FIRST RECORD IN N.Z. OF FAN-TAILED CUCKOO

Press, Issue 29236, 21 June 1960, Page 14

FIRST RECORD IN N.Z. OF FAN-TAILED CUCKOO

A bird killed by a cat at Governor’s Bay has been identified as an Australian fan-tailed cuckoo and this is the first time its presence has been recorded in New Zealand, according to the Assistant Director of the Canterbury Museum (Mr E. G. Turbott) yesterday.

It is about the size of a blackbird and thus smaller than the New Zealand long-tailed cuckoo; but it is larger than the shining cuckoo. Its colours are delicate shades of grey above and rustred below. A conspicuous feature is the prominently barred black and white tail. The bird’s name is derived from its habit of tilting up the tail and spreading it when alighting. A small white “flash” at the angle of each wing can be seen in certain positions. The specimen was taken to the museum quite undamaged. Mr Turbott said. It was found last week by Mrs M R. Page, of Governor’s Bay, who handed it to Mr R. Griffin, who took it to the museum for identification. As it is possible that the bird was accompanied on its long flight by others, Mr Turbott is anxious to have further reports or remains of birds accidentally killed like the one at Governor’s Bay. “Such immigrants to New Zealand are absolutely protected under the same provision as that for native birds.” he said. "In Australia the fan-tailed cuckoo is only partly migratory, unlike most other cuckoos.” Mr Turbott said there had been a particularly large number of records of Australian birds in New Zealand in the last 15 years. The passage over the Tasman sea seemed to give little difficulty There was very little information on the conditions which caused their departure from Australia. “In the case of some water birds, drought in Australia might have been responsible.” Mr Turbott said. "The passage to New Zealand would be assisted by the prevailing strong westerlies.” Several species of Australian birds had actually settled in New

Zealand in the last 20 years, the most familiar being the whitefaced heron' which had become fairly common in both inland and coastal districts. On the other hand, some of the Australian invasions (such as that of the spine-tailed swift) had not resulted in the establishment of colonies, he said. An invasion of these swifts occurred in 1942, many being reported, especially from the West Coast. Some specimens were found dead and retrieved for the museum.