On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions. From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
This series was created by Alain Chamot (1971-2020).
Albatrossity
Final day of this New Zealand adventure, and today is more seabirds, shorebirds, and waterbirds. Map here.
The White Heron (Ardea modesta, kotuku) is considered by some authorities to be a subspecies of the cosmopolitan Great Egret (A. alba), but New Zealand ornithologists are notorious “splitters” and have given it species status. And there are some morphological and behavioral differences to support that decision. They are a critically endangered species in New Zealand, with one known breeding site (approximately 30 pairs of birds) in the Okarito lagoon. After the breeding season they disperse widely across the country, but since there are less than 200 of these birds in the entire population, your best bet for seeing one is to go to Okarito and take a leisurely boat tour of the lagoon.
Another impressive resident in the Okarito lagoon is the Royal Spoonbill (Platalea regia, kōtuku ngutupapa). There are six species of spoonbills in the world, but this is the only one that breeds in NZ. The long white crest feathers are only found on these birds during the breeding season. This species was never deliberately introduced into the country, and almost certainly immigrated from Australia, a flight of 4100 km (2600 miles).
Shorebirds in New Zealand include three species of oystercatchers, This striking specimen is a Variable Oystercatcher (Haematopus unicolor, torea pango), which, despite that specific epithet, comes in a wide range of color morphs. The fully dark birds like this one are more common in the southern part of the country. The dark flecks that make the bird’s iris look oddly misshapen are mostly found in female birds.
The other common oystercatcher is the South Island Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus finschi, torea), which is very similar to other species of oystercatchers that you may have seen in North America or in Europe. These are found in coastal regions as well as in pastures, even high up in the Southern Alps!
The Pied Stilt (Himantopus himantopus, poaka) found in New Zealand is a subspecies of the widespread cosmopolitan species known as Black-winged Stilt. Other subspecies can be seen in Europe, India, Africa and much of Asia. This is also one of the species that was not found in New Zealand historically (based on fossil and midden records), but immigrated on its own, probably from Australia, sometime in the 19th Century
New Zealand has lots of birds that we call cormorants and that they call shags. These are Stewart Island Shags (Leucocarbo chalconotus, kawau), one of the larger members of the family. There are two other species that look very similar, the King Shag and the Chatham Islands Shag, but these do not overlap geographically with this one.
Not all birds found in New Zealand are endemic, or even rare. This Short-tailed Shearwater (Puffinus tenuirostris, aka muttonbird) might be the most numerous of all the shearwater species (37 in all). They breed on various small islands south of Australia, and annually migrate to the Arctic Ocean before returning to the Southern Hemisphere for the breeding season. Lots of frequent-flyer miles for these guys.
Another cosmopolitan seabird is this Cape Petrel (Daption capense), which is familiar to anyone who has ever been on an ocean in the Southern Hemisphere. This bird is also known as the Pintado (painted) Petrel, christened with that name by Spanish sailors because of its unique black-and-white markings.
Black Swans (Cygnus atratus, kakianau) are more usually thought of as Australian birds, but they are also common in New Zealand. Fossils and bones found in Maori middens indicate that they were present prior to European colonization of the country, but were no longer extant at the time the colonists arrived in the early 19th century. They were re-introduced in the 1860s, and their populations may still be occasionally supplemented by immigration of wild birds from across the Tasman Sea.
Finally, one of the more imposing seabirds in the Southern Hemisphere is the Northern Giant Petrel (Macronectes halli, pangurunguru). This is the largest petrel in the world, and is the size and weight of the small albatrosses (mollymawks). They are aggressive feeders, fighting over scraps of chum on pelagic birdwatching trips, as well as just plain scary-looking! An apt bird to end 2020 with, I suppose.
Hope you enjoyed this excursion to the Antipodes, and I do urge one and all to brave that 12-hour plane ride sometime in the future so that you can see New Zealand for yourself. It is well worth it!
eclare
That black swan, wow!
Feather as a Light
Those are beautiful shots! To Albatrossity: The last bird is a Northern Giant Petrel, not Southern, as the nail on the bill is reddish, not greenish.
Albatrossity
@Feather as a Light: Thanks! I got those two confused when I was there, so I guess it is not surprising that it happened here as well.
The caption has been edited to reflect this correction. Much appreciated!
stinger
Wonderful photos and commentary, Albatrossity! Merry Christmas!
arrieve
That last petrel is one intimidating looking bird!
WaterGirl
Merry Christmas, everyone!
And a special thank you to everyone who shares their lives with the rest of us.
Louise B.
I’ve really enjoyed this series, Albatrossity, thank you! Your bird photos are wonderful.
Tdjr
Really loving these pics! Thank you for sharing them!
J R in WV
Beautiful work, as always!
Got 3 copies of your bird calendar yesterday, will pass them out to our bird watcher neighbors.
Must ask, the cover-birb, what is the beautiful cover-bird, I couldn’t find it named in the piece itself?
susanna
Simply sublime. A wonderful way to enjoy life by enjoying other forms of life to the extent you have, and less as well. Thank you for these and more, please.d
Albatrossity
@J R in WV: Thanks! I hope your neighbors like their calendars, and I hope that all of us have a better 2021!
The bird on the cover of this years bird calendar is the iconic bird of the southern Great Plains: Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.
dnfree
We were lucky to visit New Zealand three years ago, and it did not disappoint. We were so glad to have gone. When we returned, we were eating out with friends and describing the trip, and the waitress asked what was so special about it. We tried explaining and she was unconvinced. Finally I said, “Did you see Lord of the Rings?” She paused, then said “OOOOH.”
For anyone who likes physics, there’s a display in Christchurch at the university dedicated to Ernest Rutherford, known as the father of nuclear physics. I didn’t realize he was from New Zealand. Very well done. I bought a t-shirt with his famous saying, “All science is either physics or stamp collecting”, which maybe he didn’t really say, but it’s a good one anyway. Not only that, the shirt was available in women’s sizes!
Albatrossity
@dnfree: Yes, Rutherford’s comment always rankled me, and other biologists, chemists, geologists, etc. But physicists are well known for their, umm, arrogance might be a bit strong, but it is on the right track.
But Christchurch is a lovely city!
dnfree
@Albatrossity: I think of it in its era. The big advances going into the 20th century were in physics. Biologists were classifying animals into species, chemists were constructing the periodic table. Now the advances in chemistry, biology, medicine are unimaginable, and quantum physics is literally unimaginable.
dnfree
@Albatrossity: and it seems there’s always an xkcd cartoon! Thanks for that one. Did you see that the University of Illinois ran into complications reopening campus because some overconfident physicists modeled social behavior of students?
Albatrossity
@dnfree: Yes, it is a comment that made more sense in that era. But there are plenty of physicists who think that way even in this era! The ones at the U of Illinois that you referenced are a great example.
And I won’t name names, but I do know a lot of people in physics departments, and Rutherford would feel quite at home with some of them :-)
Yutsano
@Albatrossity: I just want to say, after getting two liberal-arts degrees, that I am not annoying.
I’m surprised I haven’t seen any blue penguins. AKA the Canadian geese of New Zealand. According to my friend they’re quite nasty.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@Louise B.: Ditto!
WaterGirl
@dnfree: Do you have a link? Because I believe the UI in Champaign-Urbana always planned to have the students stay home after Thanksgiving.
They did run into a hiccup a couple of months ago, when some students weren’t conforming, and they threatened to send everyone home if things didn’t turn around within 2 weeks. They changed to testing 3x a week for a bit and nipped it in the bud.
So I would be interested in seeing what information you are seeing, because it sounds very different from what I know.
Feather as a Light
@Albatrossity: No worries! I am a lurker here but enjoy your posts a lot. These guys are my locals – I have seen both Northern and Southern Giant Petrels from shore here, as well as on pelagic trips. If you are ever in Melbourne, Australia, you can look me up and I will show you the local birds. @feather_as_a_light on Instagram, @featherasalight on Facebook, or https://www.flickr.com/photos/off-world/.
dnfree
@WaterGirl: it was early on and resulted in a lot of jokes about what physicists know about social life.
This was before the university opened
https://www.news-gazette.com/coronavirus/ui-scientists-modeling-covid-19-say-campus-can-safely-reopen/article_3ef87d58-462f-5efc-9fa6-f5f0692a0312.html
Here’s one from early September this was covered nationwide.
https://www.baltimoresun.com/coronavirus/sns-nyt-university-illinois-covid-20200911-szy7ywmjgrh2rgcalxifukql2y-story.html
dnfree
@WaterGirl: From that article, reference to xkcd.
“Can’t understand why someone with a physics degree would be bad at judging how often college students get invited to parties,” comments one of the XKCD characters.
Nigel Goldenfeld, one of the physicists who was the butt of the comic strip, replied in good humor. “We enjoyed the joke,” he said. But, he noted, it was not a completely accurate portrayal of what happened.
For one, while he and a fellow physicist, Sergei Maslov, had devoted effort to an epidemiological model for all of Illinois, the more detailed university simulation, modeling the movements of some 46,000 students, professors and others like servers in coffee shops and bars who interact with students, was the effort of a larger group and led by Goldenfeld and Ahmed E. Elbanna, a professor of civil and environmental engineering. (It’s harder to make jokes about civil engineers.)
dnfree
@Albatrossity: One of the stories in the museum was that Rutherford was one of twelve children in a farm family. There was no money to send him for education beyond Christchurch. He tried for a very competitive scholarship and came in second. But then the winner decided not to go and Rutherford was able to. Another example of how small coincidences can have major effects.
dnfree
@Albatrossity: Theoretical physics is what always what comes to mind when people say “You can be anything you put your mind to.” I minored in physics, but I couldn’t have worked in that field no matter how hard I tried. (Of course, I couldn’t have excelled in any sports, either.). But since I never took biology, either in high school or college, my ignorance in that field is profound.
Albatrossity
@Yutsano: I do have pics of the little Blue Penguins, but other pics seemed better, so they got left on the table. And yes, I hear that they are quite nasty as well, when they take up residence under your porch and proceed to poop lots of fishy-smelling poop in that space!
Albatrossity
@Feather as a Light: Lovely pics! Aussie birds are much more colorful than most of those in NZ, and I really do need to get back there sometime. I have been in Melbourne, in the early 1990’s, in August, so the summer birds would be a novelty for me. An Aussie who was a post-doc in the same department when I was a post-doc was my host; he has retired from the Florey now, but is an avid birder. Maybe you know him; his name is Ross Fernley. But if I do get back there, I’d love to meet and go see some of those gorgeous birds with you.
Thanks again!
Albatrossity
@dnfree: Indeed. Quantum physics is a realm where very few of us would be comfortable! Might even make Rutherford uncomfortable; it was certainly not something Einstein was thrilled about!
marklar
The White heron sure looks like a Great Egret to me. What color are its feet?
Bloody splitters! What do Kiwi ornithologists think of the Judean People’s Front?
dnfree
@Albatrossity: When I was in college, in 1965, my state university was just in the process of replacing the required Optics course for physics majors and minors with a course called Modern Physics, encompassing mostly nuclear and quantum physics. We had the course the first semester it was taught, and since there was no lab, we still took the optics lab. Funny that it was still called “modern” physics when it had been being developed more than fifty years earlier.
Feather as a Light
@Albatrossity: Haven’t encountered Ross Fernley (that I know of). I am also in an academic field – physics :)