Otago Newsletter

September 30th, 2025

Download the latest Otago newsletter here

Other recent newsletters from around the regions are available here

Waikato Newsletter

September 30th, 2025

Download the latest Waikato newsletter here

Other recent newsletters from around the regions are available here

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

Notornis – September edition published

September 19th, 2025

The latest issue of Notornis (Volume 72, Part 3, September 2025) has been published and is available via the Current Quarterly Publications page, or click on the links below.

FULL ISSUE:
Notornis Volume 72 Part 2

PAPERS:
Birds of Aitutaki, Cook Islands

Breeding success of little penguins (kororā, Eudyptula minor) in Wellington, 2014-2023: a first record of double brooding on North Island, New Zealand

Factors affecting shorebird hatching outcomes at the Ashley River/Rakahuri-Saltwater Creek estuary, New Zealand

Banded rail (Gallirallus philippensis) detection at Ruakaka estuary before, during, and after mangrove (Avicennia marina) removal

Dawn counts of spotted shags (Phalacrocorax punctatus) at Tata Beach, Golden Bay, 2009–2018

SHORT NOTES:
Incidental distribution and activity of the flightless Campbell Island teal (Anas nesiotis) on Campbell Island, New Zealand

Second successful breeding of Australian gull-billed tern (Gelochelidon nilotica macrotarsa) in New Zealand

Plague skinks (Lampropholis delicata) as a significant dietary component of the Australasian bittern or matuku-hūrepo (Botaurus poiciloptilus)