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Category Archives: Reptiles

Reptiles of the Poor Knights Islands

16 February 2013 – 8.04pm

Te Papa’s curator of terrestrial vertebrates Dr Colin Miskelly recently visited the Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve, off the Northland coast, as part of a research team tracking the at-sea movements of Buller’s shearwaters. The project is led by Graeme Taylor of the Department of Conservation, and is intended to identify the marine environments used by these elegant seabirds, both when raising young and when on migration. Here, Colin illustrates the nine reptile species that occur on the islands.

The Poor Knights Islands have a diverse, abundant and distinctive reptile fauna. It is diverse and abundant because the islands have never had introduced predators, other than pigs that were present on Aorangi Island until their eradication in 1936. It is distinctive as the islands are separated from the Northland coast by deep water, and so remained as isolated islands throughout periods of low sea-level during Pleistocene ice ages. This water barrier impeded lizard movements (and hence gene flow) to the extent that three Poor Knights Islands lizard species are considered to be distinct from their relatives on the mainland and nearby islands.

The Poor Knights Islands looking south, with Tawhiti Rahi in the foreground and Aorangi Island beyond. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

The top predator on the Poor Knights Islands is the tuatara, a large iguana-like reptile that is only distantly related to lizards. It lives in burrows, often in an uneasy truce with burrow-nesting seabirds. Our visit to the islands was focussed on one of the seabirds – the endemic Buller’s shearwater – and two of our study chicks were decapitated during our stay, almost certainly by tuatara.

Tuatara, Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus), Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

A decapitated Buller’s shearwater chick, Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Tuatara are considered sit-and-wait predators, waiting motionless for lizards, large invertebrates, or hapless seabird chicks to venture within striking distance of their jaws. As a consequence, their diet is recognised as comprising ground fauna only. It never occurred to anyone that tuatara could catch and eat fully-flighted forest birds – but they can! Many young bellbirds were feeding on fallen karaka fruit around our camp. On the last day of our stay, I was alerted by alarm-calls from the bellbirds, and a commotion in the leaf litter, and was able to snap this remarkable image of a tuatara carrying a freshly killed bellbird.

A tuatara holding a freshly killed bellbird, Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

The second largest reptile on the Poor Knights Islands is Duvaucel’s gecko. Growing up to 30 cm long, these are New Zealand’s largest and heaviest lizards. Introduced predators have confined them to islands off northern New Zealand and in Cook Strait, where they emerge at night to forage on the forest floor and over rocks and tree trunks.

Duvaucel's gecko, Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Duvaucel’s gecko (Hoplodactylus duvaucelii), Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

The most abundant lizard on the Poor Knights Islands is the much smaller Poor Knights gecko. This species has yet to be given a scientific name, having only recently been recognised as distinct from the widely-distributed Pacific gecko. Poor Knights geckos are extraordinarily variable in their colours and markings, as shown in the following image of 15 that were clustered under a coastal rock.

Poor Knights gecko (Dactylocnemis undescribed species), Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

A cluster of Poor Knights geckos, showing their variable colour and markings. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

The remaining six lizard species on the Poor Knights Islands are all skinks, only two of which were abundant and easy to find. The largest skink species there is the marbled skink, which also occurs on the Mercury and Alderman Island groups east of the Coromandel Peninsula. Marbled skinks are mainly nocturnal, hiding in seabird burrows and rock crevices during the day. However, we saw a few pregnant females basking in the sun, presumably to get extra warmth to increase the growth rate of their young.

Marbled skink, Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Marbled skink (Oligosoma oliveri), Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

The as-yet unnamed Aorangi skink is much smaller than the marbled skink. It forages at night in leaf litter in areas with smaller rocks (and therefore smaller crevices), presumably to give protection from larger lizards and tuatara that might eat it. This skink is found only on the Poor Knights Islands, and has only recently been recognised as distinct from the ornate skink, which is found throughout the North Island.

Aorangi skink, Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Aorangi skink (Oligosoma undescribed species), Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Smaller still is another endemic species – Hardy’s skink, which is one of New Zealand’s smallest lizard species. We found Hardy’s skinks living among damp coastal vegetation, but they were secretive and hard to find.

Hardy's skink, Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Hardy’s skink (Oligosoma hardyi), Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

The three remaining skink species present on the Poor Knights Islands are all widely distributed on northern offshore islands. Two of these (shore skink and moko skink) were ultra-wary, hiding among dense coastal vegetation, and scuttling away at the slightest disturbance.

Shore skink, Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Shore skink (Oligosoma smithi), Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Moko skink, Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Moko skink (Oligosoma moco), Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

The ninth and final reptile species present on the Poor Knights Islands is Suter’s skink, which is New Zealand’s only egg-laying lizard. These sinuous skinks emerged at night to forage over coastal rocks, readily jumping into rock pools if disturbed. They are excellent swimmers, both on the water surface and along the bottom of pools.

Suter's skink, Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Suter’s skink (Oligosoma suteri), Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Graeme Taylor of the Department of Conservation (DOC) for organising and leading the visit, and DOC Northland staff for logistic support. David Boyle assisted with finding some of the more elusive lizard species.

By Colin Miskelly | Also posted in Biodiversity, Conservation, Field trips | Tagged gecko, lizards, skink, tuatara | Comments (6)

Life through a burrowscope lens (Part 2) – subterranean Poor Knights Islands

16 February 2013 – 8.03pm

Te Papa’s curator of terrestrial vertebrates Dr Colin Miskelly recently visited the Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve, off the Northland coast, as part of a research team tracking the at-sea movements of Buller’s shearwaters. The project is led by Graeme Taylor of the Department of Conservation, and is intended to identify the marine environments used by these elegant seabirds, both when raising young and when on migration. Buller’s shearwaters breed only on the Poor Knights Islands, and migrate to the North Pacific after breeding. They breed in rock crevices or in burrows that they excavate in soil. Here, Colin describes some of the wildlife they share their subterranean homes with.

An adult Buller’s shearwater on Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

A burrowscope is a field-hardened endoscope on steroids, used to view the interior of burrows. It can be used to determine whether a burrow is occupied or vacant, to identify what species is in a burrow, and to provide information on breeding success. At least seven species of seabirds excavate or breed in burrows and rock crevices on the Poor Knights Islands, and many other animals also inhabit the thousands of burrows there.

Buller’s shearwater burrows on Oneho hill, Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

The following images show some of the secrets of underground life on this pest-free nature reserve. During our visit (late January to early February), most of the breeding seabird species had finished breeding, but the Buller’s shearwaters had recently hatched their eggs.

An adult Buller’s shearwater inside its burrow, viewed through a burrowscope. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Buller’s shearwater egg viewed through a burrowscope. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Buller’s shearwater chick inside its burrow, viewed through a burrowscope. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Several species of reptiles live in burrows on the Poor Knights Islands, including tuatara, which occasionally kill and eat shearwater chicks. The smaller skinks and geckos usually move rapidly away from the light cast by the burrowscope, and rarely pose long enough for a photograph to be taken.

Tuatara inside a shearwater burrow on Aorangi Island, as viewed through a burrowscope. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

A marbled skink (the dark shape on the right) inside a shearwater burrow on Aorangi Island, as viewed through a burrowscope. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Duvaucel’s gecko inside a shearwater burrow on Aorangi Island, as viewed through a burrowscope. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Flax snails hide in seabird burrows and under rocks during the day, emerging on damp nights to graze on fallen leaves.

Flax snail (Placostylus hongii) inside a shearwater burrow on Aorangi Island, as viewed through a burrowscope. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

In addition to many seabird species, some landbirds also nest in burrows. We found a kingfisher nest in a low bank, with the entrance only 20 cm above the forest floor. The two large chicks inside froze statue-like when the burrowscope was inserted into their hole.

Kingfisher burrow entrance, Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands Nature Reserve. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Two fully-grown kingfisher chicks inside their burrow on Aorangi Island, viewed through a burrowscope. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

By Colin Miskelly | Also posted in Biodiversity, Birds, Bugs, insects and spiders, Conservation, Field trips | Tagged Buller's shearwater, burrowscope, gecko, kingfisher, lizards, skink, snails, tuatara | Comments (4)

Critters of Titi Island Nature Reserve, Marlborough Sounds

16 January 2013 – 4.28pm

Titi Island is a 32-ha reserve administered by the Department of Conservation and situated in the outer Marlborough Sounds. The island’s fauna was impacted by introduced Norway rats until these were eradicated in the early 1970s. The island has since been free of all introduced predators. Two species of large flightless insects plus tuatara were introduced to the island between 1995 & 2001 (see below). Te Papa researchers visited the island in January 2013 to attach tracking devices to breeding flesh-footed shearwaters, and to estimate the breeding population of these threatened birds. Our 3-day visit also provided an opportunity to encounter some of the island’s more cryptic wildlife.

The most well-known of Titi Island’s inhabitants are the tuatara introduced from North Brother Island and from captivity in 1995. At the time, tuatara from the Brothers Islands were considered to be a separate species from other tuatara. More recent genetic research has resulted in all tuatara being lumped back together as a single variable species. We encountered several tuatara inside shearwater burrows that we checked with a burrowscope.

Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) on Titi Island. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Three lizard species are known from Titi Island. We found all three species to be present, but were surprised how few individuals we found. Rodent-free islands typically have abundant lizard populations.

Spotted skink (Oligosoma lineoocellatum) among iceplant on Titi Island. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

The two spotted skinks seen were among low coastal vegetation, as was the single common gecko found. Spotted skinks occur from Hawke’s Bay south to South Canterbury, but are most abundant on islands in the Marlborough Sounds and Wellington Harbour. They are a sun-loving species, and are most often noticed as they move back under cover when they detect someone approaching. Common geckos occur from Northland to Marlborough and Nelson, and are extremely abundant on many islands in the Marlborough Sounds and around Wellington. They are nocturnal, hiding during the day and emerging to forage at night.

Common gecko (Woodworthia maculata) on dead coastal flax/wharariki on Titi Island. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

The single brown skink seen was among a rock outcrop under forest. This species occurs from Taranaki south to north Westland, again being most abundant on rodent-free islands. It does not require as much access to sunlight as the larger spotted skink, and can be found under open forest as well as among grass and shrubland.

Brown skink (Oligosoma zelandicum) on Titi Island. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Weevils are a group of beetles with a bad name, as some species are major pests of crops and stored food products. But they are an extraordinarily diverse group, with the weevil family containing more species than any other family of organisms on the planet. New Zealand has several large flightless weevil species that are mainly or entirely confined to sites that lack introduced rodents. These include the flax weevils introduced to Titi Island from nearby Maud Island in 2001. We found their characteristic feeding sign on flax plants all over the island, but the 2 cm-long animals were only visible at night when they emerged to feed.

Flax weevil (Anagotus fairburni) and its characteristic ragged feeding sign on a coastal flax/wharariki leaf on Titi Island. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

The most frequently encountered large beetle on Titi Island was a species of darkling beetle (genus Mimopeus). These also emerged at night, but were often found under rocks and in bird burrows during the day, and their larvae were common in the soil. Darkling beetles are a staple diet item for tuatara on many islands, though tuatara are partial to weta when they can catch them.

Darkling beetle (Mimopeus sp.) on a tree trunk on Titi Island. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

We failed to find any sign of the Cook Strait giant weta introduced to Titi Island from Maud Island in 2001, but did not have an opportunity to search the right habitats at night. The similarly-sized Wellington tree weta were very common, emerging at night and mainly staying in the trees out of reach of hungry tuatara.

Female Wellington tree weta (Hemideina crassidens) on Titi Island. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

We had been warned of tent-eating ground weta before our arrival. These voracious little (2.5 cm-long) weta live in tunnels in the soil and emerge at night to find other insects to eat. If anything is placed over their tunnel entrances, they simply chew through it. Rather than having our tent groundsheets wrecked, we devised the cunning plan of placing snow-foam bedrolls under the groundsheets. This was to little avail – the ground weta still chewed through them!

Ground weta (Hemiandrus sp.) on Titi Island. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Sarah Jamieson eyeballing one of several holes chewed through her bedroll by ground weta on Titi Island. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

We also found several shells and one live animal of the medium-sized native landsnail Rhytida stephenensis. This carnivorous snail grows up to 34 mm across and is found on islands in the Marlborough Sounds and south to Kaikoura, with subfossil records from Takaka Hill.

The carnivorous snail Rhytida stephenensis on Titi Island. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

By Colin Miskelly | Also posted in Biodiversity, Bugs, insects and spiders, Conservation, Field trips | Tagged gecko, lizards, skink, snail, tuatara, weevil, weta | Comments (3)

Life through a burrowscope lens – subterranean Titi Island

16 January 2013 – 4.27pm

By Sarah Jamieson & Colin Miskelly

Over the past two (southern hemisphere) summers, Te Papa seabird researchers have been investigating population trends and foraging behaviour of flesh-footed shearwaters. These all-dark seabirds are well known to recreational fishers around the North Island and in Cook Strait, as the birds have the annoying habit of sitting behind boats and diving after bait. This behaviour puts the birds at risk of being hooked and drowning on both commercial and recreational fishing lines. There is also evidence that some birds are deliberately killed by fishers, presumably after they become angry with the birds interfering with fishing. Added to this is the alarming revelation that some New Zealand flesh-footed shearwaters tracked on migration were found to have foraged within a few kilometres of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on the east coast of Japan. All this means bad news for flesh-footed shearwaters, which appear to be declining throughout their range.

Flesh-footed shearwater extracted from its burrow in order to be fitted with a tracking device. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Our study has two main parts – estimating numbers on land, and tracking where the birds go at sea. Flesh-footed shearwaters nest in deep burrows that they excavate in soft soil, and both parts of the study require a means to see what is under the ground. Other animals also live underground on the islands where flesh-footed shearwaters nest, and so estimating numbers requires both counts (or estimates) of the number of burrows, and measurements of occupancy rates, i.e. what percentage of burrows is occupied by flesh-footed shearwaters. In addition, to track the birds at sea, we need to not only attach tracking devices to the birds, but to re-catch the same birds some weeks later to remove the device and down-load the data. This requires selecting birds that are incubating eggs, and will have a high motivation to return to the same site after having a tracking device taped to their back feathers.

A burrow on Titi Island – but what lies within? Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

In order to see what species is in a burrow, and whether it is sitting on an egg, we use a device called a burrowscope. This is similar in principle to a surgeon’s endoscope, though of rather more robust design to cope with use in the field. A small camera lens surrounded by a cluster of lights is mounted on the end of a long flexible tube, which is carefully inserted into the burrow. An image from the camera is transmitted to a small video monitor screen, which allows the researcher to see what is in the burrow.

Te Papa researcher Dr Sarah Jamieson using a burrowscope on Titi Island. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Flesh-footed shearwater egg inside a burrow on Titi Island, as seen on the burrowscope monitor. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

On Titi Island in the outer Marlborough Sounds we found three bird species and one large reptile species living in the burrows. The accompanying images show some of the views we had on the burrowscope screen. Our target species (flesh-footed shearwater) looks very similar to its cousin the sooty shearwater, which also nests on Titi Island. The main distinguishing character through the burrowscope is whether the bird has a slender dark bill (sooty shearwater) or a large pale bill with a dark tip (flesh-footed shearwater).

Flesh-footed shearwater inside a burrow on Titi Island. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Sooty shearwater inside a burrow on Titi Island. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Several burrows were found to contain little penguins, which had climbed up the steep slopes from the rocky shore below. These birds had finished breeding for the year, and had returned to shore for their annual moult. The presence of a moulting penguin in a burrow was usually evident from shed feathers at the burrow entrance even before the burrowscope was inserted.

Little penguin inside a burrow on Titi Island. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

The rarest of the burrow inhabitants was the tuatara – an iguana-like reptile unique to New Zealand, and with no close living relatives anywhere else on earth. Tuatara mainly eat large insects and also lizards, but occasionally take small seabirds and their chicks. They seemed to have an uneasy truce with the two large shearwater species, and we found some burrows occupied by both a tuatara and a shearwater.

Tuatara inside a burrow on Titi Island. Image: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

Information on the Sextant Technology Ltd ‘Taupe’ burrowscope used

By Colin Miskelly | Also posted in Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Field trips, Penguins | Tagged flesh-footed shearwater, little penguin, sooty shearwaters, tuatara | Comments (5)

Green Island (Papatea) – 1941 and 2012 – In the footsteps of Edgar Stead (Part 8)

8 January 2013 – 11.19am

Te Papa’s curator of terrestrial vertebrates Dr Colin Miskelly is researching the life and work of the Canterbury naturalist Edgar Stead (1881-1949). This includes re-taking Stead’s photos from the same photo-point, taking other images to illustrate his diaries, and describing how the ecology and wildlife of each of 10 islands has changed since Stead’s visits.

Of all the islands that Edgar Stead visited, and for which his diaries exist, Green Island in eastern Foveaux Strait is the least well known. Green Island lies to the east of Ruapuke Island, and should not be confused with the much smaller homonymous Green Island near Dunedin. All the Ruapuke Island group are privately owned, mainly by descendants of the Kai Tahu chief Tuhawaiki. Some of the owners have huts on Green Island and harvest muttonbirds / titi (chicks of the sooty shearwater) each year. We were privileged to be granted access to the island, and were accompanied by two of the island’s owners during our 10 hours ashore.

Green Island from the south-west. Image: Colin Miskelly

It is not clear what motivated Stead to visit Green Island, other than the hope of finding rare birds on a ‘new’ island. He and his companions (Robert Wilson and Percy Elworthy) discovered that the island was free of introduced predators apart from weka, and this remains the case today. Birdlife was and is abundant, but there have been some notable changes over the ensuing 71 years.

Muttonbirding hut in Ruapuke Island, with Ruapuke Island in the background. Upper image taken by Edgar Stead in 1941 (courtesy of Canterbury Museum 2001_59_319); lower image by Colin Miskelly

Muttonbirding hut on Green Island, with Ruapuke Island in the background. Upper image taken by Edgar Stead in 1941 (courtesy of Canterbury Museum 2001_59_319); lower image by Colin Miskelly

Stead and Wilson estimated there to be 1.5 million pairs of fairy prions / titiwainui and broad-billed prions / parara breeding on the island in 1941, but we saw little evidence of them in 2012. They are both still present, but clearly in much reduced numbers. It is not clear why the population has crashed, as the weka population does not appear large enough to have caused such a massive decline. Perhaps the decline has been driven by at-sea conditions, rather than by conditions on the island.

Dark morph weka on Green Island, December 2012. Image: Colin Miskelly

Another species that has declined or disappeared on the island since 1941 is the southern skua, which should be the top predator on the island. About 10 pairs were present and breeding in 1941, but we saw none and found none of their distinctive middens of seabird remains.

Flowering southern rata and Stewart Island tree-groundsel (Brachyglottis stewartiae) on Green Island, December 2012. Images: Colin Miskelly

The landbirds on the island were much as Stead found them, with the brown creeper the most abundant species, and bellbird, tomtit and robin all being common. We also found tui to be numerous, probably attracted by the spectacular flowering of southern rata.

Brown creeper on Green Island, December 2012. Image: Colin Miskelly

We recorded over 20 New Zealand pigeons / kereru – a species not recorded by Stead. They are strong flyers and could easily cross the 2 km from Ruapuke Island. More surprising was that we found fernbirds to be common, when Stead specifically noted their absence. In 1941, fernbirds were found only on Bird island 3 km west of Ruapuke Island. Usually considered poor flyers and unlikely to cross water gaps, these furtive birds have apparently colonised both Ruapuke and Green Islands since Stead’s visit.

Fernbird photographed on Ruapuke Island, December 2012. Image: Colin Miskelly

One feature of the island that has not changed since Stead’s time was the abundance of geckos around the dwellings. We also saw several common skinks, but failed to find the green geckos reported from the island.

Geckos (Woodworthia ‘Otago large’) on Green Island, December 2012. Image: Colin Miskelly

The only seal species that Stead and his companions noted in 1941 was a single male sea lion. We did not see any sea lions, but there are now several hundred fur seals breeding on the island.

New Zealand fur seal cows and pups on Green Island, December 2012. Image: Colin Miskelly

By Colin Miskelly | Also posted in Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Field trips, Mammals | Tagged brown creeper, edgar stead, fernbird, fur seal, weka | Comments (8)

A gift of lizards – 35 years to completion

2 May 2012 – 5.38pm

The New Zealand science community was quite different in 1977 compared to 2012. Most government scientists then worked for one of the many divisions of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), our reserve networks and protected species were administered by multiple agencies, and the national museum was known as …the National Museum.

All this was to change during the 1980s and early 1990s – Rogernomics and the 1987 stock market crash between them changed the face of New Zealand public science forever. By 1992, DSIR had been split into a plethora of Crown Research Institutes (CRIs), the Department of Conservation had been formed, and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa Act had been passed.

Pacific gecko (Dactylocnemis pacificus), Taranga / Hen Island. There were two Pacific geckos from Taranga in the Ecology Division reptile collection. Photo: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa.

Among the agencies swept by the tides of change was the Ecology Division of DSIR, which evolved into Landcare Research Manaaki Whenua. In 1966, Ecology Division employed a keen young lizard enthusiast as a research technician (and later scientist). Over the next 11 years, Tony Whitaker made the most of opportunities to get to remote parts of the country. This included a secondment to a Wildlife Service team undertaking field surveys of many of New Zealand’s northern islands. In an era when our lizards were poorly known (and not protected by the subsequent changes to the Wildlife Act), Tony was largely responsible of the creation of New Zealand’s most important collection of lizard voucher specimens.

Ornate skink (Oligosoma ornatum), Taranga / Hen Island. There were two ornate skinks from Taranga in the Ecology Division reptile collection. Photo: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa.

We still don’t know how many lizard species were in the Ecology Division reptile collection. New species of skinks and geckos are being described every year, and many of these new species are represented among the 2635 New Zealand lizard specimens in the Ecology Division collection.

Tony Whitaker resigned from Ecology Division in 1977. Under his care, the reptile and frog collection had grown to 2751 specimens, including 105 foreign specimens, and 2646 from New Zealand. The latter included 1516 skinks, 1119 geckos and 11 frogs. Before he left, Tony and his colleagues decided that the collection would best be placed in the care of the National Museum.

The Ecology Division (ED) collection was the single largest contribution to Te Papa’s impressive and still growing herpetofauna collection, which now contains nearly 9000 New Zealand specimens. Among the ED treasures are six skink holotypes – the unique specimens that were used by scientists when describing and naming these six species.

Te Papa’s reptile and frog collection is mainly comprised of specimens preserved in ethanol, housed in the purpose-built off-site Spirit Collection Area. Photo: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa.

But all was not as assumed. Most people involved in the 1977 transaction recalled it as a donation. However, a letter from the then Director of the National Museum to his Ecology Division equivalent unearthed in Te Papa’s archives painted a different picture: Dick Dell thanked John Gibb for the “semi-permanent loan” of the specimens.

This discovery created a dilemma for Te Papa staff. We endeavor to place as many of our taonga as possible on the Te Papa website (see Collections Online). But we must be careful that we are within our rights to do so. Recognition that the ED reptile and frog specimens were loaned rather than donated meant that we had to remove their images from our website.

To resolve this impasse, I wrote to the CEO of Landcare Research, Dr Richard Gordon. After an exchange of letters, emails, and now a deed of gift, I am delighted to announce that Landcare Research has completed the process of gifting this very important collection to Te Papa. And images of the holotypes (among other ED treasures) are back on our website.

Whitaker’s skink (Oligosoma whitakeri) holotype, ex Ecology Division collection. Te Papa specimen number RE.001817, collected by A.H. (Tony) Whitaker on Middle Island, Mercury Islands, on 26 June 1970. Image: Te Papa

I am sure that the community of scientists and conservationists working to describe the diversity and life histories of New Zealand’s fascinating lizard fauna, and to ensure their survival, will join me in thanking Dr Gordon and his team for their generous decision.

By Colin Miskelly | Also posted in Biodiversity | Tagged DSIR, Ecology Division, Landcare Research, lizards, Manaaki Whenua | Comments (0)

Night Life on the Poor Knights Islands

3 February 2012 – 1.19pm

The Poor Knights Islands, northeast of Whangarei, are perhaps best known as a world-class diving location, but the life on land is no less astonishing and it really comes alive at night.

The Poor Knights Islands are the remnants of a volcanic island chain. Photo Alan Tennyson, Te Papa

Aorangi Island where we set up camp. Photo Alan Tennyson, Te Papa

In December 2011, I assisted seabird expert Graeme Taylor with his work on the migration of Buller’s Shearwaters. This species of petrel breeds only on the Poor Knights but there are massive numbers there, and in the breeding season they are a common coastal bird all around New Zealand. Graeme had attached geologgers to birds’ legs in March and needed to recapture these individuals to retrieve the data from the little devices. When we retrieved geologgers, Graeme could download the information onto his laptop in the field, so straightaway we could see the amazing journey that these birds take in their non-breeding season – firstly east of New Zealand, then rapidly north across the equator to east of Japan, then across to the North American west coast before shooting back southwest to the Poor Knights. This mammoth trip is an annual event for each bird but until now the precise route of the migration was unknown.

Buller's shearwaters nest only on the Poor Knights. Photo Alan Tennyson, Te Papa

DOC's Graeme Taylor holding a Buller's shearwater. Photo Alan Tennyson, Te Papa

A geologger on a Buller's shearwater's leg will record its migration around the Pacific. Photo Alan Tennyson, Te Papa

Like most petrels, Buller’s Shearwaters nest in rabbit-like burrows and are active on the breeding grounds only at night, so we spent most of our time with our arms down holes or searching the ground for birds at night. This gave us an opportunity to see how the islands transform from being a quiet coastal forest environment by day to a place teeming with night life. Many species of weta, giant centipedes, Placostylus snails, tuatara, numerous lizards, as well as the ever present shearwaters, only show themselves at night.

The giant land snail Placostylus hongii is common on the Poor Knights. Photo Alan Tennyson, Te Papa

This Poor Knights giant weta, climbing on DOC ranger Matiu Mataira, was found hiding in our tent. Photo Alan Tennyson, Te Papa

A tuatara hunting at night. Photo Alan Tennyson, Te Papa

The Poor Knights are special for two key reasons: (1) they remained isolated from mainland New Zealand during the last glaciation (so have been islands for 10,000s of years) – this led to the evolution of many unique forms of plants and animals; (2) rats, cats, stoats, and other predatory mammals, never became established, so the biota has survived human modifications largely intact.

It’s only when you visit a place like the Poor Knights that you understand what New Zealand was like before human times.

Thanks to Graeme, Keith Hawkins and Matiu Mataira (all Department of Conservation) for facilitating my visit.

By Alan Tennyson, Curator Natural Environment

By Te Papa | Also posted in Biodiversity, Birds, Bugs, insects and spiders | Tagged Buller's shearwhater, centipede, Poor Knights Islands, shearwater, snail, tuatara, weta | Comments (5)

A Te Papa curator in Ecuador

29 August 2011 – 5.54pm

Te Papa’s curator of terrestrial vertebrates Colin Miskelly is in Guayaquil as the expert advisor to the New Zealand delegation at the 6th ACAP (Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels) meeting, and has provided this report.

Waved albatross adult brooding a small chick on Isla de la Plata, Ecuador, on 27 August 2011. Photo: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

The ACAP meeting has been a great opportunity to meet with albatross researchers and conservation workers from around the globe, which has direct relevance to two Te Papa events in the pipeline. The first is a proposed major exhibition on albatrosses, which is in the planning stages. The albatross research community not only provide the exciting new stories, but crucially may provide ways to obtain specimens that could be used to tell the stories. The days of collecting live bird specimens for exhibitions are long over both in New Zealand and much of the world, and so museums are often reliant on field researchers and wildlife managers to provide freshly dead specimens that they may find in the course of their work.

Te Papa will also be hosting the 5th International Albatross and Petrel Conference in August 2012 (organised by NIWA staff). Many of the ACAP delegates are hoping to come, and have been seeking information from the New Zealand delegates about both the conference and other opportunities while they are in the country.

Ten of us organised a one-day field trip to Isla de la Plata during a break in the meeting. This was a long way to travel in a day – 3 hours driving each way to Puerto Lopez, and over 2 hours each way in a boat out to the island. But it was worth it for the privilege of seeing one of the world’s most endangered albatrosses – a single waved albatross brooding its small chick. Most of the world’s waved albatross population breeds on Hood Island in the Galapagos Islands, but a few pairs breed on Isla de la Plata, which is sometimes referred to as the poor man’s Galapagos.

Guayaquil is a large city of about 2 million people, but still has some interesting wildlife near the city centre. From the windows of the fourth floor meeting room we could see large iguanas in the canopy of the trees in a central city park. These impressive beasts are green iguanas, and go by the easy-to-remember scientific name Iguana iguana.

Green iguana in Guayaquil city park, August 2011. Photo: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa

By Colin Miskelly | Also posted in Biodiversity, Birds, Field trips | Tagged albatross, Isla de la Plata, waved albatross | Comments (0)

Animal and plant collections

15 July 2011 – 1.47pm

Te Papa’s Natural Environment team have revamped their webpages. You can access them here.

Collection highlights online include:

Big fish
Medicinal ferns of the second Maori king
Unique bird eggs and skeletons
Colossal squid
Plants collected during Captain Cook’s first expedition
GV Hudson insect collection
Nests of extinct birds

North Island Brown Kiwi, Apteryx mantelli, New Zealand. Te Papa

The following links will take you to more information on specific collections:

Birds
Crustacea (crabs, shrimps, lobsters, etc.)
Fish
Fossil vertebrates
Insects and spiders
Marine mammals (whales, dolphins, seals)
Molluscs (snails, shellfish, squid, etc.)
Plants

Let us know below what additional information you would like to see online about Te Papa’s collections of animals and plants.

By Leon Perrie | Also posted in Birds, Bugs, insects and spiders, Colossal squid, Fish, Fossils, Plants, Whales | Tagged animals, collections, highlights, plant, specimens | Comments (2)

Kundy Island – 1929 and 2011 – In the footsteps of Edgar Stead (Part 3)

11 April 2011 – 9.16am

As part of a project to publish the wildlife diaries of Edgar Stead (see blogs of 15 December 2010 and 18 January 2010), I am revisiting some of the islands that Stead camped on during the period 1929-1947. The main focus is describing how the ecology of the islands has changed since Stead’s time. The visits also provide an opportunity to take photographs to illustrate the diaries.

Kundy Island from the north-west, with southern Stewart Island beyond. Photo: Colin Miskelly.

Stead first took a serious interest in the birds of New Zealand’s offshore islands in 1929, and Kundy Island (a muttonbird island off the south-west coast of Stewart Island) was the first island that he stayed on for an extended period, 12 November to 4 December 1929. Stead’s companions on the trip were Eb Hay and Tom McKellar till 26 November, then Major Robert Wilson and Dr John Guthrie; they stayed in a muttonbirding hut belonging to John Morrison of Bluff.

Three jackbirds (juvenile South Island saddlebacks) and a male bellbird at a feed-table beside the Trows’ hut, Kundy Island. Photo: Colin Miskelly.

During my visit over 81 years later I was hosted by John Morrison’s grandson Russel Trow (and his wife Teresa), whose hut is placed on the exact location as Russel’s grandfather’s.

Cloudy gecko, Kundy Island. Photo: Colin Miskelly.

Weka (large flightless, predatory rails) were introduced to Kundy Island by the muttonbirders after Stead’s visit, and they eventually extirpated at least three bird species (white-faced storm petrel, banded rail and Stewart Island fernbird), plus caused huge declines in cloudy geckos (Mokopirirakau nebulosus) and Foveaux giant weta (Deinacrida carinata). The weka were eradicated by the New Zealand Wildlife Service in 1985, allowing reintroduction of fernbirds in 1995 and banded rails (known locally as mioweka) in 1999. Kundy had previously (1978) been used as a rescue site for South Island saddleback after their final stronghold was invaded by ship rats in the 1960s.

Landing cove on Kundy Island, November 1929. Photo: Edgar Stead. Macmillan collection, 2001.59.295, Canterbury Museum. Permission of Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Cloudy geckos have also recovered on Kundy (I saw ten in 2 days ashore), and I also saw one southern skink Oligosoma notosaurus, apparently a new record for the island. The single white-faced storm petrel photographed was the first seen since weka were eradicated, and was possibly a visitor from another nearby island.

Landing cove on Kundy Island, March 2011. Photo: Colin Miskelly.

By Colin Miskelly, Curator Terrestrial Vertebrates

By Colin Miskelly | Also posted in Biodiversity, Birds, Field trips | Tagged edgar stead, Kundy Island, muttonbird islands | Comments (10)

Te Papa's Blog

Category Archives: Reptiles

Reptiles of the Poor Knights Islands

Life through a burrowscope lens (Part 2) – subterranean Poor Knights Islands

Critters of Titi Island Nature Reserve, Marlborough Sounds

Life through a burrowscope lens – subterranean Titi Island

Green Island (Papatea) – 1941 and 2012 – In the footsteps of Edgar Stead (Part 8)

A gift of lizards – 35 years to completion

Night Life on the Poor Knights Islands

A Te Papa curator in Ecuador

Animal and plant collections

Kundy Island – 1929 and 2011 – In the footsteps of Edgar Stead (Part 3)

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