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The size of the sooty shearwater population at the Snares Islands, New Zealand

Notornis, 29 (1), 23-30

J. Warham; G.J. Wilson (1982)

Article Type: Paper

The size of the sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) population at the Snares Islands was estimated by counting burrows in the main vegetation types. Some 3,287,000 burrows were calculated for Main Island, the highest densities being 1.9/m2 in Poa meadows, with 1.2/m2 under the trees of the Olearia forest. Most burrows were occupied but data on rates of occupation by breeding birds were not satisfactory. Assuming a 75% occupancy rate, we get a total population of about 2,750,000 burrow-holding pairs on the 328 ha of the two largest islands.


The status of birds at the Bounty Islands

Notornis, 29 (4), 311-336

C.J.R. Robertson; G.F. van Tets (1982)

Article Type: Paper

Members of the first party to camp on the Bounty Islands in 170 years report on the ecology, behaviour and history of the penguin, mollymawk, Cape petrel, prion, shag and tern that breed there and on the giant petrel, skua, gull and starling that stray there.



The relationships of the New Zealand wrens (Acanthisittidae) as indicated by DNA-DNA hybridization

Notornis, 29 (2), 113-130

C.G. Sibley; G.R. Williams; J.E. Ahlquist (1982)

Article Type: Paper

The relationships of the New Zealand Wrens have been debated for a century but up to 1981 it has not been clear to which suborder of the Passeriformes they should be assigned. Comparisons between the single-copy DNA sequences of Acanthisitta chloris and those of other passerine birds indicate that the Acanthisittidae are members of the suboscine suborder Oligomyodi, and that they are sufficiently distant from other suboscine passerines to warrant separation as an Infraorder, Acanthisittides.