Rare birds released on pest-free island

One of New Zealand's rarest and most endangered birds has been released on Motutapu Island.

There are only around 200 New Zealand shore plovers, or tuturuatu, left in the wild and the Department of Conservation said the release of 17 of them onto the pest-free island yesterday aimed to bring them back from the brink of extinction.

Shore plover were once widespread around the coast of the North and South Islands but their population was decimated by rats and cats.

Breeding programmes have helped bring the numbers up since a low of around 130 in the early 1990s but DOC ranger Hazel Speed said they remained critically endangered.

"We need to establish more new homes for them on pest-free islands like Motutapu where they're safe from rats, feral cats and other animal predators and their numbers can grow."

Motutapu and neighbouring Rangitoto Island were declared pest-free sanctuaries for threatened native wildlife and plants six months ago, marked by the removal of nine pests including rats, possums and stoats.

Other native birds including the saddleback or tïeke and takahe have also been released onto the islands, along with freshwater crayfish and redfin bully fish, which all have declining populations.

"It's wonderful to be see shore plover joining the other threatened species we've released on Motutapu and Rangitoto since we rid the islands of animal pests," Speed said.

Members of the public are asked to keep an eye out for the birds which may fly to Auckland's mainland.

Anyone who sees them should contact DOC.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6446804/Rare-birds-released-on-pest-free-island

In Unalaska, rare birds brighten winter days

Unalaska is experiencing an exceptional showing of unusual birds this winter, and some of them are causing quite a stir!

In late fall, migrating songbirds heading south from Arctic and subarctic regions strayed into the Aleutians, and some stayed well into December. Sharp-eyed residents got a chance to see Yellow, Wilson's and Townsend's Warblers, rare but not unheard of in Unalaska, and an Orange-crowned Warbler, which was a first for the Aleutians. In early November, an American robin, also rare in the Aleutians, appeared on Strawberry Hill, followed by a Ruby-Crowned Kinglet (second Aleutian record) and two Golden-crowned Kinglets (first Aleutian record). Bright and spunky, the kinglets soon found the old Sitka spruce trees planted around town, enchanting everyone who got to see them.

Not to be outshined by birds from the east, species from the west are also showing up in Unalaska this winter. Bramblings are delightful little finches with warm orange and black markings, whose normal range is from Scandinavia to Eastern Russia. Occasionally seen in the western Aleutians, they are very rare and exciting to see here. A single female is still among the small flock of passerines (perching birds) near Town Creek, taking shelter in the salmonberry bushes and feasting on sunflower seeds offered by local residents.

During winter, our mainstay passerines are large flocks of Gray-crowned Rosy-finches and Snow Buntings. On very rare occasions McKay's Buntings show up in a flock, and look startlingly white compared to Snow Buntings. Rarely even seen as far south as the Pribilofs, McKay's Buntings breed on St. Matthew and St. Lawrence Islands and winter south to Nunivak. This winter, McKay's have strayed far to the south, as they occasionally do, and we had one here a couple of weeks ago. Also around town are the resident Song Sparrows, streaked brown over a soft gray, and the tiny Common Redpolls, with black chins and a crimson cap. Dark-eyed Juncos are a casual winter visitor; we usually see one or two every few years. This winter at least a dozen showed up and seem to have settled in for a while. They are easily recognized by their dark 'hoods,' white bellies and white outer tail feathers. We've also had at least three Golden-crowned Sparrows in with this mixed flock.

Spectacled eiders are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Photo by Greg Balough/USFWS

Read on:  http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/unalaska-rare-birds-brighten-winter-days

Goshen couple had good fortune in first sighting of rare Hooded Crane at Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area

This was one of the first photos snapped of the Hooded Crane at Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area on Wednesday afternoon. The photo was taken by Dr. John Harley M.D. of Goshen, who first alerted officials the rare black-colored bird in the midst of several Sandhill Cranes.

A Goshen couple had the good fortune and plenty of luck when they were the first to view and photograph the rare Asian Hooded Crane that's been a visitor at Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area near Linton since Wednesday afternoon.

This Asian Hooded Crane, which is normally seen only in Southeast Asia, China, Japan and Russia, may have taken "a wrong turn" in December and joined Sandhill Cranes wintering at the Hiwassee Refuge in southeast Tennessee.

When that group of Sandhill Cranes decided to venture northward towards Indiana, the lone Hooded Crane was among the feathered flyers.

On Wednesday, Dr. John and Elaine Harley, of Goshen, picked a good day to be birdwatching near the Goose Pond FWA.

Read on:  http://www.gcdailyworld.com/story/1814508.html

Bay of Plenty oil disaster: Rare birds dying in their hundreds

‘It is really shocking - they don't look like birds' October 2011: Forest & Bird's Seabird Conservation Advocate Karen Baird is used to seeing petrels and shearwaters skimming over the waves at sea, rather than having to identify their dead bodies encased in black tar-like lumps of oil.

Karen has been working in conservation for about 25 years and has never before been involved in a similar operation to New Zealand's Bay of Plenty oil spill disaster.

Since the disaster unfolded, some of her work has been at the Oiled Wildlife Response Centre in Mt Maunganui, identifying dead birds that have been washed ashore in the Bay of Plenty .

‘You find half a dozen stuck together in a tar-like mess'‘When you start doing this work, it is really shocking, they don't look like birds, they are totally covered in oil.

‘They are brought into the centre in bags and you might find half a dozen stuck together in a tar-like mess.'

But Karen realises the identification work she and other scientists have been doing is essential to try to gauge the impact of the Rena oil spill and its likely long-term effects.

‘From a conservation point of view, it is important to have an idea of how many birds of a particular species died, especially for some of the more endangered ones,' she said.

The impact will be felt for several years‘We know where the breeding colonies are, so it will be important to check the colonies of some of the worst affected species.'

The impact of the oil spill is likely to be felt well into the future.

‘Many birds from the species that are breeding locally will lose this breeding season and there is the potential to lose next season as well, because some surviving birds are likely to remain in poor health or have damaged breeding ability.'

The dead birds brought into the Oiled Wildlife Response Centre are the tip of the iceberg. Most of the birds that got covered in oil had probably sunk, disappearing from sight for ever, she said.

Many birds are drowned, others die of coldSo far more than 900 dead birds had been identified, comprising 23 species. These included 458 diving petrels, 198 fluttering shearwaters, 92 Buller's shearwaters, 38 white-faced storm petrels and 20 little blue penguins.

Many are likely to have died by drowning, while others probably were killed by cold after the protective waterproof coating on their feathers was stripped away by the fuel oil.

Among the victims of the spill, there have been some surprises. The species have included mottled petrels, blue petrels and Antarctic prions, which are rarely found in the Bay of Plenty area.

The response centre is treating about 100 live birds and looking after three penguin chicks and three seals. There are also 13 unharmed New Zealand dotterels being held in a temporary aviary after being taken off their beaches after the oil pollution spread east along the Bay of Plenty coast. New Zealand dotterels are endangered, with only 1,500 birds known to exist. Some of their main habitats are found along the Bay of Plenty coast.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/rena-birds.html

Rat eradication success in New Caledonia

Rare birds breeding in greater numbers - Courtesy of Birdlife
September 2011. As part of a David and Lucile Packard Foundation project Société Calédonienne d'Ornithologie (SCO) the BirdLife Partner in New Caledonia, undertook operations in 2008 to eradicate invasive Black Rats and Pacific Rat from three important seabird islands in New Caledonia. The latest follow up surveys has confirmed that Table, Double and Tiam'bouène islands are all officially rat-free, and the bird populations are already showing signs of recovery.

Wedge-tailed shearwater, Roseate tern, Fairy tern, Dark-brown honeyeater & Green-backed white-eye
The islands of Table (14 ha), Double ( 6 ha) and Tiam'bouène (17 ha) form part of the Îlots du Nord-Ouest Important Bird Areas (IBA) complex in Northwest New Caledonia. They are globally important for Wedge-tailed Shearwater Puffinus pacificus, Roseate Tern, Fairy Tern, Dark-brown Honeyeater and Green-backed White-eye which were being predated by introduced rats.

In September 2008 SCO completed operations to remove rats from the three islands, and the most recent follow up survey in mid-July 2011 has formally declared these operations successful following 24 months of rat-free monitoring.

Bird numbers recovering & new birds breeding
Already bird populations are showing signs of recovery, and [Vulnerable] Fairy Tern nested on the islands for the first time in 2010; Tiam'bouène hosting a colony of 28 active nests. Another very encouraging result is the first ever presence of [Near Threatened] Tahiti Petrel which was found breeding on Table Island in July 2011.

On each island, along with many new bird species being recorded, SCO report that the eco-systems are also showing positive signs of recovery. SCO are grateful for the support received from several individuals and organizations in completing these eradications and in particular thank the Pacific Invasives Initiative, the New Zealand Department of Conservation, and BirdLife International for their assistance.

The removal of rats on these islands is therefore an important starting point for the management of IBA islands Northwest. It is also an important action for the conservation of Fairy Tern in New Caledonia with between 70 and 90 pairs now found in the IBA out of a total of 130 pairs in the country.

Next steps are to continue monitoring the biodiversity recovery of the islands, seek the creation of nature reserves to protect the tern colonies from human disturbance, and to expand rat eradication to additional islands included within the IBAs complex.