Morning Report and the storm petrel: how the morning bird call helped reveal where storm petrels probably breed in Fiordland
Colin Miskelly1
1 Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, PO Box 467, Wellington 6140
(colin.miskelly@tepapa.govt.nz)
Evidence that grey-backed storm petrels (Garrodia nereis) breed within Fiordland has continued to accumulate since an initial compilation of sightings was published in Notornis in 2017. In addition to numerous sightings of live birds spread over an area of more than 26,000 km2, and up to 90 km from the coast, adults with bare brood patches have been caught, and several fledglings with down attached have been found. A clue to where the storm petrels might breed within Fiordland was revealed in March 2019, when a passive acoustic recording device used to monitor kiwi call rates at a remote site picked up several mystery bird calls. The sequence of events that led to the identification of the calls is described, including the unexpected role of the Morning Report bird call that is played on Radio New Zealand every business day.