The New Zealand Morepork (Ruru) The morepork is a small, compact, dark-brown owl. Its striking yellow to yellowish-green eyes are set into two facial disks either side of a small sharply hooked bill. The back feathers are dark-brown spotted sparsely with off-white. The breast is dark-brown variably streaked with cream and brown through to rufous. The legs are feathered legs down to the yellow feet.