FLIGHT OF THE GODWIT

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 83, 6 March 1935, Page 4

FLIGHT OF THE GODWIT

TO SIBERIA AND ALASKA. In Forest and Bird, the latest bulletin issued by the Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, there is some interesting information in reference to Pacific godwits (native name Kuaka), which commence their long flight to northern lands this month. “During the northern summer the coasts and lands about the Arctic Circle are the haunts of millions of birds belonging to the group known as shore birds or waders. They vary in size, shape and colour, but practically all of them agree in having flexible beaks adapted lor obtaining food from amongst sand, mud, or fine gravel. Godwits, of which there are several species, are of medium size- and distinguished by a slightly upturned bill. When the northern nesting season is over, practically all waders fly south on migration, and some of them regularly cross the Equator. The Pacific godwit, nesting in Eastern Siberia and Alaska, reaches New Zealand in great numbers every year. “During October flocks begin to arrive on the coasts, where they remain feeding until the end of March. River estuaries, tidal harbours and sandy beaches are tlieir chief haunts, and they range from North Cape to Stewart Island in such localities. Usually they are m flocks, hundreds and even thousands of birds together acting almost in unison as they move from one feeding ground to another. Feeding and resting between meats arc their only concern when in these southern regions. “Between the end of tlieir' nesting season in August and their arrival here in October all the adult birds have shed their worn summer plumage and are clad in their ‘winter’ garb of drab brownish grey and white. It is a pretty barred and spotted pattern, but is without bright colour. “Any young birds that happen to come are much like their parents in appearance. AVitli no concern but ieediug in a rich feeding ground, and no family cares, tho birds soon grow plump and regain the energy they have lost in the long flight south. Tlieir food consists of tiny shellfish, shrimps, and marine worms, each one a tiny morsel in itself, but nutritious and satisfying in any quantity. the middle of February a change in plumage begins to take place, and the old birds, especially the males, begin to show reddish chestnut feathers on the body, and by the end of Alarch some are resplendent m full breeding plumage. It seems likely that onlv tho younger female birds come to New Zealand, for females in red feather are seldom seen here. J he female is distinguished by having a longer bill. . ■ “A good deal has been written about the final departure of godwits for their nesting grounds in Alarch and April, and it has even been stated that they all depart in one huge flock from Spirits Bay in the far north of New Zealand. The facts are, however, that flocks from all over New Zealand Login to move north in Alaich and leave when thev are ready. Probably the largest flocks take their final departure from the Parengafenga. Harbour, but Farewell Spit, in the South Island, is also a jumping-off place. “There is a restless energy shown by these birds ready to leave, and tho slightest alarm or a loud cry from one of them will send the whole flock into the air with a. roar of wings and chorus of wild cries. After several false alarms thev finally string out into a trailing

wedge and disappear in a northerly direction. There is still much speculation and theorising about how these migrating docks keep a course for their destination, but so far the only fact that lias been proved by experiment is that all migratory birds possess a ‘homing sense’ enabling them to head consistently for a. point indefinitely distant. It should be added that a few noil-breeding birds remain in New Zealand throughout the year. “Not very much is known about the nesting habits of the Pacific godwit. its haunts are the tundra slopes of Arctic lands beyond the limits of human habitation, and the nests may be seen by only a few Eskimo and an occasional naturalist. In recent years American naturalists have described the nests, mere depressions lined with grass, the four pear-shaped mottled eggs, and the downy young that grow so fast that within a few weeks they can go with their parents on the long return flight to the feeding grounds of the South. “There is still left in this subject of bird migration across the Equator much of the mystery that was sensed by the ancient Maori, with his limited knowledge of overseas geography, when he asked : ‘Who has seen the nest of the kuakaP’ Our godwits perform one of the longest regular migrations known, and may well be ranked amongst the more remarkable of New Zealand birds. Fortunately their northern breeding grounds are undisturbed and likely to remain so. Their feeding grounds here, except for occasional reclamation and pollution, are also unchanged, and there is no reason to fear reduction in their numbers from these causes. A short open season for the shooting of godwit is permittee} at present, but with the increase of settlement and rapid transport by launch and car it will undoubtedly be necessary to prohibit strictly nnv shooting of this species if visiting godwits are to have a sporting chance of returning each year to the Arctic to breed.”