Harpagornis_X
Well-Known Member
I think one Id like to hear would have been this owl.
http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/?q=node/497
They are probably extinct but if New Zealand didnt introduce stoats, weasels and ferrets to control the rabbit population, then there would have been a chance that this bird would be alive today. I did see a story somewhere about this one ...
There was, however, a textbook description of an encounter with the supposedly extinct laughing owl in 1985, by a group of American tourists camping out near the small village of Cave, New Zealand. The two travelers were sleeping in a forest, far from any other people. They were awoken in their tent by "the sound of a madman laughing." According to the campers, the sound terrified them, and they feared for their lives (being as they were so far away from civilization). When they checked to see who was making the noise, they reportedly didn't see anyone or hear any other sign that there was a person in their camp. The travelers hadn't even heard of the Whēkau Laughing Owl, and their story was never explained until many years later.
And I just read this ...
Around the year 2000, back in the United States, an ornithologist named Edward Williams from New Zealand came as a visitor to the former tourists' duck hunting club in Suisun, near Fairfield California. The man happened to tell the story of the mysterious laughing man, during which the ornithologist grew very excited; he had given a textbook description of the Laughing Owl. This had been the first evidence in many years that the Laughing Owl might not be extinct after all. Though this story has never been verified, it still provides hope for the survival of the Whēkau Laughing Owl.
http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/topic/1450
http://www.worldlibrary.org/articles/laughing_owl
http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/?q=node/497
They are probably extinct but if New Zealand didnt introduce stoats, weasels and ferrets to control the rabbit population, then there would have been a chance that this bird would be alive today. I did see a story somewhere about this one ...
There was, however, a textbook description of an encounter with the supposedly extinct laughing owl in 1985, by a group of American tourists camping out near the small village of Cave, New Zealand. The two travelers were sleeping in a forest, far from any other people. They were awoken in their tent by "the sound of a madman laughing." According to the campers, the sound terrified them, and they feared for their lives (being as they were so far away from civilization). When they checked to see who was making the noise, they reportedly didn't see anyone or hear any other sign that there was a person in their camp. The travelers hadn't even heard of the Whēkau Laughing Owl, and their story was never explained until many years later.
And I just read this ...
Around the year 2000, back in the United States, an ornithologist named Edward Williams from New Zealand came as a visitor to the former tourists' duck hunting club in Suisun, near Fairfield California. The man happened to tell the story of the mysterious laughing man, during which the ornithologist grew very excited; he had given a textbook description of the Laughing Owl. This had been the first evidence in many years that the Laughing Owl might not be extinct after all. Though this story has never been verified, it still provides hope for the survival of the Whēkau Laughing Owl.
http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/topic/1450
http://www.worldlibrary.org/articles/laughing_owl
Lost access to HazelAngel so now I use this account for me 
