September 2025 Birds New Zealand magazine published

September 19th, 2025

The September 2025 Birds New Zealand magazine has been published with a cover photo featuring a trio of Orange-fronted Kākāriki chicks at their nest taken by Sean McGrath.

This edition contains news of the latest bird research funded by the Birds New Zealand Projects Assistance Fund and the David Medway and Marj Davis scholarships, on the health and diet of the Kororā Little Penguin colony at Pōhatu Flea Bay on Banks Peninsula, urban bird distribution and nesting in Christchurch, and New Zealand Dotterel breeding success on Motuihe Island in the Hauraki Gulf.

It also includes reports on the 2025 annual conference held in Auckland over King’s Birthday weekend, the award winners announced at the conference, Tim Lovegrove’s citation for the 2025 Robert Falla Award, minutes of the Society’s 85th AGM, and the appointment of two new Council members (Brenda Greene and Nic Rawlence).

There are also reports on a new assessment of the birdlife on Manuae Atoll in the Cook Islands funded by the 2024 Pacific Islands Bird Conservation Research Fund and the welcome news that Kiwi Pukupuku Little Spotted Kiwi have been found in the wild on the mainland for the first time in decades.

There is an illustrated article on the resurgence of New Zealand ornithology by editor Michael Szabo and an opinion piece on “Moa de-extinction: Fact of fiction?” by Associate Professor Nic Rawlence of the University of Otago.

There are quarterly reports from President Natalie Forsdick and all of our regional representatives, plus the bi-annual Bird News illustrated report on unusual and interesting bird sightings from around the country over the previous six months.

The link to the low-resolution PDF of the magazine is here:

https://www.birdsnz.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Birds-NZ-Magazine47_September-2025_web83.pdf