Free Book for New Members!

New members of Birds New Zealand now receive a free copy of our award-winning book – “Lost Gold: Ornithology of the subantarctic Auckland Islands” – while stocks last!

Valued at $55, this is the first ever book about the birds of New Zealand’s subantarctic Auckland Islands. Published in soft-cover format in 2020 it has 426 pages, including over 150 colour photos and maps. Please note the offer excludes overseas and family subscriptions.

Join now and get your free copy: https://www.birdsnz.org.nz/membership/

Code of Conduct for Bird Photography

Birds New Zealand has issued a new Code of Conduct for the Photography of Birds. Download at birdsnz.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Code-of-Conduct-for-Photography-of-Birds-Guidelines.pdf

These ethical standards act as a best practice guide to members when taking images (including photos, videos via fixed or moving cameras including mobile phones and drones) of birds. The primary aim is to ensure respect for the security and welfare of birds and to minimise interference to birds and the surrounding environment during observation and photography.

We encourage members to read this Code of Conduct and behave accordingly. The accompanying poster may be reproduced and used to promote these guidelines at Birds New Zealand hosted or affiliated events. Download the poster at birdsnz.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Poster-Code-of-Conduct-for-Photography-2406.pdf

A new Constitution for the Ornithological Society of New Zealand

I am pleased to advise members that a new constitution for the Ornithological Society of New Zealand was approved by Government authorities (the Companies Office in the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) on Monday 24^th June 2024.  Motions to adopt a new constitution, and to revoke the Society’s earlier constitution were voted on and endorsed unanimously the AGM held in Nelson on 2^nd June 2024.

Legislation defining the rights and responsibilities of all clubs and societies and those who run them has undergone a long-overdue revision, resulting in enactment of the Incorporated Societies Act 2022.  This new Act provides a new legal framework that determines how all incorporated societies will now be governed.  It is this change that provides the background to the assembly and approval of a new constitution for the Society.

The Society’s earlier constitution served us well for many years.  Despite the new legislative requirements, I am pleased to let you know that several important sections of the Society’s constitution will continue unchanged, or nearly so.  These include the name of the Society, objects (objectives), the powers of the Society (expanded in the new Constitution), the procedure for the election of councillors, membership categories (with two amendments), the role and powers of the Council (now expanded), matters concerning meetings of the Council (slightly expanded), arrangements for setting subscriptions, the management of committees, regional organisation, and the procedure for amending the constitution.

Numerous new provisions are included in the approved constitution.  These concern new requirements for membership, for the removal of councillors, for disclosure and management of conflicts of interest, for the conduct of meetings, for financial management, for the management of annual general meetings, for managing the resolution of disputes, for winding up and for insurance.

The new constitution is available to view and download on the Birds New Zealand website at  birdsnz.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Constitution-2024.pdf

I encourage you to take a moment to have a look at this new set of rules that it expected to provide a sound foundation for the governance of our Society for many decades to come.

Natalie Forsdick
President

Checklists of New Zealand Birds

Amongst the earliest publications of the Ornithological Society were checklists of New Zealand birds. To make these better known and be easily accessible to members, the four earlier versions of the checklist of New Zealand birds published by the Checklist Committee of the Society may now be read and downloaded from the Historical Publications webpage.

• 2010. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica
  B.J. Gill, Convenor
• 1990. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica
  E.G. Turbott, Convenor
• 1970. Annotated Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, including birds of the Ross Dependency
  F. C. Kinsky, Convenor
• 1953. Checklist of New Zealand Birds
  C.A. Fleming, Convenor.

In addition, Amendments and additions to the 1970 Annotated Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand was published as a supplement to Notornis Vol. 27 (1980).  This is not a full checklist and needs to be read in conjunction with the 1970 checklist.

The current Checklist is available to read and download here

Highlights from the 2024 NZ Bird Conference

The 2024 New Zealand Bird Conference in Nelson was not only a significant and memorable event, but the largest national bird conference yet!

Read highlights and view photos here

The next New Zealand Bird Conference will be held in Auckland from 31 May to 2 June 2025. Mark it in your diary!

Oceania Seabird Symposium New Dates!

The Oceania Seabirds will now be held from 13-16 May 2025. Noumea, New Caledonia remains the preferred venue, however the symposium team will continue to monitor the situation.

This inaugural Symposium will bring the attention of the international and Oceania community to the importance of seabirds within the world’s largest body of water, the Pacific Ocean | the Great Ocean | Coxë

Registration is open via the website – https://oceaniaseabirds2025.com/

Any queries – email info@oceaniaseabirds2025.com

Royal Spoonbill – National Census

Birds NZ has been documenting the increase in population and breeding of royal spoonbill in NZ since the late 1970s. The last census was in 2012 when 2361 birds were recorded. Birds NZ regions will collectively do another winter census in 2024 to see if the population of royal spoonbill is still increasing. In addition, Birds NZ is planning to locate colonies and count nests of royal spoonbill during the 2024/2025 breeding season to find out whether royal spoonbill are continuing to extend their breeding range within NZ. Census dates will vary between regions. Read more here

To be involved in this project contact your Regional Representative.

For more information about the census contact the survey coordinator nzmaryt@gmail.com.
This project is supported by the Projects Assitance Fund.

New President – Natalie Forsdick

Natalie Forsdick succeeds Bruce McKinlay as the new President of Birds New Zealand.

Natalie Forsdick is the new President of Birds New Zealand. She succeeds Bruce McKinlay after his second three-year term came to an end at the Society’s recent AGM held in Nelson on 2 June. She is the second woman to become President of the Society, following Beth Brown’s term from 1983-88.

She served for three years as Vice President after three years as a member of the Birds New Zealand Council. Natalie was awarded the Best Student Presentation award at the 2017 Birds New Zealand conference in Te Anau for her talk on the conservation genetics of the Chatham Island black robin. In 2017 she received a grant from the Birds New Zealand Research Fund for her research on the evolutionary history of Australasian stilts. More recently, Natalie has applied her research training as an active member of the Birds New Zealand Checklist and Scientific Committees.

She has an MSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences (University of Canterbury, 2016) and aPhD in Genomics (University of Otago, 2020). She has worked for Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research since 2020 as a conservation genomics researcher. Her research involves studying the DNA of threatened species to understand their evolution and to inform conservation management. Currently she works with a range of species, including birds, insects, and plants. While she can occasionally be found collecting samples in the field, her time is mostly spent extracting DNA in the lab, or analysing genetic data from the office.

Natalie is eager to lead Birds New Zealand in a new phase of activity following efforts to deliver the New Zealand Bird Atlas five-year project tracking the distribution and abundance of our birds. She is dedicated to promoting the society to ensure continued growth, providing opportunities for members to participate in data collection and bird observation projects, and supporting ornithological research. She looks forward to building on existing partnerships, and forming new relationships to deliver on society priorities.

Natalie is a proponent for a supportive research environment in her role as co-lead of the MWLR Early Career Group. She is also Secretary for the Society of Conservation Biology – Oceania, supporting the hosting of the International Congress for Conservation Biology in Brisbane in 2026.

About Birds New Zealand

Established in 1940, Birds New Zealand is committed to the study of birds and their habitat use within New Zealand through encouraging members and organising nationwide research projects and schemes. These activities are organised at the national and regional level, with 19 regions providing a local network for members to engage in bird studies and surveys. Birds New Zealand promotes the recording and wide circulation of the results of bird studies and observations through the production of its acclaimed scientific journal Notornis and other publications promoting birds in New Zealand. Birds New Zealand also seeks to assist the conservation and management of birds and their habitats by providing data, from which sound management decisions can be derived.

New Vice President – Ian Armitage

Ian has enjoyed an interest in birds from childhood and being a Wellingtonian three of the locations he best remembers watching and learning about birds in the 1950s were when tramping in the Tararua and Remutaka Ranges and at the Pencarrow lakes near the entrance of Wellington Harbour.  A keen interest in birds and forests led Ian into a career in forestry with the former NZ Forest Service.  During the 1980s Ian was appointed to advisory positions for forestry development and conservation in Samoa and elsewhere in the South Pacific, also in South East Asia.  Since 1991 he has been an independent consultant in forestry development in Asia, especially in China. 

Ian joined the OSNZ in 2001 and was Regional Representative in Wellington for six years.  He became a life member of the society in 2004.  He contributed to the organisation of the 2006, 2011 and 2019 society conferences that were hosted by Wellington Region and he led the organisation of the 2008/10 Wellington Harbour Bird Survey, and surveys of the Pauatahanui Inlet between 2012 and 2024.  Ian joined Council in 2012.  He has been an enthusiastic contributor to and supporter of the eBird system since it was introduced.  Ian contributed to the design and construction of a new digital database for Beach Patrol records that aims to systematically document the identity, location and numbers of birds found dead on New Zealand beaches.  More recently, Ian contributed within council of a comprehensive review and reconstruction of the Society’s constitution, adopted at the 2024 AGM in Nelson, to ensure that it is compliant with the requirements of the Incorporated Societies Act 2022.

New Council Member – Mark Ayre

Mark has been an avid birder for almost his entire life. As a teenager he was a volunteer warden at the famous Titchfield Haven RSPB reserve in the UK. Mark moved to NZ, 44 years ago and for most of that time has lived in Otago where he was chairman of the local Forest and Bird Group and active in bird conservation (in particular of the Mohua). He also managed and maintained trapping and monitoring programmes in the Haast region and the Makarora Valley and is involved in bird surveys and bird counts for the Department of Conservation and other private groups. On top of this Mark is a professional bird guide, working for international birding companies such as Nature Quest on their NZ tours. Three years ago, he moved to Motueka, enjoying the bird life of the Sandspit and since becoming Regional Representative for Nelson has led several guided walks here. Mark is particularly keen to use his people and birding skills to involve and foster interest among young people through hands-on activities, camps etc.

New Council member (co-opted) – Martine Darrou

My name is Martine M-L Darrou, and I am French by birth, and a New Zealander by choice, I live in the beautiful seaside community of Waikouaiti in the South Island of New Zealand Aotearoa.

Birding has been my passion for most of my life, from a young age while doing mountaineering in the Pyrenees, Alpes, taking photographs, and in feeding the birds in the rigorous winter of the Pyrenees where I was born,  and then later, as an adult, I joined the Société Ornithologique de France, participating in research and conservation during organised outings. While completing my professional studies in France I also worked part time as a nature guide on the topic of alpine flora and fauna in the Pyrenees, Alpes. My experience in research and conservation stems from my professional work with the CNRS in France (National Centre for Scientific Research).

As council member and due to my passion for birds! I would like to use my social, intellectual and organisational skills to assist the council in any manner that will help devise and implement strategies to protect and restore habitat for birds. I have a wish to work with any general programmes of conservation,  to assist in efforts to educating the public about birds and to give others a chance to experience the healing and restorative powers of birding.

New Zealand Bird Atlas Complete

The New Zealand Bird Atlas project finished on 31st May 2024 after running for five years (2019-2024). This is one of the largest community science projects in Aotearoa New Zealand coordinated by Wildlife Management International Limited on behalf of Birds New Zealand.

Read more in the latest Media Release

More Birds in the Bush

Findings from this 5-year Endeavour research programme were presented at a recent webinar. A recording of this webinar session is available here.

Further findings from this programme will be shared at a 2-day online event which will run from 18-19 June 2024. You can register to attend on landcareresearch.co.nz/events/more-birds-in-the-bush-end-of-programme-event.

For questions regarding this presentation please contact Susan Walker walkers@landcareresearch.co.nz.

Waikato Newsletter

Download the latest Waikato newsletter here

Other recent newsletters from around the regions are available here

Open letter to the Coalition government from NZ Scientific Societies

13 March 2024

A group representing thousands of scientists has written to the Cabinet saying the government’s plan for fast tracking consenting is retrograde and values development over the environment. The legislation – which passed its first reading last week – will give three ministers the power to bypass normal consent processes and have the final say on approvals for special infrastructure projects.

A group of ten scientific societies including Birds New Zealand (Ornithological Society of New Zealand), which conduct research in biodiversity say New Zealand’s plants, animals, fungi and ecosystems are globally unique but are also threatened with extinction. In a letter sent to ministers on 13 March, they say the changes will cause further degradation, and mean that development projects will be at the whim of political decision-making and ministerial discretion, without appropriate checks and balances. 

Dr Jo Monks is the Vice-President of the New Zealand Ecological Society, a Lecturer in Ecology at the University of Otago, and is the spokesperson for the group.

Link to letter: https://newzealandecology.org/sites/default/files/Open%20letter%20to%20the%20Coalition%20government%20from%20scientific%20societies%2013%20March%202024.pdf

Link to press release: 
https://newzealandecology.org/sites/default/files/NZES%20press%20release%20-%20open%20letter%20to%20NZ%20govt%20regarding%20environmental%20legislative%20agenda%2014%20March%202024.pdf

Birds of Te Araroa

Between November 2023 and March 2024, Natural History curator Colin Miskelly walked the length of Aotearoa New Zealand on Te Araroa Trail – counting every bird seen or heard along the way. In this twentieth blog in the series, Colin describes birds encountered while walking the final section, through the Takitimu, Woodlaw, and Longwood Ranges to Colac Bay, then east along the coast to Invercargill, and south to the trail end at Stirling Point, Bluff.

Read Colin’s blog about the final section here.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Migratory Bird Conservation

This is an exciting opportunity for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to make a scientific contribution to reversing the dramatic decline of migratory shorebirds in the East Asian – Australasian Flyway (EAAF). The successful candidate will lead a part of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub Project 4.17, supporting recovery and management of migratory shorebirds in Australia! Read more at https://uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/uqcareers/job/St-Lucia-Campus/Postdoctoral-Research-Fellow-in-Migratory-Bird-Conservation_R-35588-1

Historical Publication – A Flying Start

The historical OSNZ Publication “A Flying Start” (by B.J. Gill & B.D. Heather), published in 1990, is now available for download as PDF

This book commemorates 50 years of the Ornithological Society of New Zealand (1940-1990) and is valuable to everyone interested in birds!

For other historical publications that have significance to New Zealand ornithology visit birdsnz.org.nz/society-publications/historical-publications/

Birds NZ Data used in SIPO model

Birds NZ wader count data and re-sightings a crucial part of first full-annual cycle population model of South Island pied oystercatcher/tōrea developed by Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research.

Read more

Meet our new Notornis Editor – Dr James Savage

Dr James Savage is a behavioural ecologist based in Invercargill. His research focuses on social and reproductive behaviour, particularly maternal effects and how parents coordinate to rear offspring. During his PhD, James studied the chestnut-crowned babbler, a medium-sized cooperatively breeding passerine endemic to outback Australia, More recently, James has contributed to behavioural research in rifleman and hihi, and led a project on kākāpō egg infertility. 

James is currently the Research Coordinator of the Southern Institute of Technology, a role that includes advising staff in publishing and academic best practice. Beyond SIT, James supports open access publishing activities across the wider tertiary vocational sector, and internationally he is active within the Research Data Alliance and other organisations supporting open research. For James, taking on the Notornis editor role represents a unification of his interests in avian research and scholarly publishing, and he looks forward to connecting with the Birds NZ community and building on the excellent editorial work of Dr Craig Symes.