[First paragraphs…] Northern giant petrels (Macronectes halli) have a circumpolar distribution in the Southern Hemisphere, ranging from the pack ice northward to about 55°S, with occasional sightings as far north as 25°S. It breeds from Jul to Feb at several subantarctic islands, including the Prince Edward, Marion, Crozet, Kerguelen, Macquarie, Chatham, Stewart, Auckland, Antipodes, and Campbell groups (Harrison 1983).
Chick-rearing ends in early Mar almost every year (Harrison 1983; Voisin 1989). Northern giant petrels fledge in March (Patterson & Hunter 2000), after which. juvenile M. halli disperse widely at sea, reaching the coasts of Africa and Australia (Harrison 1983). They typically spend several years at sea before returning to their natal colonies and eventually breeding, but the dispersal and movements at sea of this bird are poorly known (Voisin 1989, 1990). At least some may circle Antarctica, and some venture northwards along the coasts of eastern Australia and southern South America, or to South Africa (Voisin 1990). Sightings have been documented in the Humboldt Current (37°S) in February (Weimerskirch et al. 1985). There have been other sightings farther north on the east coast of South America (Hunter 1984).
[First paragraph…]On 16 Nov 2005, we observed a pair of variable oystercatchers (Haematopus unicolor) at the eastern end of Rabbit Island, Tasman Bay. Both birds were banded and each had an orange Darvic flag on the tibia indicating that they had been marked as chicks in Tasman Bay. A search revealed a nest with 2 eggs. On 16 Dec, 1 egg had been lost and the other was pipping; the adults were aggressive towards us. The chick was seen following the parents on 18 Dec and until 21 Dec but was not seen after that date. There were many stoat (Mustela erminea) tracks in the vicinity.
[First paragraph…] A “Sandpiper” was among the many birds killed by a surveying party in Dusky Sound in southern New Zealand on 16 Apr 1773 during Lieutenant James Cook’s sojourn there in the course of his 2nd (1772-1775) voyage (Forster in Hoare 1982: 256). This “Sandpiper” is likely to be the specimen that Johann Reinhold Forster, the official naturalist on the voyage, described as Charadrius torquatula (Forster 1772-1775: II: 18v,19r). His description was dated 17 Apr 1773. He said that the bird inhabited “portu obscuro” (= Dusky Sound). Forster’s detailed manuscript description in Latin was edited and published later by Lichtenstein (1844: 108-109) who, however, omitted Forster’s date of description. What was almost certainly the same specimen was drawn by Forster’s son, George, an assistant naturalist and the natural history draughtsman on the voyage. George Forster’s undated painting, folio 121, is now in The Natural History Museum, London (Lysaght 1959: 301). The original painting has never been published, but it can be viewed online at http://piclib.nhm.ac.uk. Forster’s description and the younger Forster’s painting are of an adult male shore plover Thinornis novaeseelandiae (Gmelin, 1789). The Forsters are not known to have taken any specimens of the shore plover back to England.
Roost sites in Whangarei Harbour and Ruakaka Estuary were used regularly by 12 wader species and 6 other species were present occasionally between 1974 and 2000. Counts at 7 roost sites in Nov, Jun/Jul, and Mar showed that 4 species, eastern bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica), lesser knot (Calidris canutus), pied stilt (Himantopus leucocephalus), and South Island pied oystercatcher (Himantopus ostralegus finschi) contributed 70–99% (median 94%) of the waders. Most of the common waders used several roosts at each tide, but numbers and species richness of resident and vagrant species were greatest along the southern margin of the harbour. Changes in roost structure and proximity to feeding areas, and differences in migration patterns affected counts at individual roosts and the overall totals of wading birds counted in the harbour and its environs.
New Zealand average atmospheric temperatures showed little increase from the 1850s onwards for almost 100 years, but increased rapidly after c. 1940. The increase in temperatures was accompanied, at least in parts of New Zealand, by an increase in precipitation,. We investigated the relationship between the arrival years (1st breeding) of the bird species that self-introduced to New Zealand during the 20th century and the period of turpentine increase. Because these birds come from Australia the warming might be a prerequisite to colonize New Zealand. When considering the 1st breeding years as events in a univariate point process the process is non-stationary and the rate function has its estimated maximum in 1953. This estimate may indicate that the sequence of invasions of New Zealand by additional bird species could be a response to climate changes although the coincidence is on its own not sufficient to prove that climate changes have affected the self-introduction of birds from Australia into New Zealand. Alternative and additional explanations are discussed.
[First paragraph…] The austral thrush (Turdus falcklandii) (Aves: Tur- didae) is the southernmost of the c.300 species of turdids distributed in all parts of the world except Antarctica (Woods 1988). T. falcklandii is resident from 27°S in Chile and 37°S in Argentina to Tierra del Fuego, Staten Island, Malvinas Islands, and is- lands south of the Beagle Channel (Ridgely & Tudor 1989; Woods & Woods 1997). Over this large range, the species occupies a variety of habitats, including tussock islands, settlements with bushes, trees, and out-buildings. The nesting season is late Aug to Dec. A single T. falcklandii was sighted on Potter Peninsula, 25 de Mayo/King George I, South Sandwich Is, on 18 Sep 2002. The bird was perched on a box under the building of the Argentinean Jubany Station (62°14´S 58°40´W); it disappeared that afternoon. The bird was photographed and a full description was taken: the species has not been reported in the Antarctic before.
[First paragraph…]The Patagonian Shelf extends from Uruguay in the north to the Strait of Magellan in the south and reaches a maximal width of some 850 km in its southern part and covers an area of c.2.7 million km2 (Bakun 1993). Influenced by 2 major currents, the warm, saline, southward-flowing Brazil Current and the cool nutrient rich, northward flowing Falklands/Malvinas Current, the Patagonian Shelf resources provide rich year-round foraging grounds for several marine top predators and also attract a diverse and large-scale commercial fisheries fishing for squid (Loligo gahi, Illex argentinus) and a variety of fin-fish species, including hake (Merluccius spp.), Atlantic anchovy (Engraulis anchovita), kingclip (Genypterus blacodes), and Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) (Bakun 1993; Croxall & Wood 2002; Bastida et al. 2005).
[First paragraph…] Members of the parvorder Corvida, including the Australian magpie Gymnorhina tibicen, have a relatively high level of innovative behaviour amongst birds (Timmermans et al. 2000; Lefebvre et al. 2004). An example of this behaviour is tool use in Corvus spp. (Hunt 1996; Caffrey 2000). Although Australian magpies (magpies hereafter) are known to manipulate objects in behaviour such as play (Pellis 1981ab; Kaplan 2004) they have not been reported to use tools. Here, I report a possible case of tool use by an adult magpie.
Roost sites in Whangarei Harbour and Ruakaka Estuary were used regularly by 12 wader species and 6 other species were present occasionally between 1974 and 2000. Counts at 7 roost sites in Nov, Jun/Jul, and Mar showed that 4 species, eastern bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica), lesser knot (Calidris canutus), pied stilt (Himantopus leucocephalus), and South Island pied oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus finschi) contributed 70-99% (median 94%) of the waders. Most of the common waders used several roosts at each tide, but numbers and species richness of resident and vagrant species were greatest along the southern margin of the harbour. Changes in roost structure and proximity to feeding areas, and differences in migration patterns affected counts at individual roosts and the overall totals of wading birds counted in the harbour and its environs.
[First paragraphs…] At c.0800 h on 6 Nov 2006, PB and TC caught a whitehead (Mohoua albicilla) while mist-netting on Tiritiri Matangi I, Hauraki Gulf, North I, New Zealand. The net was set in “Bush 1”, on the northwestern side of the island. The bird carried a metal band (B57955) and 2 (green, blue) faded, inter-twined wrap-around plastic bands: the band combination could have been either metal-GB or metal-BG. It was thought to be male because it had a bright white head (Gill & McLean 1986) and an enlarged cloacal area.
The only whiteheads that had been banded recently on the island had all been processed by NL and received split colour bands. We therefore thought that this whitehead was from the original trans-located population which was transferred to Tiritiri Matangi I from Little Barrier I in 1989 and 1990, which would mean that it was at least 16 years old. age of 8 years 7 months for another Little Barrier I bird (Gill 1993).
[First paragraph…]New Zealand pipits (Anthus n. novaeseelandiae) were apparently common in the open landscapes of the last glacial period (Worthy & Holdaway 1996). Before humans arrived, there were no mammalian predators in New Zealand but the pipit was an important food of the New Zealand falcon (Falco novaeseelandiae) and the laughing owl (Sceloglaux albifacies) (Worthy & Holdaway 2002). New Zealand pipits would have been likely to increase as more open habitats developed during the 700 years since Polynesian settlement, because their close relatives on continents live with mammalian and avian predators (Sibley & Ahlquist 1990), and New Zealand pipits have an 8-month (Aug-Mar) breeding season during which multiple clutches of 1-4 are raised (Heather & Robertson 1996). Pipits did apparently initially increase in numbers during the phase of forest and scrub clearance following European settlement (Buller 1888, Guthrie-Smith 1927), but no recent studies have found pipits in high densities in any habitat (Beauchamp 1995). The factors that could be controlling pipit numbers include the deteriorating quality of open habitats (Lovegrove 1980), and high levels of predation by endemic avian and introduced mammalian predators (Wilkinson & Wilkinson 1952).
Collections of bird specimens assembled by T.F. Cheeseman
We investigated whether the abundance of the South Island robin (Petroica australis australis) could be explained by the abundance, species richness, diversity, or evenness of leaf-litter invertebrates. We recorded robin abundance indices and collected leaf-litter invertebrates in 3 forest types: mature Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii); mature Monterey pine (Pinus radiata); and old growth kanuka-manuka (Kunzea ericoides – Leptospermum scoparium). Robins were attracted to stations using 5-min playbacks of robin full song in each forest type. Invertebrates were extracted from leaf-litter samples using ‘Tullgren-type’ heat extraction funnels. There was no significant difference between the numbers of robins detected in the Douglas fir (1.14 5 min count-1), or kanuka-manuka forest (0.86 5 min count-1), and no robins were detected in the Monterey pine forest. Kanuka-manuka forest had the greatest biomass and species richness of leaf-litter invertebrates, but the lowest evenness. We believe that the abundance of the South Island robin can not be sufficiently explained by the density or directly of leaf-litter invertebrates.
[First paragraphs…]With the death of Roger Sutton in September 2006 at the age of 84, the Ornithological Society of New Zealand lost a long-standing and stalwart member.A member of the OSNZ for nigh on 50 years, Roger became the Southland Regional Representative in 1966, and served in the role for 17 years, years during which ornithology made considerable strides in Southland and when the local membership reached its peak. Roger was an inspirational RR, introducing many young (and some not so young) people to the delights of bird watching and study. During his time as RR the Southland Region hosted the highly successful 1969 field study course. The members who took part completed the 1st full survey of the main wader sites in the region, and started annual summer and winter wader censuses that were then undertaken at all main roost sites from 1976 to 1999.
[First paragraph…] Occurring on both Auckland and Campbell Is. (52°32.4’S, 169°8.7’E; 11,300 ha), the Auckland Is pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae aucklandicus G.R. Gray) is a subspecies of the New Zealand pipit, Anthus novaeseelandiae novaeseelandiae Gmelin (Turbott 1990). At Campbell Is, the pipit is restricted to small offshore islets. A similarly restricted distribution of this southern subspecies to offshore stacks at Campbell Is is reported by Heather & Robertson (1996), and Foggo (1984) who suggested that this situation is caused by the effects of Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) and cat (Felis silvestris catus) predation. Foggo (1984) noted that the inability of pipits to co-exist with rats on subantarctic islands has been demonstrated in South Georgia by Pye & Bonner (1980). Foggo & Meurk (1981) commented that it is likely that rats and cats have eliminated this species from the main island. Deliberate burning of vegetation as a farming practice in the early 19th century (Wilmshurst et al. 2004) may also have restricted the distribution of the pipit. Foggo (1984) collected pipits on Dent Is in 1975 and reported that they “were immediately obvious and very tame” during a brief helicopter visit to the summit of Jacquemart Is in 1980 (Foggo & Meurk 1981), adding that on each of these offshore islands the birds had fulvous plumage. Thompson et al. (2005) encountered pipits at 2 locations on Campbell Is in 2003 and that they were distributed more extensively in 2004, 2 main centres being around Penguin Bay in the southwest, and towards the south around Eboulé Peak.
Forbes’ parakeet (Cyanoramphus forbesi) is an endangered taxon now endemic to Mangere I and Little Mangere I in the Chatham Is group, 500 km east of New Zealand. This taxon exists now as a single mixed population consisting of Forbes’ parakeets, Chatham I red-crowned parakeets (C. novaezelandiae chathamensis) and their hybrids (Taylor 1975; Nixon 1982; Chan et al. 2006). Increased attention on the conservation of Forbes’ parakeets followed from the presentation of allozyme and mitochondrial DNA control region genetic evidence which suggested that Forbes’ parakeet should be elevated from a subspecies of yellow-crowned parakeet (C. auriceps forbesi) to full species status (Triggs & Daugherty 1996; Boon et al. 2000).
[First paragraphs …] The ‘sandspit’ on the True Right bank of the Manawatu River, in Foxton Beach Village, (175°14’E 40°30’S) is a significant roosting site for migratory and resident waders, gulls, terns, pied stilts (Himantopus himantopus), royal spoonbills (Platalea regia), shags, ducks, and other birds. The ‘sandspit’ is 2-5 ha, depending on the state of the tide, c.1 km from the Tasman Sea, It is surrounded on 3 sides by the main course of the river and by tidal flats, and as well as this natural isolation, it is protected as a “bird sanctuary” by local bye-laws.
On 14 Jan 2006, I observed a flock of 29 wrybills (Anarhynchus frontalis) arrive on the ‘sandspit’, rest briefly, then take flight again and leave the area. The weather was sunny and warm, with a light south-easterly wind, and visibility was good. The tide was rising, being about mid-tide when the birds arrived. The wrybill flock arrived at c.0930 in a compact group and landed on dry sand above high water mark c.20 m in front of my position on the western edge of the ‘sandspit’. The birds settled quickly after landing and, with a few exceptions, they scarcely moved but remained close together,with c.½ of the birds resting on 1 leg. However, the birds in the flock were sufficiently separated to be counted easily using 9 × 25 binoculars. No birds attempted to feed and the flock was silent when resting. The flock rested slightly apart from the numerous lesser knots (Calidris canutus), variable oystercatchers (Haematopus unicolor), bar-tailed godwits (Limosa lapponica), pied stilts (Himantopus himantopus), and several Pacific golden plovers (Pluvialis fulva) that were also roosting on the sandspit. After about 10 min, the wrybills departed, with a few calling as they took flight. The flock quickly gained height to 10–25 m and headed south-west along the river towards the sea, returning the way they had come.
We collected and collated more than 2400 records of the rock wren Xenicus gilviventris, covering the period 1912-2005. These records allowed past and present distribution patterns to be mapped and compared. Areas from which birds have apparently disappeared were identified. The rock wren was common once on mountain ranges along or close to the Southern Alps, South Island, New Zealand, but have been recorded less frequently in many areas after 1980. More numerous records from some areas and during some decades could have resulted from differences in search effort and from inconsistency in record keeping. Nevertheless, there were consistent anecdotal accounts of decline, evidence of predation by stoats and mice, unsuccessful searches in previous strongholds and the recent extinction of 5 confamilial species indicate that the rock wren should be regarded as a threatened species.
Symbols were corrupted in the captions of several figures; captions with the correct symbols are reproduced below…