearby, knocking on a window or even entering the house signifies a death.
The high piercing call of the morepork however, is thought to indicate good news on the way (a good thing too, because he's hooting every day)
The morepork is New Zealand’s only surviving native owl.



They are found in mainland New Zealand’s forests and on many offshore islands. They are speckled dark brown, with yellow eyes and long tails, and are only about 29 centimetres long from head to tail.
The larger laughing owl, which used to be in New Zealand, became extinct in the 20th century. So, the morepork is fully protected.

Several Maori sayings use the morepork:

Etia anō āku mata me te mata-ā-ruru e tīwai ana
Me te mata kāhu e paro noa rā kai te tahora!

My eyes are like morepork eyes turning from side to side,
Like the eyes of a hawk who soars over the plain!




For those of you who've watched or read Terry Pratchett's 'Discworld' series he chose the morepork owl as the symbol of the city of Ankh-Morpork in his novel!