10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2014

Here at 10,000 Birds we are going to dedicate the coming week, from today until Saturday, to invasive species. Of course, most of the species we will cover will fit the more traditional definition of invasive species, which usually only covers introduced species that are doing harm to species in the areas to which they are introduced.

Species 245

Species New Zealand North America Mammals 245

10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2014

Yesterday i introduced you, gentle reader, to the lovely work done by the acclimatisation societies of New Zealand in making the already interesting biogeography of this country even more complicated. The solution, as you might imagine from this go getting era, was to bring some better ducks to New Zealand.

Species 217

Species New Zealand Ducks Game 217

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 11, 2013

If you’re into family ticks, and into armchair ticks, well, I hope you’ve been to New Zealand, because the island just got another endemic bird family. That the three species of mohoua (genus Mohoua ) are New Zealand’s newest family is hardly a surprise. Say hello to the Mohouidae.

Family 236

Family New Zealand Parrots Birds 236

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

Since everyone loves parrots, I thought I’d post some pictures of one of New Zealand’s many interesting species. The Red-crowned Parakeet is one of three species known also as Kakariki - literally small kaka.

New Zealand 255

New Zealand Parrots Sanctuary Wildlife 255

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 19, 2014

So the massive project I’m working on reaches its climax this weekend, and my laptop is still broken… so here is a New Zealand bird story that is in the New York Times of all things! Birds behaviour bird behaviour math New Zealand endemics' A North Island Robin on a cache.

New Zealand 233

New Zealand New York Times New York Experience 233

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2012

New Zealand has one of the direst records of extinction is modern times, second on really to Hawaii in terms of bird species lost. I’ve also touched on how New Zealanders have responded to these extinctions, but not in as much depth. Where does New Zealand go from here? Stewart island big.

New Zealand 210

New Zealand Rats Mammals Possums 210

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 29, 2012

Before humans spread across the oceans of the world, wiping out huge numbers of endemic insular species , pretty much every decent sized island far from the continents had its own species of rail. Those days are sadly gone, and very few flightless species of rail survive. Once upon a time the average bird on Earth was a rail.

New Zealand 224

New Zealand Species Humane Groups 224

10,000 Birds

JUNE 11, 2014

Actually, I lie, albatross taxonomy has always been a mess, but there was a period of relative calm, from the sixties to the ninties, when there were about 12 species in two genera. Suddenly there were lots of species, and most confusingly of all, never the same number or types in each book or resource you looked at. Does it hell.

Albatross 215

Albatross New Zealand Breeding California 215

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2013

New Zealand can generate some interesting yard birds. We may not have huge numbers of species, but we can find some real specialties. I’ve managed a number of globally endangered or vulnerable species in my own backyard, from Saddlebacks and Stitchbirds to the irrepressible Kaka (which I’m listening to right now).

New Zealand 210

New Zealand Squirrels Sanctuary Wildlife 210

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2013

I’ve stated in the past that I thought that the Pukeko, or Purple Swamphen, is New Zealand’s most iconic bird after the kiwi. Tui are large members of the honeyeater family, one of two species found in New Zealand. Tui ( Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae ) on New Zealand Flax.

New Zealand 193

New Zealand Sanctuary Family Species 193

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2011

home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birds / Petrel Paradise Petrel Paradise By Duncan • March 2, 2011 • 4 comments Tweet Share I’ve mentioned before that New Zealand is a great place for enjoying petrels.

New Zealand 212

New Zealand Albatross 2011 Cooking 212

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 23, 2013

Rare species, like North Island Brown Kiwi , have been reintroduced. It’s a model that is now happening across New Zealand, and it was nice to experience it near my friend’s house in Taranaki. New Zealand fantails were very common. Birding New Zealand New Zealand endemics'

New Zealand 197

New Zealand Sanctuary Mammals Wildlife 197

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 12, 2012

Gollum (the film version) It can’t have escaped your notice that there is a film from New Zealand out today that people are quite interested in. Kea ( Nestor notabilis ) Kea are a species of alpine parrot endemic to New Zealand.

New Zealand 216

New Zealand Parrots Sheep Investigation 216

10,000 Birds

JULY 26, 2014

Perhaps our outrage at invasive species can be a bit hypocritical at times. Listers are quick to put aside their condemnation of invasive species once they attain that coveted status of exotic: not native, not fully naturalized, but established well enough to be countable by the prevailing authority. That’s where we come in.

Species 160

Species Feral Cats Feral Miami 160

10,000 Birds

JULY 25, 2012

But names aren’t everything and there is plenty to say about this species. Females and non-breeding males look similar The Brown Teal is endemic to New Zealand, and was once lumped with two closely related island forms, the Auckland Island Teal and the Campbell Teal. Male Brown Teal showing some breeding plumage.

New Zealand 203

New Zealand Ducks 2000 Breeding 203

10,000 Birds

MARCH 27, 2014

It is also known for the 500 exotic species of animals and plants that now call the Sunshine State home. Exotic species are animals that did not historically occur in Florida. One such species is the familiar mallard (Anas platyrhynchos). The New Zealand Grey Duck is nearly extinct as species.

Florida 259

Florida Ducks New Zealand Feral 259

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 12, 2011

Since New Zealand is currently consumed by rugby fever and we haven’t the time to indulge in anything so tedious as birdwatching, I thought I’d dive back under the sea to introduce one of New Zealand’s most iconic aquatic organisms, the Australasian Snapper ( Pagrus auratus ).

New Zealand 212

New Zealand Goats Fish Japan 212

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2013

Since these things are filmed in New Zealand, I would have guessed they’d use a New Zealand bird but hey, the fact that they used the state bird of Wisconsin and even dubbed it over with the actual call totally impressed me. Not only that–its sound effect as he chirped was total American Robin!

New Zealand 252

New Zealand Wisconsin Minnesota Eagles 252

10,000 Birds

JULY 19, 2011

I’m not sure what the collective noun for a group of petrels is, but the vets and wildlife carers of New Zealand might be forgiven for thinking that it might be a wreck after this week. This is the largest species of prion and perhaps the one that best suits the alternative name whalebird.

New Zealand 244

New Zealand Vet Collecting Geese 244

10,000 Birds

APRIL 6, 2016

As I said last week , I’ve decided to try and knock off a few of the New Zealand endemics and specialities that I haven’t seen before over the coming year, and the first place that sprung to mind was pretty close, just across the Cook Strait in the Marlborough Sounds. Spotted Shags are endemic to New Zealand.

Charlotte 173

Charlotte New Zealand Fur Seals 173

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2011

The Buller’s Mollymawk is an endemic breeder to New Zealand, although it ranges widely away from the islands to feed, and regularly goes to South America’s Humboldt Current to feed. As albies go they seem to be doing better than most species, and are only listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN.

Albatross 260

Albatross New Zealand South America Breeders 260

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Conservation was in the news again in the last few weeks here in New Zealand, and unfortunately not in a good way. As most people know cats, both feral and domestic, have a pretty big impact on wild birds and other wildlife, and the effect of mammals is particularly profound in New Zealand.

New Zealand 178

New Zealand Possums SPCA Hedgehogs 178

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 13, 2013

Kaikoura, in New Zealand’s South Island, is arguably the best place in the world to see albatrosses and petrels. One is the sea canyon that comes close to shore, ensuring plenty of pelagic species can be found close to shore. But the second factor is the sheer number of albatrosses you’ll find around New Zealand.

Albatross 214

Albatross New Zealand Dolphins Whaling 214

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 29, 2012

Just a quick post today to appreciate one of New Zealand’s most attractive birds, the Paradise Shelduck. They are endemic to New Zealand, but unlike many endemic species that have not suffered at the hands of humans, in fact they have expanded their range as forests have been opened up for pasture.

New Zealand 194

New Zealand Sanctuary Suffering Ducks 194

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 30, 2013

I once worked with banders who used to use the ratio of the lengths of the primary projections (or some other voodoo like that) and an alchemical tome known as the Pyle Guide to separate some species. This spoke very clearly to me that people who claim to be able to separate these species in the field were either birding gods or delusional.

New Zealand 200

New Zealand Albatross Breeding Species 200

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2013

If you love the idea of swimming with dolphins, New Zealand is a great place to do it. The village wouldn’t look out of place on the coats of New England, but in spite of being utterly charming and close to a major city on Easter Sunday, you could move about. Birding dolphins marine mammals New Zealand endemic'

Dolphins 204

Dolphins Sharks New Zealand Albatross 204

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2013

Let’s revisit this gem about a nifty New Zealand parrot… ). Range & population (taken from BirdLife International’s Datazone ): Nestor meridionalis is endemic to New Zealand. Three years later, we still look forward to his weekly dispatches from the austral ends of the Earth!

New Zealand 220

New Zealand Possums Parrots 2010 220

10,000 Birds

JULY 13, 2014

It’s mid-July, which among other things means that those of us in North America are starting to check local mudflats for returning shorebird migrants and waiting impatiently for the AOU to hurry up and create five species from the Clapper-King rail complex (the reasons for which we covered last year ). Gowen et al.

Elephants 254

Elephants New Zealand Sparrows Ostriches 254

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 14, 2011

Long before I moved in New Zealand, or visited or even knew much about the wildlife here, way back then I knew about the Poor Knights. In New Zealand I’d even dived the astonishing Milford Sound in Fiordlands National Park, but I didn’t make it to New Zealand’s most famous dive site until January of 2009.

New Zealand 240

New Zealand Belize Vanuatu Fiji 240

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2011

One of only two species in the plover genus Thinornis , the other being Australia’s Hooded Plover , this species is another New Zealand endemic. Until recently the species certainly only hung on to existence on two small islands in that group, but this distribution is an artefact of a long decline.

New Zealand 185

New Zealand Penguins Endangered Species Zoos 185

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2014

Later the continents broke up into smaller regions such as South America, Africa, Asia and such, an a few smaller pieces like Madagascar and New Zealand as well. The early isolation of Africa and Madagascar implies that the ostrich and extinct Madagascan elephant birds (Aepyornithidae) should be the oldest ratite lineages.

Madagascar 259

Madagascar Ostriches Elephants New Zealand 259

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

A European Starling in New Zealand made the news this week. This particular species is not native to New Zealand (similar to its status in North America). The woman in the video found it as a chick at a few days old and hand reared it.

New Zealand 214

New Zealand North America Laws Raised 214

10,000 Birds

MARCH 29, 2012

If you’ve read my posts before you’d know I’ve written at length about the devastating effects of introduced mammals in New Zealand, and also of the ways that New Zealanders have been working to save their species from those same mammals.

Mice 171

Mice New Zealand Penguins Albatross 171

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 3, 2020

I’ve been fortunate to see two Penguin species in the wild (African and Galapagos) and have dreamed of seeing more–maybe even all!–especially The goal of Around the World For Penguins is simple: Describe the 18 species of penguin and their breeding grounds “from the perspective of a traveller.”

Penguins 279

Penguins Georgia Albatross New Zealand 279

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 20, 2013

South Island’s Westland District is perhaps New Zealand’s best kept secret, a staggeringly beautiful stretch of coastline jammed between the Southern Alps and the Tasman Sea. Westland Petrels are endemic breeders to New Zealand, and an attractive large black seabird. Birds New Zealand endemics petrels'

New Zealand 157

New Zealand Breeders Albatross Mammals 157

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 28, 2014

The colorful Purple Swamphen ( Porphyrio porphyrio ) lives in wetlands from Portugal and Senegal all the way east to New Zealand and the Samoan Islands, and a feral population is now well established in Florida. Here’s a quick overview of the six potential “Purple Swamphen” species: European or Western Swamphen.

Papua New Guinea 251

Papua New Guinea Philippines New Zealand Florida 251

10,000 Birds

APRIL 20, 2016

Tomtits are not a species I have ever talked much about on this blog. This isn’t because I don’t like them, on the contrary, they rate as one of New Zealand’s cutest birds, and I’m a big fan of cute. They were present in Karori Sanctuary but have declined as other species have prospered.

New Zealand 170

New Zealand Sanctuary Rescue Raised 170