NATIVE BIRD LIFE

Southland Times, Issue 21579, 17 December 1931, Page 8

NATIVE BIRD LIFE

STUDY OF PETRELS NATURALISTS’ INTERESTING EXPERIENCES SOLOMON ISLAND VISITED A love of bird-life which would induce three men to travel long distances, brave the discomforts of an unpleasant sea voyage, and take up temporary residence on a lonely island, would seem to the uninitiated to pass all understanding, but according to three naturalists, Mr Edgar F. Stead, of Christchurch, Major R. Wilson, of Bulls, Rangitikei, and Mr E. Hay, of Pigeon Bay, Banks Peninsula, who returned on Tuesday from Solomon and adjacent islands, where they have been making a study of the native bird life and more particularly the habits of the petrel family, they were more than compensated for the trouble they had undertaken. No one who has not heard the full-throated chorus of the feathered songsters natural to New Zealand when the first streaks of dawn are lighting the sky could appreciate the heritage New Zealand has in her native birds, they stated. The naturalists travelled to Solomon Island in a small boat and, having established their headquarters there, visited the adjacent islands in a 14-foot boat equipped with an outboard motor. They were ably assisted in reaching their objectives by Messrs J. Morrison and Dixon, of Bluff, and expressed warm appreciation of that assistance upon their return. They also expressed delight at the excellent accommodation they had secured on the island through being allowed to use the hut of Mr W. Leader, of Riverton. “There are many excellent huts on the islands,” Mr Stead said, “and Mr Leader’s is one of the best. We were astonished to find such a splendid hut there; it was like a week-end crib and was equipped to the last detail, even having linoleum on the floor.” “And punga paths outside,” Major Wilson added enthusiastically.

Mr Stead explained that he and his friends had visited the islands to study the bird life there and particularly to secure photographs of petrels. The weather had not been favourable for photographic work, but, with one exception, he had secured all the photographs he wanted. “At least,” he amended, “I have the undeveloped negatives and I hope to get good photographs.” Destruction by Rats and Cats. They had visited a number of islands in their boat, always returning to Solomon Island to spend the night, and they had seen a wonderful variety of bird life, both land and sea birds being abundant on many of the islands. Greatly to their regret they found an entire absence of native birds on some of the islands and this, they declared, was due to the presence of cats or rats or both. “We had only to get within 100 yards of an island to tell whether there were rats or cats there or not,” said Mr Stead. “If these animals were not there we would be greeter! by a chorus of bird song, but if cats or rats were present there would be an absolute dead silence. We ran into a beautiful harbour on one occasion on an island covered with splendid bush and there wasn’t a sound of birds. There were either rats or cats there.”

Elaborating this point later, Mr Stead said he would like to impress upon anyone visiting the islands the necessity of keeping them free from rats or cats. “Tire last time I. was down here,” he said, “I was on Owens Island and I saw English birds there, but I didn't see a solitary native bird, and there were rats and cats there. It is an old, old story; we cannot appreciate the fineness of the points of evolution. Birds that have lived in the same environment as rats and cats can continue to exist when they are present, but our native birds cannot.” A claim had been made that there were rats on Big South Cape, but Mr Stead had examined the island particularly for them and could find no trace. He was consequently satisfied that there were no rats there.

“I am particularly interested in petrels,” Mr Stead said in the course of the interview. Petrels were difficult birds to study because they came ashore at night and nested in holes with the result that it was very difficult to say what petrels inhabited any particular island. In view of the fact that the petrels only visited the land during the night, Mr Stead went to the islands equipped with two powerful acetylene lamps fitted with motor car lamp reflectors, and these were used to throw a beam of light on the birds when they were studied at night. By this means two species were classified that would not otherwise have been secured. The study of the birds had to be carried out after the arrival of the mutton-birds on the island because nothing else would venture out when the mutton-birds were flying around in their millions. During the course of his stay on the island Mr Stead classified the broad billed prion or whale bird, the diving petrel and the mottled petrel. The Mystery Bird. The naturalists saw no trace of the mysterious hakuwai, but Mr Stead said he was almost certain that it was a petrel; either the White-chinned or the Whiteheaded. “That’s my guess at it,” Mr Stead said. Both of these birds were bigger than the average petrel and if they were giving their full ciy he could easily understand how it would startle anyone who had not heard it before. One authority on the White-headed petrel stated that it flew about at night and uttered unearthly shrieks. Mr Stead had found them on the Auckland Islands during one visit. As an example of how little was known of the habitat of the petrels, Mr Stead said one writer stated that the White-chinned petrel was not to be found in New Zealand waters, but when he had travelled up the West Coast about a year ago he had seen enormous flocks of them just off the Sounds. The millions of mutton-birds -which nest on the islands had proved a never ending source of interest to the party, Major Wilson said. The first mutton-birds started to arrive on Solomon Island about 8.30 and very shortly after that they were like a swarm of bees. They all left again early in the morning, the first to leave starting out at about 3.30. During the night they made an almost incredible noise and, in describing this, Mr Stead said that on one occasion he had awakened during the night and could not tell whether his companions were carrying on a conversation by shouting or not, the noise outside was so great. “There was a combination of yells, caterwaulings, shrieks and cooings,” Mr Stead said. “If we had a mutton-bird in this room and all the doors were shut you would still be able to hear him on the other side of Dee street. A boy of six yelling his hardest couldn’t get near it.” In spite of the volume of sound the birds could get a wonderful gradation of expression into their calls, he continued. A bird might come home and croon to its mate, while another nearby was objecting to a trespasser in the very same voice, but it was quite easy to distinguish the note of affection from the note of anger. Land Birds Plentiful. A great variety of land birds was also seen by the party, including kakas, saddlebacks, bush wrens, tuis, parakeets, robins and woodhens. There were only a few sparrows, blackbirds and thrushes on the islands occupied by the native birds and they were hunted from pillar to post by the tuis. They were never allowed to nest if the native birds could prevent them, and as long as cats and rats were kept off the islands the imported birds would not get a footing. The-native-robins .proved a.n-especial.d&-..

light to Major Wilson, who spoke enthusiastically of their friendly ways. If they stood still for five seconds, he said, a robin would appear on the scene to see what they were doing. On one occasion he found a large worm about six inches long and a robin came up and claimed it. The bird could not lift the worm and could scarcely move it along the ground, but it was still struggling with it when the Major left. "I don’t know what it would do with it,” he said, “because it could not even bite it in half.” One robin entered the hut every morning and sat on the floor looking up at the naturalists until it was fed with crumbs. Another one always appeared on the scene when it heard anyone chopping wood and would sit and watch until the axeman paused and would then hop in and fill its beak with grubs. When it was satisfied it would say “Thank you” by singing to its human friends. The party had been given every assistance by the Department of Internal Affairs, Mr Stsad said. They had been given permits to take petrels for the purpose of classifying them. It would have been impossible to classify them without taking them, he declared, because in some cases two birds would have to be studied side by side and the points at variance contrasted before he could be certain of them. It would consequently have been impossible to get very far by studying the birds on the wing. ‘The Government has done * another good thing,” Major Wilson added. ‘They have kept white men off the mutton-bird islands. If white men with commercial instincts had been allowed to go there they would destroy the mutton-birds. They would want to make as much as possible and would not trouble about the future. As it is the Maoris are very proud of their islands and take great care of the birds’ 'nests and tracks. They never take more than the natural increase and there will always be millions of birds there while the , Maoris-proMeft. ia possession.”