Publications Archive

Subfossil and midden remains show the species was once distributed throughout the entire length of New Zealand and there seems little doubt that takahe were scattered throughout a much larger area of South Island during the latter half of the nineteenth century and in the early decades of this century than is generally known.

The often-told story of the antics of Adelie penguins fearful of entering water where leopard seals may be lurking is recounted and reinterpretations of this behaviour pattern are discussed. Few observations have been made of the methods used by the seals in capturing penguins and only one illustration of a ‘ near miss,’ a penguin that had escaped although with some injury, seems to have been published. Birds badly injured seen at Cape Adare in 1965 are illustrated and discussed in relation to the particular conditions at this site, the history and geographical setting of which is outlined. Accounts of predation by leopard seals, as given in the literature, are detailed and commented upon in the light of the casual observations at Cape Adare and of recent field work in the U.S. Antarctic Research Programme. Observations of such predation are shown to have been by good fortune rather than by deliberate intent. Physical conditions of ice, tides and local geography, as well as the numerical abundance of seals and the proximity of their breeding and foraging areas to the penguin rookeries are important but may vary in significance. The effect of leopard seal predation on the overall mortality of populations of both young and adult penguins is considered negligible in relation to the numerical size of their rookeries.

Sight records of the grey heron allegedly seen in New Zealand in 1947 and 1951 and recorded in the Classified Notes of the OSNZ are shown to be attributable to a youthful confusion with the white-faced heron (Ardea novaehollandiae) then less common than now. The background of this cautionary tale is given, resulting in the specimen of the grey heron in the Carnegie Museum of Natural History documented by Parkes (1974) representing the only genuine evidence of the occurrence of this species within the New Zealand Region. Following W.R.B. Oliver’s opinions expressed in his review of the first OSNZ checklist, some comments are made on the advisability of any checklist committee supporting its decisions on taxonomic or distributional changes by more detailed publications of its reasons. It is not considered sufficient to merge taxa or discard dubious records without documentation.

Details are given of the following evidence leading to an assessment of the number of takahe in the “Special Area,” a region of 518 sq. km in the Murchison Mountains: the number of known takahe ” territories ” in the various localities or areas of the Murchison Mountains from 1948 to 1971 inclusive; observations made by different organizations in the ” Special Area ” (excluding the Takahe Valley – Point Burn Study Area) since 1948; the substance of the observations on which the population estimate is based; details of field observations and estimates of total number of territories and total adult population in the ” Special Area ” during the 1960s. The total population of takahe is estimated to number about 435–510 with a possible maximum in excess of 560 birds.

Cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis) first arrived in New Zealand in 1963 and have since been seen in increasing numbers, particularly during 1972-73. On 23 November 1972 two adult birds (probably a pair) in full breeding plumage, accompanied by a young bird in the white immature plumage, were seen in a paddock with cattle at Paretai, near the mouth of the Clutha River, south-eastern Otago. The egrets associated with white- faced herons and twice flew to nearby macrocarpa trees where there were several abandoned heron nests. A week before, the two adult cattle egrets had been seen with two young but one had disappeared. From their appearance, behaviour and local circumstances it is suggested that they were a pair with a young and that they had nested nearby together with two or three pairs of white-faced herons, deriving the stimulus for breeding from this association.

A pair of white-winged black terns (Chlidonias leucopterus) nested at a South Canterbury lagoon during the New Zealand summer of 1973-74. One chick was hatched on the second attempt, but it apparently did not fledge. This is not only the first documented record of white-winged black terns nesting in New Zealand but also the first undoubted record for the entire Southern Hemisphere.