Australasian bitterns (Botaurus stellaris poiciloptilus) were studied in the Whangamarino wetlands in the autumn and winter of 1986. A seasonal difference in the time of feeding was noted, as well as a local movement to feeding grounds. A decrease in the number of birds seen in the study area in winter seemed to be related to the duck hunting season and high water levels. A mixture of water purslane and willow weed on a wet substrate was the preferred habitat. “Surveillance posture” seems a better description of the traditional “freeze” behaviour. The birds gave this response even when there was no apparent danger.
New anatomical evidence shows that New Zealand’s extinct Stephens Island wren (Traversia lyalli Rothschild, 1894) had a much reduced wing skeleton, short, rounded, soft-quilled wings and an almost acarinate sternum. It was therefore the only known completely flightless passerine.
The birds of Upolu and Savai’i, Western Samoa, were surveyed in August 1984. Birds were counted along a 2 km transect in O le Pupu-Pu’e National Park and 5-minute bird index counts were used in upland and lowland Savai’i. There was a significant difference in the composition and density of bird communities between partly logged and unmodified tava (Pomeria pinnata) forest. The composition of bird communities differed at varying altitudes both in the national park and in Savai’i. There were more species at higher altitudes on Savai’i, and rare species were recorded at only the higher altitudes on Upolu and Savai’i. The relative abundance and occurrence of threatened bird species were noted, and possible sightings of puna’e, the Samoan woodrail, in upland Savai’i were recorded.
In blue-eyed and king shags (Phalacrocorax atriceps and P. albiventer), moult of the rectrices is irregular but not random. R1 (Rectrix 1) was usually the first to be replaced in sub-adult blue-eyed shags but not in adults. In blue-eyed shags, moulting rectrices were most often separated by one or two non-moulting rectrices. When two adjacent rectrices were moulting in adult blue-eyed shags, one was usually over half grown before the other began moulting, or both were about the same length or missing. Up to six rectrices moult simultaneously in sub-adults and up to eight in adults. Moult of rectrices is usually not symmetrical in blue-eyed shags. In adults, the number of moulting feathers and the number of waves are correlated among flight feathers. In flight feathers of sub-adults, the number of moulting feathers is not correlated but the number of moulting waves and the number of retained juvenile flight feathers are correlated. Most moult of flight and body feathers takes place after breeding, but a limited amount occurs during breeding and in winter.