The New Zealand bittern (''Ixobrychus novaezelandiae'') is an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
and enigmatic species of
heron
The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...
in the family
Ardeidae
The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychu ...
. It was
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
and was last recorded alive in the 1890s.
[
]
Common name
In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...
s for this species include New Zealand little bittern, spotted heron, and ''kaoriki'' (
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
).
The scientific species name also has numerous
junior synonym
The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently.
* In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...
s.
[
]
Taxonomy
The species has sometimes been regarded as a subspecies of little bittern
The little bittern or common little bittern (''Ixobrychus minutus'') is a wading bird in the heron family, Ardeidae. ''Ixobrychus'' is from Ancient Greek ''ixias'', a reed-like plant and ''brukhomai'', to bellow, and ''minutus'' is Latin for "sm ...
(''Ixobrychus minutus''), or conspecific with the black-backed bittern
The black-backed bittern (''Ixobrychus dubius''), also known as the black-backed least bittern or Australian little bittern, is a little-known species of heron in the family Ardeidae found in Australia and vagrant to southern New Guinea. Former ...
(''Ixobrychus dubius'') of Australia and New Guinea, though it was first described by Alexander Callender Purdie in 1871 as ''Ardeola novaezelandiae''. In 1980, New Zealand palaeontologist Peter L. Horn found subfossil bones of a bittern from Lake Poukawa
Lake Poukawa is a small shallow hardwater lake in the Hawke's Bay Region, North Island, New Zealand. It is located about 20 km south-west of Hastings, New Zealand, close to the settlement of Te Hauke. It is the largest lake lying within a ...
, which he named ''Dupetor flavicollis''. In 1991, Philip Millener identified Horn's material as remains of the New Zealand bittern.
Description
Although a small bittern, the species was larger (length about 14.75 inches (38 cm)) than the little bittern (25–36 cm). Few specimens are known, and of these doubt exists even about the sex of some, making published descriptions unreliable. Differences from the little bittern include a larger buff patch on the upper wing, black upper parts streaked light brown, under parts streaked dark brown and rufous
Rufous () is a color that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish-red, as of rust or oxidised iron. The first recorded use of ''rufous'' as a color name in English was in 1782. However, the color is also recorded earlier in 1527 as a dia ...
-buff.[
]
Distribution and habitat
In recent times, the bird is only known with certainty to have inhabited the South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
of New Zealand, with most records from Westland Westland or Westlands may refer to:
Places
*Westlands, an affluent neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi, Kenya
* Westlands, Staffordshire, a suburban area and ward in Newcastle-under-Lyme
*Westland, a peninsula of the Shetland Mainland near Vaila ...
. Although subfossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...
remains have been found in the North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
, reports of living birds may have been of misidentified Australasian bittern
The Australasian bittern (''Botaurus poiciloptilus''), also known as the brown bittern or matuku hūrepo, and also nicknamed the "bunyip bird", is a large bird in the heron family Ardeidae. A secretive bird with a distinctive booming call, it is ...
s. The first scientific specimen was reportedly obtained at Tauranga
Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...
in the North Island by the Reverend Mr Stack in 1836, but is now untraceable. The holotype
A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...
specimen in the Museum of New Zealand
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...
was taken from the head of Lake Wakatipu
Lake Wakatipu ( mi, Whakatipu Waimāori) is an inland lake (finger lake) in the South Island of New Zealand. It is in the southwest corner of the Otago region, near its boundary with Southland. ''Lake Wakatipu'' comes from the original Māori nam ...
in Otago
Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...
. The recorded habitat for the species includes the wooded margins of saline lagoons and creeks.[
]
Behaviour
Walter Buller
Sir Walter Lawry Buller (9 October 1838 – 19 July 1906) was a New Zealand lawyer and naturalist who was a dominant figure in New Zealand ornithology. His book, ''A History of the Birds of New Zealand'', first published in 1873, was publishe ...
quotes a Mr Docherty, who was familiar with the bird in Westland:
They are to be found on the salt-water lagoons on the seashore, always hugging the timbered side of the same. I have seen them in two positions, viz.:— standing on the bank of the lagoon, with their heads bent forward, studiously watching the water; at other times I have seen them standing straight up, almost perpendicular; I should say this is the proper position for the bird to be placed in when stuffed. When speaking of lagoons as the places where they are to be found, I may mention that I caught one about two miles in the bush, on the bank of a creek; but the creek led to a lagoon. They live on small fishes or the roots of reeds; I should say the latter, because at the very place where I caught one I observed the reeds turned up and the roots gone. They are very solitary, and always found alone, and they stand for hours in one place. I heard a person say that he had opened one and found a large egg in it. They breed on the ground in very obscure places; I never heard their cry.[
]
Feeding
The bittern is recorded as eating mudfish
Mudfish most commonly refers to all species of ''Neochanna'', native to New Zealand and south-eastern Australia.
Mudfish may also refer to:
Fish
* Bowfin (''Amia calva''), North America
* ''Channa'' or snakehead, a genus of predatory fish in Asi ...
and worms in captivity, when given in water.
Voice
Two calls were recorded by Buller, a "peculiar snapping cry" as an alarm call, and a "cry not unlike that of a kingfisher, though not so loud".
References
External links
Holotype from the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
''New Zealand Little Bittern / Kaoriki. Ixobrychus novaezelandiae.'' by Paul Martinson. Artwork produced for the book Extinct Birds of New Zealand by Alan Tennyson, Te Papa Press, Wellington, 2006
{{Taxonbar, from=Q888549
Ixobrychus
Bitterns
Bird extinctions since 1500
Extinct birds of New Zealand
Birds described in 1871
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot