Shore plover
Shore plover | |
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Shore plover male | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Charadriiformes |
Family: | Charadriidae |
Genus: | Charadrius |
Species: | C. novaeseelandiae
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Binomial name | |
Charadrius novaeseelandiae Gmelin, JF, 1789
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Synonyms[2] | |
List
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The shore plover (Māori: tūturuatu, Moriori: tchūriwat’, Charadrius novaeseelandiae), also known as the shore dotterel, is a small plover endemic to New Zealand. Once found all around the New Zealand coast, it is now restricted to a few offshore islands. It is one of the world's rarest shorebirds: the population is roughly 200.
Taxonomy
The shore plover was
Description
The shore plover is brown above and white below, with a black (male) or brown (female) mask. There is a distinctive white strip circling its head below its brown skullcap. Its legs and dark-tipped bill are orange, brighter in males.[10]
Distribution
Although this species was historically found only on the New Zealand coast,
Breeding
Shore plovers (unusually for shorebirds) nest under cover (such as driftwood and vegetation) or in burrows under boulders. This is likely to be for protection against avian predators – in their current range, skuas, and past predators would have included the laughing owl and the New Zealand falcon.[11] This is one of the reasons for their decline, as such nests are more vulnerable to mammalian predators.
In the early 1990s, the
Conservation
Shore plovers are
DOC moved a number of captive-reared juveniles to Mana Island, off Wellington's western coast, between March and May 2007. They bred within months of their arrival, and in February 2008 twenty more were translocated. From a high of 87 individuals, the population was reduced to just 10 from the effects of a single Norway rat.[15]
Birds had also been translocated since 2000 to Waikawa (Portland Island), a privately owned island off the Māhia Peninsula in Hawke's Bay. In 2012, the population on Waikawa was discovered to have crashed by 75% to just 20 birds,[16] apparently due to predation by a Norway rat.[17][18] Twelve eggs were rescued for translocation to Mana Island.[16]
A total of 42 captive-bred shore plovers were released onto Motutapu Island in 2012 in the hope they would become established there and on other pest-free islands in the Hauraki Gulf.[13] The birds repeatedly flew away, and only five were still present in 2015 when nineteen more were released.[19] Motutapu had its mammalian predators removed in 2010, and the breeding population there increased from one pair in 2015 to three pairs in 2016.[15] These birds are currently the most accessible to the public.
Six juveniles were released into the wild in 2018.
References
- . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
- ISBN 978-1-877385-59-9. Retrieved 17 May 2022 – via New Zealand Birds Online.
- ^ Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1789). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 2 (13th ed.). Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Georg. Emanuel. Beer. p. 684.
- ^ Latham, John (1785). A General Synopsis of Birds. Vol. 3, Part 1. London: Printed for Leigh and Sotheby. p. 206; Plate 83.
- ISBN 978-0-9568611-0-8.
- .
- .
- ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (December 2023). "Buttonquail, thick-knees, sheathbills, plovers, oystercatchers, stilts, painted-snipes, jacanas, Plains-wanderer, seedsnipes". IOC World Bird List Version 14.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-877385-59-9.
- ^ a b c d Dowding, J.E. (2013). Miskelly, C.M. (ed.). "Shore plover". New Zealand Birds Online. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
- ^ ISBN 9780253340344.
- ^ a b "Shore plover/tuturuatu". Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai. 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
- ^ a b "Critically endangered NZ shore plover released on Motutapu Island". Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai. 20 February 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
- ISBN 0862838061.
- ^ a b c Toki, Nicola (29 April 2016). "Critter of the Week – Nicola Toki". RNZ. Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
- ^ a b "Tragedy strikes endangered New Zealand shore plover population". Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai. 4 February 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
- ^ Dent, Barry (27 July 2015). "The Waikawa shore plover saga". Fauna Recovery New Zealand. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
- ^ "The final translocation for Mahia's shore plover?". Conservation Blog. Department of Conservation. 27 July 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
- ^ Akel, Torben (27 January 2015). "Shore plovers released on Motutapu Island". Newshub. Mediaworks TV. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
- ^ BirdGuides. 9 February 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
- ^
Roy, Eleanor Ainge (14 April 2020). "Endangered New Zealand bird sent to safety offshore despite Covid-19 lockdown". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
Further reading
- Marchant, S.; Higgins, P.J., eds. (1993). "Thinornis novaeseelandiae Shore Plover" (PDF). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds. Vol. 2, Raptors to lapwings. Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press. pp. 912–919. ISBN 978-0-19-553069-8.
External links
- BirdLife Species Factsheet.
- "New Zealand shore plover recovery plan 2001-2011" (PDF). Department of Conservation, Wellington, New Zealand. 2001. Retrieved 2007-09-28.
- Shore plover discussed on RadioNZ Critter of the Week, 29 April 2016
- New Zealand Shore Plover, New Zealand Birds Online