Many Pterodroma species are threatened, and translocations to predator-free islands are desirable for several species. As these birds are highly philopatric, only chicks that have not yet imprinted on their natal colony should be transferred but techniques to identify suitably aged Pterodroma nestlings are needed. We investigated feeding frequency, meal size and chick growth in Pycroft’s petrel (P. pycrofti) on Red Mercury Island, New Zealand to provide this information. Mean daily probability of being fed decreased from 0.47 60-23 days before fledging to 0.004 in the last seven days before fledging. Mean meal size was 34 g and morphometric measurements at fledging were similar to mean adult measurements. The best indicator of chick age was wing length. Transferable Pycroft’s petrel chicks should have wings measuring 149 – 184 mm and weigh 218 – 250 g.
Specimens of 12 species of birds from New Zealand and the Society Islands collected during Cook’s second voyage round the world (1772-1775) were described and illustrated by Anders Sparrman in Museum Carlsonianum (1786-1789). The Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm holds six specimens considered to be type specimens of some of those species. However, documentation discussed here indicates only three, spotted shag (Stictocarbo punctatus) and red-crowned parakeet (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae novaezelandiae) from New Zealand, and Tahiti lorikeet (Vini peruviana) from the Society Islands, are type specimens.
Kermadec petrels (Pterodroma neglecta) are shown to be resident in the Atlantic Ocean, breeding at Ilha da Trindade, off Brazil, South Atlantic Ocean and migrating to the North Atlantic. Previously mistaken for Trindade petrels (Pterodroma arminjoniana) at Ilha da Trindade, they were identified by the whitish shafts and largely white inner webs of their primaries and, at the colony, by their distinctive call. Records of five non-breeding Kermadec petrels in the North Atlantic Ocean include the first Atlantic specimen from western United Kingdom in 1908. All of eight identifications of Kermadec petrels from Atlantic waters were dark phase birds, like those identified from the Indian Ocean, though, in the Pacific Ocean, the species is polymorphic. Trindade petrels from Ilha da Trindade are mostly the light phase (59%, n = 71), outnumber Kermadec petrels there by about 20:1 in collections, and disperse into the North Atlantic Ocean. As 70% (n = 43) of these two species combined observed at sea in the North Atlantic were dark phase, about 49% of North Atlantic records may have been Kermadec petrels. As they are in Pacific waters, Kermadec petrels may be more migratory and reach higher latitudes than do Trindade petrels. The Halipeurus feather louse hosted by Kermadec petrels in the Pacific Ocean has been identified from both petrels in Atlantic waters, but that hosted by Trindade petrels elsewhere has not been reported from Atlantic waters, possibly indicating earliest colonisation by Kermadec petrels. The morphometrics of Trindade petrels in the Atlantic Ocean cannot be established accurately until the generally larger Kermadec petrels are excluded from data sets.
The Checklist of the birds of New Zealand (3rd edition, 1990) contains errors in the citation of several taxa described by John Gould. Those listed for Apteryx owenii, Podiceps cristatus australis, Puffinus carneipes, Procellaria (=Pterodroma) solandri, Thalassidroma (=Oceanites) nereis, Oxyura australis, Gallinula tenebrosa, Himantopus leucocephalus, Himantopus novaezelandiae, Numenius minutus, Limosa limosa melanuroides, Nestor notabilis, Hirundo tahitica neoxena, Collocalia (=Hirundo) ariel and Ocypterus (=Artamus) superciliosus and Ocypterus personatus are highlighted and corrected.
The diet of black shags (Phalacrocorax carbo) at Pencarrow, New Zealand, during April – October 1999 is described from otoliths, jawbones and pharyngeal tooth plates found in 119 regurgitated pellets of adults and four stomachs and two regurgitations of chicks. Black shags were primarily marine foragers, with only one freshwater item, crayfish (Paranephrops planifrons) among 420 food items identified. Half of the diet comprised spotty (Notolabrus celidotus), but in total, 22 species were found in the pellets, including 17 fish species. The size of fish otoliths indicated significant differences in the length of the 11 most frequently occurring fish species. These ranged from an estimated length of 106 mm to 275 mm (mean length 220 mm) and were similar to those reported from other NZ studies. The mean length of fish taken by adults in winter was smaller compared with those in autumn and spring.