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Feeding Behaviour of New Zealand Kingfishers at an Estuary in Winter

Notornis, 36 (2), 107-113

L.M. Hayes (1989)

Article Type: Paper

The feeding behaviour of New Zealand Kingfishers (Halcyon sancta vagans) overwintering at Brooklands Lagoon, a coastal North Canterbury estuary, is described. Kingfishers watched for crabs from perches on or near the mudflats and caught crabs on 96% of dives. Kingfishers then battered them against a perch; parts of the crabs such as the chelae were knocked off in the process. Fallen chelae (n = 225) provided information about species, size and sex of crabs taken. Crabs were collected in mud samples from 10 sites to compare the size, sex and species of crabs present on the mudflats with those taken by Kingfishers. Kingfishers fed only on the mud crab Helice crassa, which was the most abundant crab species on the mudflats. Male crabs and large crabs were taken more often proportionally than they were in the mud samples.

The distribution of Buller’s shearwater (Puffinus bulleri) in New Zealand coastal waters and in the Tasman Sea

Notornis, 35 (3), 203-215

J.A.F. Jenkins (1988)

Article Type: Paper

Records gathered since 1960 in the coastal waters of New Zealand and in the Tasman Sea are plotted. They show the September return of Buller’s Shearwaters (Puffinus bulleri) from migration; their distribution through the austral summer; and their almost total withdrawal from the region by the end of May. Their present wider distribution is shown, apparently related to the increasing numbers of breeding birds at the Poor Knights Islands.
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