Publications Archive

Paradise shelducks (Tadorna variegata) were found moulting at 13 sites in the Gisborne – East Coast district in 1977. These moulting sites were mainly large empoundments that had open aspects with steep pasture-covered hillsides rising from the water’s edge and overhead escape-cover nearby. Individual birds mainly moulted at the same site each year and were flightless for about four weeks. Males took longer to moult than females. Non-breeding birds and failed breeders were flightless in January, successful breeders in February and March, and both sexes arrived to moult at the same time. The areas to which birds dispersed after completing their moult were determined from the return of bands by hunters. About 60% of all banded birds shot were within 32 km of their moulting site, females being recovered closer to the moulting site than males, and aImost all recoveries were from the Gisborne-East Coast area. Moult gatherings allow the wildlife manager to monitor annual changes in regional and local populations. By constructing empoundments in new localities and inducing shelducks to moult there, regional populations may be subdivided into smaller units and managed with greater sensitivity.

1977. McPherson Natural History Unit, P.O. Box 21083, Edgeware, Christchurch

Eighty-six New Zealand dotterel (Charadrius obscurus) have been individually banded with metal and colour bands between 1950 and 1977 in the Auckland district. Subsequent sightings of banded birds show that some move considerably within a limited range and that others are fairly sedentary. The recovery history of the most interesting cases is given in outline. The oldest-known bird, a male, is over 26 years. A female was recorded breeding within her first year.