Yellowhead (bird)

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Yellowhead
Yellowhead or mohua

Near Threatened  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Mohouidae
Genus: Mohoua
Species:
M. ochrocephala
Binomial name
Mohoua ochrocephala
(Gmelin, JF, 1789)

The yellowhead or mohua (Mohoua ochrocephala) is a small insectivorous passerine bird endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. Once a common forest bird, its numbers declined drastically after the introduction of rats and stoats, and it is now near threatened.

Taxonomy

The yellowhead was

monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.[6]

The yellowhead was known in the 19th century as the "bush canary", after its trilling song.[7] It is also known as mohua from the Māori mōhoua.[8] Recent classification places this species and its close relative, the whitehead, in the family Mohouidae.

Distribution and habitat

The yellowhead and the whitehead have

mustelids; nesting in tree holes makes them more vulnerable to predators.[9]

Today they have vanished from almost all of the South Island's forests and exist in less than 5% of their original range.[9][7] On mainland South Island there is currently a small population of mohua in the Marlborough Sounds and around Arthur's Pass,[9] but a quarter of the population lives in the beech forests of the Catlins. The mohua number about 5000.[7]

Conservation

In New Zealand, mohua have the status of a protected threatened endemic species. Conservation efforts are being made to ensure its survival and mohua populations have been established on several predator-free offshore islands, such as

Orana Park in Christchurch.[9]

In 2003, 39 mohua were translocated from Breaksea Island to predator-free Codfish Island / Whenua Hou, and more were introduced to Whenua Hōu from the Catlins in 2018, increasing the island's population to about 1000.[10] More releases are planned to islands in Fiordland.[10]

Mōhua on predator-free Ulva Island

Pest control efforts by the

DOC and TBfree New Zealand noted in March 2014 that there was a significant repopulation in the Catlins of other avian species, including bellbird and tomtit due to the reduction of predators.[15]

Popular culture

Since the redesign of New Zealand's currency in 1991 a yellowhead has appeared on the reverse side of the New Zealand $100 note.[7]

References

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2022). "Mohoua ochrocephala". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T22705397A209465053. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  2. ^ 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. 944.
  3. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4
    .
  4. ^ Latham, John (1783). A General Synopsis of Birds. Vol. 2, Part 1. London: Printed for Leigh and Sotheby. p. 342, No. 37.
  5. ^ Lysaght, Averil (1959). "Some eighteenth century bird paintings in the library of Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820)". Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Historical Series. 1 (6): 251-371 [308, No. 157].
  6. ^
    Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2023). "Whiteheads, sittellas, Ploughbill, Australo-Papuan bellbirds, Shriketit, whistlers"
    . IOC World Bird List Version 13.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d Graves, Andrea (July–August 2016). "Mōhua: the story of the bird on our $100 note". New Zealand Geographic. 140.
  8. ^ "Yellowhead | New Zealand Birds Online". nzbirdsonline.org.nz. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  9. ^ a b c d Quinlivan, Mark; Logan, Mel (8 May 2019). "How our native mōhua bird went from 'rare' to 'common' in just 21 years". Newshub. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  10. ^ a b "Genetic boost for threatened mōhua living on Whenua Hōu". Stuff. 24 October 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  11. ^ Making mohua safe at Lake Wakatipu
  12. ^ TVNZ: 1080 poison pays off for endangered NZ bird
  13. ^ Department of Conservation
  14. ^ 1080: The Facts: 1080 helping mohua
  15. ^ Department of Conservation (7 March 2014). "Catlins mōhua increase after pest control". www.doc.govt.nz. Retrieved 23 July 2020.

Literature

  • Heather, Barrie D; Robertson, Hugh A & Onley, Derek (2000). The field guide to the birds of New Zealand. Viking: Printing Press.
    ISBN 0-670-89370-6
    .

External links
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