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Fluttering Shearwater
The fluttering shearwater (''Puffinus gavia'') is a species of seabird in the family Procellariidae. It is endemic to New Zealand and migrates to Australia and the Solomon Islands. Its natural habitats are open seas and rocky shores. It has been known as Forster's shearwater in the past. Description A medium to small-sized shearwater with dark-brown-and-white colour in body. The upper parts, including neck, wings and tail, are uniformly dark brown. Grey-brown colour in face and neck gradually fading into white below the eye. Under body, from chin to the under-tail, is white except for a dark thigh patch that can be seen in flight. Bottom wing commonly white while axillary area is covered in grey-brown fur. Under light conditions, the appearance can changed. Fluttering shearwater has pinkish-brown legs and feet with bark webs, feet extend beyond the tail in flight. The bill is long and thin with dark colour. The tail is fan-shaped and short in flight and it has mixed colour – d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johann Reinhold Forster
Johann Reinhold Forster (22 October 1729 – 9 December 1798) was a German Continental Reformed church, Reformed (Calvinist) pastor and natural history, naturalist of partially Scottish descent who made contributions to the early ornithology of Europe and North America. He is best known as the naturalist on James Cook's Second voyage of James Cook, second Pacific voyage, where he was accompanied by his son Georg Forster. These expeditions promoted the career of Johann Reinhold Forster and the findings became the bedrock of colonial professionalism and helped set the stage for the future development of anthropology and ethnology. They also laid the framework for general concern about the impact that alteration of the physical environment for European economic expansion would have on exotic societies. Biography Forster's family originated in the Lord Forrester, Lords Forrester in Scotland from where his great-grandfather had emigrated after losing most of his property during the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Least Concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. They do not qualify as threatened, near threatened, or (before 2001) conservation dependent. Species cannot be assigned the "Least Concern" category unless they have had their population status evaluated. That is, adequate information is needed to make a direct, or indirect, assessment of its risk of extinction based on its distribution or population status. Evaluation Since 2001 the category has had the abbreviation "LC", following the IUCN 2001 Categories & Criteria (version 3.1). Before 2001 "least concern" was a subcategory of the "Lower Risk" category and assigned the code "LR/lc" or lc. Around 20% of least concern taxa (3261 of 15636) in the IUCN database still use the code "LR/lc", which indicates they have not been re-evaluate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birds Of New Zealand
''For a list of birds in New Zealand, see List of birds of New Zealand.'' The birds of New Zealand evolved into an avifauna that included many endemic species found in no other country. As an island archipelago, New Zealand accumulated bird diversity, and when Captain James Cook arrived in the 1770s he noted that the bird song was deafening. The mix includes species with unusual biology such as the kākāpō which is the world's only flightless, nocturnal parrot which also exhibits competitive display breeding using leks. There are also many species that are similar to neighbouring land areas. A process of colonisation, speciation and extinction has been at play over many millions of years, including recent times. Some species have arrived in human recorded history while others arrived before but are little changed. History after human settlement When humans arrived in New Zealand about 700 years ago the environment changed quickly. Several species were hunted to extinction, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shearwaters
Shearwaters are medium-sized long-winged seabirds in the petrel family Procellariidae. They have a global marine distribution, but are most common in temperate and cold waters, and are pelagic outside the breeding season. Description These tubenose birds fly with stiff wings and use a "shearing" flight technique (flying very close to the water and seemingly cutting or "shearing" the tips of waves) to move across wave fronts with the minimum of active flight. This technique gives the group its English name. Some small species, like the Manx shearwater are cruciform in flight, with their long wings held directly out from their bodies. Behaviour Movements Many shearwaters are long-distance migrants, perhaps most spectacularly sooty shearwaters, which cover distances in excess of from their breeding colony on the Falkland Islands (52°S 60°W) to as far as 70° north latitude in the North Atlantic Ocean off northern Norway. One study found Sooty shearwaters migrating nearly a yea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puffinus
''Puffinus'' is a genus of seabirds in the order Procellariiformes that contains about 20 small to medium-sized shearwaters. Two other shearwater genera are named: ''Calonectris'', which comprises three or four large shearwaters, and ''Ardenna'' with another seven species (formerly often included within ''Puffinus''). The taxonomy of this group is the cause of much debate, and the number of recognised species varies with the source. The species in this group are long-winged birds, dark brown or black above, and white to dark brown below. They are pelagic outside the breeding season. They are most common in temperate and cold waters. These tubenose birds fly with stiff wings, and use a shearing flight technique to move across wave fronts with the minimum of active flight. Some small species, such as the Manx shearwater, are cruciform in flight, with their long wings held directly out from their bodies. Many are long-distance migrants, perhaps most spectacularly the sooty and s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Farewell, New Zealand
Cape Farewell is a headland in New Zealand, the most northerly point on the South Island. It is located just west of Farewell Spit (Onetahua). First mapped by Abel Tasman, it was named by British explorer Captain James Cook in 1770 —it was the last land seen by his crew as they departed on the ship's homeward voyage. Owing to its remote location it is one of the less visited of New Zealand's major capes. The "Clifftop walk" (2–3 hours one-way along the heights of the coast East of the cape) joins the area with the beginning of Farewell Spit, and has stunning vistas of the Tasman Sea to one side, of the sand dunes in the northeast and of the towering cliffs and rocky, primal landscapes to the shoreward (east) side. In 2020, the Wharariki Ecosanctuary was established in the northernmost 2.5 hectares of the cape, enclosed by a predator-proof fence to protect seabirds, rare native plants, giant snails and geckos. Geology The cape and its cliffs are composed of Paleocene quar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wharariki Ecosanctuary
Wharariki Ecosanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary within a predator-proof fence at Cape Farewell, New Zealand. Location The Wharariki Ecosanctuary is located on a headland on the Wharariki coastline at Cape Farewell. It is sited on conservation land that is managed as the Puponga Farm Park. Establishment The project was initiated by Peter Butler, who created a trust in 2017 to protect local wildlife in the region from Wharariki Beach to the tip of Farewell Spit. The Farewell Wharariki HealthPost Nature Trust was registered as a Charitable Trust in May 2021. The sanctuary has been created in a collaboration between the Collingwood-based HealthPost Nature Trust, the Department of Conservation and Manawhenua ki Mōhua, representing Ngāti Tama, Te Ātiawa and Ngāti Rārua in the Golden Bay/ Mohua area. Starting in September 2019, a predator-proof fence was constructed above the cliffs at Wharariki, enclosing . The fence was completed in January 2020, and the sanctuary was off ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui
Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui is the easternmost of the main sounds of the Marlborough Sounds, in New Zealand's South Island. In 2014, the sound was given the official name of Queen Charlotte Sound / Tōtaranui as part of a Waitangi Tribunal settlement with the Te Āti Awa tribe. Geography Like the majority of its neighbours, the sound runs southwest to northeast before joining Cook Strait. To the east of the sound lie Arapaoa Island and Tory Channel. Interisland ferries use Tory Channel and Queen Charlotte Sound on their journeys between Picton and Wellington in the North Island. Kenepuru Sound, an arm of Pelorus Sound, lies to the northwest and runs parallel to Queen Charlotte Sound. Some of the small side arms of the two sounds are only hundreds of metres apart, but are separated by a steep serrated range of hills. Not surprisingly, one of the settlements on this stretch of coast is called Portage, named for the simplest method of passing between the two sounds. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marine Debris
Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human-created waste that has deliberately or accidentally been released in a sea or ocean. Floating oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the center of gyres and on coastlines, frequently washing aground, when it is known as ''beach litter'' or tidewrack. Deliberate disposal of wastes at sea is called ''ocean dumping''. Naturally occurring debris, such as driftwood and drift seeds, are also present. With the increasing use of plastic, human influence has become an issue as many types of (petrochemical) plastics do not biodegrade quickly, as would natural or organic materials. The largest single type of plastic pollution (~10 %) and majority of large plastic in the oceans is discarded and lost nets from the fishing industry. Waterborne plastic poses a serious threat to fish, seabirds, marine reptiles, and marine mammals, as well as to boats and coasts. Dumping, container spillages, litter washed into storm drains and waterways and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puffinus Gavia (AM LB4277) (cropped)
The fluttering shearwater (''Puffinus gavia'') is a species of seabird in the family Procellariidae. It is endemic to New Zealand and migrates to Australia and the Solomon Islands. Its natural habitats are open seas and rocky shores. It has been known as Forster's shearwater in the past. Description A medium to small-sized shearwater with dark-brown-and-white colour in body. The upper parts, including neck, wings and tail, are uniformly dark brown. Grey-brown colour in face and neck gradually fading into white below the eye. Under body, from chin to the under-tail, is white except for a dark thigh patch that can be seen in flight. Bottom wing commonly white while axillary area is covered in grey-brown fur. Under light conditions, the appearance can changed. Fluttering shearwater has pinkish-brown legs and feet with bark webs, feet extend beyond the tail in flight. The bill is long and thin with dark colour. The tail is fan-shaped and short in flight and it has mixed colour – d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations. The first seabirds evolved in the Cretaceous period, and modern seabird families emerged in the Paleogene. In general, seabirds live longer, breed later and have fewer young than other birds do, but they invest a great deal of time in their young. Most species nest in colonies, which can vary in size from a few dozen birds to millions. Many species are famous for undertaking long annual migrations, crossing the equator or circumnavigating the Earth in some cases. They feed both at the ocean's surface and below it, and even feed on each other. Seabirds can be highly pelagic, coastal, or in some cases spend a part of the year away from the sea entirely. Seabirds and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
