The brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) is an opportunistic herbivore feeding mainly on leaves supplemented by a variety of other plant materials. Possums are known to eat more than 100 native plant species and a wide range of introduced plants. Diet varies markedly between regions but within any particular region is concentrated on a few plant species (Green 1984). In addition to plant material, possums will eat invertebrates (Gilmore 1967, Clout 1977, Warburton 1978, Morgan 1981, Cowan & Moeed 1987) and small vertebrates, such as birds (Perham 1924, Morgan 1981) and mice (Cowan 1990). Captive possums readily accept meat (Cowan 1990). This article describes remains left by possums that have fed on birds and their eggs. Feeding trials were carried out with captive possums to see whether they would eat dead birds and eggs and to see what sign remained after feeding. In addition, we have brought together various accounts of possums preying or scavenging on birds and other animals.
Historical records of South Island breeding of NZ dotterel (Charadrius obscurus) are discussed. The latest discovered South Island breeding record was 1881. No record of South Island coastal breeding was found. Numbers of birds wintering on the Southland coast declined substantially and rapidly from 1972 to 1992. The cause of decline is believed to be a decline in the Stewart Island breeding population. Colour-banded adults had allegiance to a specific wintering ground. Food items of birds at Stewart Island included 10-20 mm juvenile flounders.
The chocolate albatross of Latham (which was the foundation of Diomedea spadicea of Gmelin, 1789) was based for all relevant taxonomic purposes on the painting by Sydney Parkinson of a wandering albatross taken in 1768 in the South Atlantic Ocean off the Rio de la Plata, Daniel Solander’s manuscript description of the specimen indicates it was probably an example of the population breeding at the Tristan da Cunha group and Gough island, in which case dabbenena of Mathews, 1929 as the name of the subspecies would be pre-dated by 140 years by spadicea of Gmelin, 1789. Continuing confusion over the identity of the population to which the wandering albatross described by Linnaeus belonged has prompted a full examination of the sources on which he based his Diomedea exulans. As a result of this examination it is concluded that exulans as the name of the nominate subspecies of the wandering albatross is properly applicable to the larger southern populations which breed at South Georgia, Marion and Prince Edward, Crozet, Kerguelen and Macquarie Islands.
The population dynamics of a local group of kea (Nestor notabilis) was studied at a refuse dump in Arthur’s Pass National Park over the course of three successive summers. The mean number of birds that foraged at the dump during the summer was estimated as 20 juveniles, 10 subadults, and 36 adults. An average of 11% of these birds were females. The number of adults was quite stable across years. The total population of kea in this area was estimated to be between 88 and 119, or in the order of 0.018 to 0.040 birds per hectare. Mortality did not exceed 16-20% per year for adult and subadult birds, but it was probably higher for younger birds. Male juveniles all appeared to disperse from the area within the first two years; female juveniles, on the other hand, were frequently resighted in subsequent seasons. This difference in behaviour was statistically significant. The abundance of fledglings suggested that as few as 10% of adult males may breed in any given year.
From 10 to 16 August 1991, we surveyed the complex of sounds making up Breaksea and Dusky Sounds, the Acheron Passage and Wet Jacket Arm, Fiordland, for Fiordland crested penguins. Two islands in Doubtful Sound were also checked. Minimum total estimates were 24 nests and 62 penguins in Doubtful Sound and 47 nests and 106 penguins in the Breaksea/Dusky complex. Penguins known to be on Breaksea I. and adjacent islands were not surveyed. Relatively more penguins were found nesting in caves or under rock overhangs and fewer were found in dugouts under trees than were found in the more northern sounds in 1990. No penguins were found on the many islands in Dusky Sound formed from steep-sided granite domes. The results support our suggestion made in 1990 that there are fewer than 1000 nests for the species annually.