NATURE NOTES

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 121, 25 May 1931, Page 16

NATURE NOTES

NEW ZEALAND BIRDS

POSITION REVIEWED

(By It. H. D. Stidolph, E.A.0.U.)

There is reason to believe.that many species of native- birds appear to be maintaining their numbers and in some cases nro actually increasing. There are others, however, about which no reports have been received* for years,_ and as time goes on it seems almost too great a hope to expect that (hey still survive. Ncu" Zealand's most famous group of birds, the kiwis, happily are found in several districts of both islands, although they are absent from vast areas. The North Island kiwi has not been reported in recent years south of -\Voo_ville, but iir parts of Taranaici, the back country of the Auckland district, and in North Auckland, it is found in varying numbers. This species has been transferred to Little Barrier Island sanctuary, where it has established itself. The South Island kiwi occurs .on the western portion of the island and Stewart Island, in some localities being, common. Either this species or the North Island kiwi has been transferred to Kapili Island sanctuary and is doing well. Tho large grey kiwi, or roa, which, is found in the South Island west of the dividingrange, apparently from one end of the island to the other, has likewise been transferred to an island sanctuary, a numbc.. having been released on Little Barrier, where they are thriving well. On the mainland it is, according to all reports, not uncommon in some districts. A fourth species, known as tho little grey kiwi, occurs in the South Island from Marlborough and Nelson down the west coast to Western Otago. It has also been liberated on Kapiti, and is thoroughly established there. At a general view, tho position as regards tho kiwis appears to be quite satisfactory, as all species are on island sanctuaries, ..and even if they should disappear from the mainland their survival on these refuges seems assured.

The penguins appear to bo'in no danger of extinction. The yellowcrowned species finds safe breeding quarters on Stewart Island, while the crested penguin is secure, among other places, in-, tho Sounds of Otago. The most, common species around the New Zealand ..coast, the blue penguin, is widely distributed in suitable localities, including Littlo Barrier anil Kapiti, while its near relative, tho whiteftippered penguin, which is confined to Banks Peninsula, is said to bo plentiful. A bird which is sometimes mistaken for a shag, the. crested grebe, although not now found in. the North Island, occurs on many of the lakes of the South Island, becoming-more common in the southern portion. The littlo grobo, or dabchick, is. reported to be widely distributed in both islands. It is a species, however, that many people would overtook, and although it is seldom . reported it apparently is not uncommon, although at least in one locality it'has disappeared in recent years. Petrels arc particularly well represented in New Zealand waters, altogether forty-four species, including ten albatrosses or mollyhawks, having been recognised as occurring. Many, however, are stragglers to this country, but even so there are a large number of breeding species. No apparent diminution, in the numbers of any of these birds has been recorded, and as most, if not all, breed on little-visited islands, they should maintain their favourable position.

Tho shags, or the cormorants were the subject of a recent review in this column.- Another, species in tho same order or birds, the gannet, breeds in several islands around the North Island coast, and also on the mainland at Cape Kidnappers, near Napier. It is comforting to know that tho latter breeding place escaped damage in the disastrous earthquake. Among ducks the paradise duck is still common in the South Island, and in ono or two 'localities in the North Island, but not occurring in the North Auckland district. The grey duck is common and widespread, being found in all suitable localities. Tho little grey teal, n species seldom reported, appears to be more common than is generally supposed, but the brown duck, which is said to •be generally distributed throughout both islands, has suffered somewhat by settlement conditions in some districts, and has decreased. The shoveller or spoonbill is not uncommon in many localities throughout New Zealand, but the scamp, or black teal, is disappearing from ■ some parts of the country, although still occurring in fair numbers in more remote districts. Nothing lias been hoard of tho whitooyed. duck for well over thirty years, but the mountain streams still harbour a'few pairs-'of the blue duck.

One' of the most useful birds in New Zealand, 'the black-fronted tern, or tara, is much, more abundant in the South Island than in the North, in fact, it seems to be seldom reported from tho North Island. The almost cosmopolitan Caspian tern is found right round the coast, and sometimes up the larger rivers. The little fairy tern, which is credited, with breeding on South Island river beds, is more often seen in that island than in the North, but the larger and most graceful whitefronted species is abundant everywhere. Another common bird is the large blackbacked gull, which performs useful service as a scavenger. Tho smaller and much more attractive red-billed gull is likewise abundant all round the coast. A near relative, distinguished as the black:billed gull, is really an inhabitant of the South Island, where it is found in inland districts as well as on the coast. The voracious sea hawk' breeds at Stewart Island and in tho Otago t Sounds, aud a northern species, the parasitic skua, visits the North Island every year.