A new bird for New Zealand – laughing gull
Christmas arrived two days early for Waikato bird-watchers Annette Taylor and David Riddell when they spotted New Zealand’s first laughing gull.Read more
2017-03-07
11,000 images on New Zealand Birds Online – and the Brooks family’s Big Year
The 11,000th image loaded on New Zealand Birds Online was of a rare vagrant Australian duck, and it comes with an inspirational back-story of family-based discovery and adventure.Read more
2017-02-24
DNA reveals relationships of the extinct Scarlett’s shearwater
Research scientist Lara Shepherd and vertebrate curator Alan Tennyson look at the relationships of extinct seabird, the Scarlett’s shearwater (Puffinus speleus) in a newly published paper.Read more
2017-01-31
Dusky Sound – rich in history and wildlife
A team of Te Papa scientists recently visited Dusky Sound as the first stage in an investigation of changes in biodiversity since Cook’s visit in 1773. Read more
2016-12-07
Feather identification workshop, Whanganui Regional Museum
In a collaboration between National Services Te Paerangi and Whanganui Regional Museum, Te Papa’s bicultural researcher Hokimate Harwood brought her extensive feather identification skills to a community of 30 weavers and bird enthusiasts earlier this year. Hokimate’s feather identification research looks to decode materials and messages within kākahu | featherRead more
2016-12-05
Cuckoos, toxic caterpillars, citizen science, and cinerarias
Cuckoos are well-known for eating spiky and poisonous foods, but did you know they can eat toxic monarch caterpillars?Read more
2016-10-28
Life through a burrowscope lens on subterranean Taumaka (Open Bay Islands)
See fur seal pups, prions, little penguins, and Fiordland crested penguins caught on camera through a burrowscope lens on Taumaka (Open Bay Islands).Read more
2016-10-10
Birdlife of Taumaka (Open Bay Islands)
Taumaka is a 20 ha Māori-owned island lying off the South Westland coast. Administered by the Taumaka me Popotai Trust, the island is well-known as a breeding site for kekeno / New Zealand fur seals and tawaki / Fiordland crested penguins. Both species were studied on the island by studentsRead more
2016-10-03
Two new birds for New Zealand – Herald petrel and red-footed booby
Finding a new bird species for their country of residence is the holy grail for many birdwatchers. Over the last decade, new species have been detected in New Zealand at an average rate of one every 15 months. The finding of two new bird species within 2 days by the same team of observers was unprecedented – but that is what happened.Read more
2016-09-28
What are prions, and why we should care?
New Zealand is the centre of prion diversity, with four of six species breeding here, so surely, more than anyone, New Zealanders have a responsibility to look after them.Read more
2016-07-08
A new bird for New Zealand – northern fulmar
The latest addition to the New Zealand bird list is not a species that anyone expected – and it very nearly got over-looked. Dunedin-based Leon Berard was working as a Ministry for Primary Industries fisheries observer in February 2014, when he photographed a bird that he did not recognise. HeRead more
2016-03-15
9000 images on New Zealand Birds Online
The Te Papa-hosted website New Zealand Birds Online has reached another milestone, with the 9000th image loaded on 12 January.Read more
2016-02-26
A glimpse of ancient Mauritius: Ile aux Aigrettes, restoration island
I first heard of Ile aux Aigrettes at a conference on island pest eradications held in Auckland in early 2001. A delegate from Mauritius spoke about a failed attempt to eradicate Indian musk shrews from the 25 ha island, which had already been cleared of feral cats and ship rats.Read more
2016-02-24
Reunion Island to Crozet Islands
Even after sending reams of (French) documents to the Institute Polar Emile Victor (IPEV) over the past six months, I had a slight unease that I would arrive at the security gate at Le Port (Reunion Island) and discover that I was not on the passenger manifesto for the MarionRead more
2016-01-22
Life and death among the Barau’s petrels of Reunion Island
Few New Zealanders had heard of Reunion Island before a chunk of wing from missing flight MH370 washed up on the eastern shore in early 2015. But the island is well-known to ecologists as one of the worst examples of the impacts of humans on island ecosystems. More than halfRead more
2016-01-20