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Kiore ( Rattus exulans ) predation on the eggs of the Little Shearwater ( Puffinus assimilis haurakiensis )

  • Publication Type

    Journal Article

  • Publication Year

    1996

  • Author(s)

    A.M. Booth; E.O. Minot; R.A. Fordham; J.G. Innes

  • Journal Name

    Notornis

  • Volume, Issue

    43, 3

  • Pagination

    147-153

  • Article Type

    paper

Keywords

egg predation; Puffinus assimilis; Rattus exulans; shearwater


Kiore ( Rattus exulans ) predation on the eggs of the Little Shearwater ( Puffinus assimilis haurakiensis )

Notornis, 43 (3), 147-153

A.M. Booth; E.O. Minot; R.A. Fordham; J.G. Innes (1996)

Article Type: paper

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Evidence of predation by kiore (Rattus exulans) on Little Shearwater (Puffinus assimilis haurakiensis) eggs was obtained on Lady Alice Island, Hen and Chickens Group, during the 1994 breeding season. A time-lapse video camera filmed a kiore removing a Little Shearwater egg from a nesting chamber. This egg was later recovered, showing signs of damage typical of rat predation. A kiore was also filmed breaking open and eating a punctured hen egg that had been placed in a shearwater burrow. Sixteen (55%) of the 29 nests monitored failed during incubation, and predation by kiore was the probable cause of failure for up to 75% of these nests.