Bird Watching Dec 20 mini-mag

PART 4 NEW ZEALAND
BIRDS ON THE BRINK
Every issue over the next year, the team behind Bird Photographer of the Year
(BPOTY) looks at conservation issues surrounding different species from the UK
and beyond, using beautiful images to inspire. This month it focuses on New
Zealand’s birds and wildlife...
WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY PAUL STERRY
Visitors to New Zealand are
often struck by how similar
the landscape is to the UK
and parts of mainland
Europe, and in many
locations they’re not wrong.
Over the last two centuries or so,
European settlers have had a profound
and devastating impact on the natural
environment, especially in low-lying,
agriculturally-productive lowland areas.
Rolling farmland, scattered trees, and
herds of cows and sheep have replaced
native scrub and woodland in many
areas. And the similarities to ‘back home’
extend to the wildlife, too, of course, to
the extent that introduced plants often
outnumber native species.
Of course, it is not just farming that has
had an impact on New Zealand’s
environment: add to the mix other human
activities, from mining to logging, and the
result is a much-altered landscape in many
areas. Green and lush it may be, but native
it is not in many places.
One of the most profound impacts on
wildlife is evident in New Zealand’s
Birds on the Brink is a conservation grant-awarding
charity (Charity No: 1188009) that owns the
competition Bird Photographer of the Year. Grants
are awarded to projects that support bird
conservation, typically offering between £200 and
£1,000 to small groups or individuals carrying out
grassroots conservation work that has measurable
impact. It was borne of a passion for wildlife and in
particular birds, and is a response to the seemingly
unstoppable process of human environmental
exploitation and biodiversity’s steady progression
towards extinction. At its heart there is a
recognition that all is not yet lost and Birds on the
Brink aims to inspire people to care using striking
imagery – to capture the imagination and thereby
nurture interest and compassion. Bird Watching
magazine is proud to support conservation and
money generated by these articles will contribute
to the funds of Birds on the Brink.
For more information, visit
birdsonthebrink.co.uk
avian fauna. Native species evolved for
millions of years in the absence of land
mammals (except bats) until the arrival of
Man, along with a menagerie of cats, dogs,
Stoats, rats, you name it.
As a result, 42% of endemic bird species
have become extinct since Man first set
foot on New Zealand soil. Of the survivors,
only a few could be said to be thriving,
and many are threatened to varying
degrees, with introduced alien birds often
outnumbering natives.
However, this man-made ecological
disaster has made Kiwi conservationists
even more resolute in their determination
to halt the tide of extinctions and where
possible reverse the trend. They are not
ones to take prisoners.
Shore Plover
Shore Plovers are obviously not averse to wandering
and occasionally individuals such as this one sometimes
turn up on the main islands of New Zealand, often
seeking the company of other waders, such as Wrybills,
when roosting.
Shore Plover
Thinornis novaeseelandiae
l World Population: 156-220
(source: Birdlife International)
l IUCN Red List Category:
Globally Threatened,
Endangered
CHRISTCHURCH
AUCKLAND
WELLINGTON
CHATHAM
ISLANDS
Wearing its badge of honour – a ring that defines its
heritage – this particular Shore Plover is resident on
the tiny island of Rangatira, where the species clung
to life until captive-breeding programmes helped it
back from the brink.
Once common around the coast of
New Zealand and its islands, by the
turn of the 20th Century, the Shore
Plover was reduced to a single
population on Rangatira in the
Chatham Islands; it was on the verge of
extinction. It is still one of the world’s
rarest waders, but captive breeding and
reintroductions mean it now clings on
to survival on a few predator-free
islands; and individuals occasionally
visit the main islands.
South Island Takahe
For a period of 50 years or so the South
Island Takahe (a bit like a giant, flightless
Moorhen) was considered extinct; until
the discovery in 1948 of a tiny population
in New Zealand’s Murchison Mountains.
Since then, ‘wild’ birds have been
protected from predators as far as possible,
and captive-bred birds have allowed the
species’ introduction to predator-free
islands and a few ‘maximum biological
security’ mainland sites. Locations include
spots on North Island where they replace
the now extinct North Island Takahe.
South Island Takahe
Porphyrio hochstetteri
l World Population: 280
(source: Birdlife International)
l IUCN Red List Category:
Globally Threatened,
Endangered
Chatham Albatross
With a 220cm wingspan, the
Chatham Albatross is a relatively
modest-sized albatross, and a
member of a group sometimes
referred to as ‘mollymawks’.
Nowadays, it breeds nowhere else
in the world, other than on an
isolated rock called The Pyramid,
part of the Chatham Island complex.
It hardly needs saying that this
concentration of life makes it
vulnerable; and fortunately an
outfit called the Taiko Trust (a
non-profit community conservation
trust) has stepped in to help. Over
the last five years, 281 chicks have
been moved to a ‘maximum
security’ predator-free cliff top
(adorned with mock nests and
dummy birds) called The Gap, on
main Chatham Island. The aim is
that the chicks bond with their new
home and establish a new colony.
No luck so far, but time will tell.
Chatham Albatross
Thalassarche eremita
l World Population:
11,000 individuals
(source: Birdlife International)
l IUCN Red List Category:
Globally Threatened,
Vulnerable
This South Island Takahe now calls Tāwharanui Open Sanctuary, on North Island, home and lives in predator-free
‘freedom’ behind the maximum-security fencing that protects the peninsula from unwanted incursions
Against a backdrop of its sole breeding
site – a lonely rock called The Pyramid –
a Chatham Albatross glides serenely past
The Pyramid, isolated from
the main Chatham Islands,
is the sole breeding site for
Chatham Albatrosses
Like others of their kind, Chatham
Albatrosses are entirely at home at
sea, gliding masters of the air that
seldom need to flap their wings
NEXT
MONTH:
Marsh
Tit
88 December 2020 birdwatching.co.uk 89