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.

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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. 

Marlborough Newsletter

Download the latest Marlborough newsletter here

Other recent newsletters from around the regions are available here 

Passing of Mel Galbraith

It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing of Mel Galbraith on Thursday 28 September, surrounded by his family, following a short battle with cancer. 

Mel was a long-standing Council member of Birds New Zealand, and much valued as an active leader in Auckland ornithology, having been a previous Regional Representative. He was a great advocate for nature, and a mentor to students as a Senior Lecturer at Unitec Institute of Technology, and to those beginning their careers in the natural sciences. He has been a leader in a number of ecological restorations, and in the founding of a number of organisations including Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi, the Motu Kaikoura Trust and Miranda Naturalist Trust, and as past President of the New Zealand Ecological Society. 

His warmth and generosity will be sorely missed. Birds New Zealand send our deepest condolences and aroha to Mel’s family. 

Mel’s funeral service details are as follows:

St Mary’s Church, Onewa Rd, Northcote, Auckland
11am, Thursday 5th October

A live-stream is available via https://www.dils.co.nz/tributes/?funeral=OoVAL  

The Auckland branch of Birds New Zealand will hold a remembrance for Mel at our in-person November meeting. 

Exploring plastic ingestion by Toanui on Ohinau

Plastic is a threat to seabirds as many ingest it or become entangled in it resulting in mortality. Seabirds could mistake the smell of plastic for the smell associated with the prey items leading to plastic acting as a type of sensory trap. However, little research explores whether the seabirds are mistaking the colours of plastic for the colours of prey items. We explored this idea with the flesh-footed shearwaters/Toanui being our study species on Ohinau Island. It was previously reported by Wildlife Management International Limited that many of the Toanui on Ohinau was consuming plastic. By gathering the plastic regurgitated by seabirds as well as collecting the plastic found around the island we measured the spectral wavelengths of the plastic using a spectrometer. We then compared it to the spectral wavelengths of seabird prey items including fish, squid and crustacean. We found that clear/white plastic was the most dominant colour and also looked very similar to the seabird’s prey items. The seabirds could be mistaking the white plastic colour with the colour of prey items. However, green plastics also looked similar to prey items but were one of the least common colours found. More research is required to study other factors which could be influencing seabird plastic colour selection including the shape of plastic, the size of plastic and the plastic’s length of time in the ocean. 

Read more about this project funded by the 2022 BNZRF report here

Birds of the Great Walks

Aotearoa New Zealand has many great walks. However, as of 2023, only ten of them qualify as capital-letter Great Walks. Te Papa natural history curator Dr Colin Miskelly has walked (or paddled) them all and kept records of the birds that he encountered along the way.

In the initial blog in a series that will cover them all, he describes what Great Walks are, and the system that he developed to compare and rank their birdyness: Birds of the Great Walks of Aotearoa New Zealand. More blogs of this series are available via the links below:

Birds of the Whanganui Journey ‘Great Walk’
Birds of the Tongariro Northern Circuit
Birds of Lake Waikaremoana Track
Birds of the Abel Tasman Coastal Track
Birds of the Routeburn Track
Birds of the Paparoa Track
Birds of the Rakiura Track
Birds of the Kepler Track
Birds of the Milford Track
Birds of the Heaphy Track

How RNZ’s Morning Report solved the mystery of a storm petrel

RNZ’s Morning Report birdcall has helped solve a mystery about grey-backed storm petrels in Fiordland.

Read more about this story here

Photo by Jean-Claude Stahl (Te Papa)

Historical Publications – The State of New Zealand’s Birds

The five reports “The State of New Zealand’s Birds” are now available on the Historical Publications page:

The State of NZ’s Birds 2009: Conservation of Migrant Birds
The State of NZ’s Birds 2008: Conservation of Birds on the Mainland
The State of NZ’s Birds 2007: New Zealand Bird Atlas
The State of NZ’s Birds 2006: New Zealand’s Seabirds
The State of NZ’s Birds 2005