Publications Archive

White-breasted woodswallows in Fiji nest in trees and on cliffs. Small sexually-mixed groups select the site, build a series of preliminary nests and the nest proper, copulate indiscriminately, and cooperate in incubation and raising the young. Detailed descriptions are given of observations of behaviour (including preening, scratching, hunting for food, song, roosting and defence) and of nesting (including site selection and building, copulation, incubation and care of young).

A count was made of birds in the Washdyke Lagoon, South Canterbury, monthly from January 1966 to December 1972. Thirty-five species were seen regularly and a further eleven species were rare visitors. Numbers are correlated with seasonal movements and breeding cycles. Previously published observations, recorded here, show a reduction in the number of breeding species since the late 1940s. As increased urbanisation may affect bird populations, a continued monitoring programme is warranted.

A colony of North Island wekas (Gallirallus australis greyi) has been successfully established at Rawhiti, Bay of Islands, as a result of five liberations in the summers of 1966–1971. This account is written mainly to help other amateurs who may consider obtaining wekas from the Wildlife Service and trying to establish colonies elsewhere. The number of birds required is discussed as well as details concerning the construction of the cage, time in the cage, and feeding. The account describes the effect of predators on the birds and the effect of wekas on other wildlife and the neighbours. It includes a map of the area illustrating a weka count in the Rawhiti area during January 1976. Most of the wekas counted at that time were bred in the area.

During 1974, 2909 kilometres of coast were patrolled by 147 members of the Ornithological Society of New Zealand and their friends. The 24,747 dead seabirds found is a record. Two large wrecks contributed to this total. During April and May some 3,500 blue penguins (Eudyptula minor) came ashore on both sides of Northland. During June and July more than 13,000 prions (Pachyptila spp) came ashore along the whole of the west coast of New Zealand. Both these wrecks were apparently caused by starvation following periods of adverse weather. Other minor, localised, wrecks are recorded. Unusual finds were one soft-plumaged petrel (Pterodroma mollis), one grey ternlet (Procelsterna cerulea albivitta), and two erect-crested penguins (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus sclateri).