Publications Archive

Four new species, black shag, feral pigeon, shining cuckoo and long-tailed cuckoo, and one new breeding species, chaffinch, were recorded from the Snares in the summer of 1976-77. A total of 57 species (23 breeding species) have now been recorded from the Snares. The origins of the new recorded species are discussed. Several interesting band recoveries are presented.

A diurnal rhythm of the numbers of Adelie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) leaving from the rookery was observed at Cape Bird, Ross Island, Antarctica. No diurnal rhythm in numbers of birds returning to the rookery was observed.

Several puzzling cases of foot-trembling are described in the black-fronted dotterel (Charadrius melanops) in the southern part of the North Island, preceded by an account of its normal habitat and feeding methods during the year. The significance of foot-trembling is discussed in the light of discussion in British Birds. Similar observations on any New Zealand birds are called for.

The disproportionately large kiwi egg and its formation were studied by following the increase in body mass of a hen through an egg cycle. Indirect calorimetry of the hen and bomb calorimetry of a kiwi egg were used with body mass data to estimate the rate of energy expenditure, the peak energy demand during egg production and the extent of fasting at laying time. The energy content of whole fresh egg was 11.55 Kj per g. The yolk, containing 91% of the energy of the kiwi egg, was completed during the first 74 days of the cycle, adding 174 to 203% to her standard metabolic budget.

The breeding cycle of the Westland black petrel (Procellaria westlandica) is outlined from observations made in the 1970 and 1971 breeding seasons and from the literature. Adults arrive at the colonies in late March to excavate and claim burrows, reform pairs and build nests. Egg laying commences in early May and seems to be preceded by a honeymoon period. Most eggs are laid in a short peak period of about three weeks in May. Hatching begins about the third week in July following an incubation period of about 57–65 days. Chicks are brooded for up to two weeks and then spend the rest of their 120+ day fledging period alone except during feeding visits by the parents. Very heavy egg and chick losses were sustained in the two seasons studied and the disappearance of big chicks in September each season suggests that the colonies may be “birded.” The long incubation and fledging periods relative to some other Procellariidae are interpreted as an adaptation to a sparse and variable food supply. Competition for food with summer breeding shearwaters such as P. parkinsoni seems the most plausible explanation for the winter breeding season of P. westlandica.

51 Australasian harriers were trapped in North Canterbury during the winters of 1974 and 1975. Data on wing, tail and tarsus length, and weight, are presented. Trends in colour barring of the wings and tail are correlated with age as expressed by iris colour. Some questions are raised from these data concerning possible morphological and behavioural changes in the New Zealand population. Moult sequences are briefly described together with some notes and figures on disease and injuries.

Twenty-four bird species were recorded in the beech forests of the Hope catchment during a survey of vegetation and associated animals. Vegetation descriptions were classified into associations, and some variation in bird frequency and species was observed between associations and at different altitudes.

A white-capped noddy (Anous minutus Boie, 1844) was seen in the afternoon of 3 April 1977 at the Taieri River Mouth, Otago. This is the 8th published record from New Zealand and the southernmost for the country (and the world). Correlation of timing with preceding weather patterns indicates that the bird came from Norfolk Island (and not the Kermadecs) and that it was wind-carried either during typhoon “Norman” which during 15–24 March swept southwards past Norfolk Island to western North Island or was caught in a strong southerly airstream passing Norfolk Island on 29 March and was carried south before an advancing cold front, making land-fall in Fiordland or coastal Southland.

In 1865 Buller named a ‘hitherto undescribed’ crested grebe Podiceps Hectori after its collector. Several other records and observations precede Buller’s description: Heaphy saw ‘Grebes,’ possibly crested grebes, on Lake Rotoroa, Nelson, in 1846; Grey presented a specimen of ‘P. cristatus‘ from New Zealand to the British Museum (Natural History) in 1847; Potts ‘first made its acquaintance’ on Lake Selfe, Canterbury, in 1856 but did not publish this till 1869; Haast in 1861 published a definite record of ‘crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus ?)’ on Lake Rotoroa, Nelson; Hector’s diaries indicate that he collected and identified the bird on which Buller based his Podiceps Hectori at Lake Wakatipu in April 1863 (Hector listed ‘Crested Grebe, Podiceps Cristatus‘ in his note-book for May-June 1863).