Southern Bird, 51 (Sep),
Article Type: Magazine
Southern Bird, 51 (Sep),
Article Type: Magazine
Notornis, 59 (3&4), 163-166
Article Type: Short Note
Southern Bird, 49 (Mar),
Article Type: Magazine
Notornis, 59 (3&4), 200
Article Type: Article
Notornis, 59 (3&4), 153-162
Article Type: Paper
Notornis, 59 (1&2), 96
Article Type: Article
Notornis, 59 (3&4), 198-199
Article Type: Book Review
Notornis, 59 (3&4), 148-152
Article Type: Paper
Notornis, 59 (1&2), 90-95
Article Type: Obituary
Notornis, 59 (3&4), 189-197
Article Type: Abstract
Southern Bird, 52 (Dec),
Article Type: Magazine
Notornis, 59 (1&2), 66-70
Article Type: Paper
The diet of the Australasian gannet (Morus serrator) at Farewell Spit, New Zealand, was studied by the analysis of 70 regurgitations collected from the 1995 to 2001 breeding seasons. Surface schooling pilchard (Sardinops neopilchardus) was the main prey, followed by anchovy (Engraulis australis). The composition of the diet was similar in most seasons examined except in 1996 in which anchovy was the main prey item. Such a change in diet could be linked with a pilchard mass mortality in New Zealand in August 1995. The estimated annual prey consumption by birds at the Farewell Spit gannetry was 852 tonnes. Although annual catches of pilchard and anchovy by commercial fisheries in the area are still relatively small, an increase may interfere with prey availability, and in turn, increase competition between marine predators and influence the breeding success. Our analyses of diet are consistent with previous studies showing that Australasian gannets as flexible foragers and they highlight their importance as bioindicators of fish stocks in New Zealand.
Notornis, 59 (3&4), 138-147
Article Type: Paper
Notornis, 59 (1&2), 88-89
Article Type: Short Note
Notornis, 59 (3&4), 187-188
Article Type: Short Note
Notornis, 59 (1&2), 60-65
Article Type: Paper
The Marlborough Sounds has a coastline of 1500 km and hosts the greatest diversity of marine shag species in New Zealand. A survey of all breeding shag species was conducted in spring 2006. Apart from New Zealand king shag, 3 species were counted: spotted shag (Strictocarbo punctatus), pied shag (Phalacrocorax varius) and little shag (Phalacrocorax melanoleucos). Two other species (black shag Phalacrocorax carbo and little black shag Phalacrocorax sulcirostris) also occur in the area but were not recorded breeding. A total of 1,254 pairs of spotted shag were recorded at 193 sites, with most colonies occurring in the outer Sounds and inner Queen Charlotte Sound. Average colony size was 6.5 pairs (range 1-76 pairs), with 85% of colonies containing ≤10 pairs. The distribution of spotted shag colonies appears to be influenced by the availability of suitable cliff habitat. Breeding pied shags were found at 48 colonies, with a total of 438 pairs. Colonies were widely distributed, and average colony size was 9.1 pairs (range 1-28), with 83% containing ≤15 pairs. A total of 226 little shag pairs were found at 24 colonies, with most colonies also including nesting pied shags. Colony size was on average 9.4 pairs (range 4-24), with 75% of colonies containing ≤10 pairs. Colonies of pied shags and little shags were found mostly in native vegetation. Colonial seabirds that occur at relatively few locations can be used as indicators to establish critical thresholds for marine management and marine conservation. It is proposed that this survey provide a good baseline for such an approach in the Marlborough Sounds.
Notornis, 59 (3&4), 130-137
Article Type: Paper
Notornis, 59 (1&2), 85-87
Article Type: Short Note
Notornis, 59 (3&4), 185-186
Article Type: Short Note
Notornis, 59 (1&2), 49-59
Article Type: Paper
We investigate the phylogenetic affinites of the New Zealand blue duck (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos), a riverine specialist of uncertain relationships, using 2613 bp of DNA sequence data from 3 mitochondrial genes. Hymenolaimus has variously been considered an aberrant Anas species, or an ancient taxa in the tribe Anatini. Presently, it is placed in a highly-derived clade (Tribe Merganettini) with the shelducks. Our findings show that Hymenolaimus forms a monophyletic clade, and does not fit within any of the other duck tribes around the world. Our study also confirms convergent evolution among duck species that inhabit fast flowing rivers.