The stitchbird or hihi (''Notiomystis cincta'') is a
honeyeater-like bird
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 else ...
to the
North Island and adjacent offshore islands of
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 ...
. Its evolutionary relationships have long puzzled
ornithologists, but it is now classed as the only member of its own
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
, the Notiomystidae. It became rare, being
extirpated
Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...
everywhere except
Little Barrier Island
Little Barrier Island, or Hauturu in Māori language (the official Māori title is ''Te Hauturu-o-Toi''), lies off the northeastern coast of New Zealand's North Island. Located to the north of Auckland, the island is separated from the mainla ...
, but has been reintroduced to two other island sanctuaries and four locations on the North Island mainland.
[Adams (2019).]
In addition to hihi, the stitchbird is also known by a number of other Māori names, including: tihi, ihi, tihe, kotihe, tiora, tiheora, tioro, kotihe-wera (male only), hihi-paka (male only), hihi-matakiore (female only), mata-kiore (female only), tihe-kiore (female only).
Taxonomy and systematics
The stitchbird was originally described as a member of the primarily Australian and New Guinean honeyeater family
Meliphagidae
The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, miners and melidectes. They are most common in Australia and New Gu ...
. It had remained classified as such until recently. Genetic analysis shows that it is not closely related to the honeyeaters and their allies and that its closest living relatives are within the endemic New Zealand
Callaeidae.
[Driskell ''et al.'' 2007] In 2007 a new passerine family was erected to contain the stitchbird, the Notiomystidae.
Description
The stitchbird is a small
honeyeater-like bird. Males have a dark velvety cap and short white ear-tufts, which can be raised somewhat away from the head. A yellow band across the chest separates the black head from the rest of the body, which is grey. Females and juveniles are duller than males, lacking the black head and yellow chest band. The bill is rather thin and somewhat curved, and the tongue is long with a brush at the end for collecting
nectar. Thin whiskers project out and slightly forward from the base of the bill.
Stitchbirds are very active and call frequently. Their most common call, a ''tzit tzit'' sound, is believed to be the source of their common name, as
Buller noted that it "has a fanciful resemblance to the word ''stitch''". They also have a high-pitched whistle and an alarm call which is a nasal ''pek'' like a
bellbird. Males give a piercing three-note whistle (often heard in spring) and a variety of other calls not given by the female.
Behavior and ecology
Research has suggested that they face
interspecific competition from the
tui and
New Zealand bellbird
The New Zealand bellbird (''Anthornis melanura''), also known by its Māori names korimako, makomako, and kōmako, is a passerine bird endemic to New Zealand. It has greenish colouration and is the only living member of the genus ''Anthornis''. ...
, and will feed from lower-quality food sources when these species are present. The stitchbird rarely lands on the ground and seldom visits flowers on the large canopy trees favoured by the tui and bellbird (this may simply be because of the competition from the more aggressive, larger birds).
Their main food is nectar, but the stitchbird's diet covers over twenty species of native flowers and thirty species of fruit and many species of introduced plants. Important natural nectar sources are
haekaro,
matata,
puriri
''Vitex lucens'', or pūriri, is an evergreen tree endemic to New Zealand.
History
Pūriri was first collected (by Europeans) at Tolaga Bay by Banks and Solander during Cook's first visit in 1769. The plant was excellently described by Soland ...
,
rata and
toropapa. Preferred fruits include ''
Coprosma
''Coprosma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is found in New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Borneo, Java, New Guinea, islands of the Pacific Ocean to Australia and the Juan Fernández Islands.
Description
The name ''Copros ...
'' species,
five finger,
pate,
tree fuchsia and
raukawa.
The stitchbird also supplements its diet with small insects.
Breeding
The stitchbird
nests
A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materi ...
in cavities high up in old trees. They are the only bird species that mates face to face, in comparison to the more conventional copulation style for birds where the male mounts the female's back. Stitchbird have some of the highest levels of extra-pair paternity of any bird with up to 79% of the chicks in the nest sired by other males, possibly as a result of forced copulations.
Status and conservation
The stitchbird was relatively common early in the European colonisation of New Zealand, and began to decline relatively quickly afterwards, being
extinct on the mainland and many offshore islands by 1885. The last sighting on the mainland was in the
Tararua Range
The Tararua Range, often referred to as the Tararua Ranges or Tararua, is one of several mountain ranges in the North Island of New Zealand.
The Tararua Range runs northeast–southwest for from near Palmerston North to the upper reaches of ...
in the 1880s.
The exact cause of the decline is unknown, but is thought to be pressure from
introduced species
An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...
, especially
black rats, and introduced avian diseases. Only a small population on
Little Barrier Island
Little Barrier Island, or Hauturu in Māori language (the official Māori title is ''Te Hauturu-o-Toi''), lies off the northeastern coast of New Zealand's North Island. Located to the north of Auckland, the island is separated from the mainla ...
survived. Starting in the 1980s the New Zealand Wildlife Service (now
Department of Conservation
An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...
) translocated numbers of individuals from Hauturu to other island sanctuaries to create separate populations. These islands were part of New Zealand's network of offshore reserves which have been
cleared of introduced species and which protect other rare species including the
kakapo and
takahe.
The world population is unknown; estimates for the size of the remnant population on
Hauturu (Little Barrier Island) range from 600 to 6000 adult birds. There are also translocated populations on
Tiritiri Matangi Island
Tiritiri Matangi Island is located in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand, east of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula in the North Island and north east of Auckland. The island is an open nature reserve managed by the Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi Incorp ...
,
Kapiti Island
Kapiti Island () is an island about off the west coast of the lower North Island of New Zealand. It is long, running southwest/northeast, and roughly wide, being more or less rectangular in shape, and has an area of . Its name has been used s ...
,
Zealandia
Zealandia (pronounced ), also known as (Māori) or Tasmantis, is an almost entirely submerged mass of continental crust that subsided after breaking away from Gondwanaland 83–79 million years ago.Gurnis, M., Hall, C.E., and Lavier, L.L., ...
,
Maungatautari,
Bushy Park
Bushy Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is the second largest of London's Royal Parks, at in area, after Richmond Park. The park, most of which is open to the public, is immediately north of Hampton Court Palace and Hampton ...
and
Lake Rotokare.
Attempts to establish populations on
Hen Island,
Cuvier Island
Cuvier Island is a small uninhabited island off the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It lies on the seaward end of the Colville Channel, north of the Mercury Islands and approximately south-east of Great Barrier Island. The island ...
and
Mokoia Island and the
Waitākere Ranges
The Waitākere Ranges is a mountain range in New Zealand. Located in West Auckland between metropolitan Auckland and the Tasman Sea, the ranges and its foothills and coasts comprise some of public and private land. The area, traditionally kno ...
failed. Reintroduction to these new sites has created genetic bottlenecks that have reduced genetic diversity in the newly founded populations and led to inbreeding.
The Tiritiri Matangi population is one of the most successful reintroduced populations with relatively fast population growth and now stable at around 150 individuals.
Despite this, high levels of hatching failure (around 30% of all eggs fail to hatch) occur due to inbreeding.
Only the Little Barrier Island population (Te Hauturu-o-Toi) is self-sufficient and does not require intervention for the population to survive.
This species is classified as Vulnerable (D2) by the
IUCN because of its very small range and number of populations.
Reintroduction
In 2005, 60 stitchbirds were released into
Zealandia (wildlife sanctuary) in
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...
and in October that year, three stitchbird chicks hatched there, the first time for more than 120 years that a stitchbird chick had been born on the mainland. The hatchings were described as a significant conservation milestone by sanctuary staff,
[KWS 2005] and in early 2019 Zealandia banded their 1000th hihi chick although the adult population is believed to remain at about 100 birds.
In autumn 2007, 59 adult birds from the Tiritiri Matangi population were released in Cascade Kauri Park, in the
Waitākere Ranges
The Waitākere Ranges is a mountain range in New Zealand. Located in West Auckland between metropolitan Auckland and the Tasman Sea, the ranges and its foothills and coasts comprise some of public and private land. The area, traditionally kno ...
near
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...
[Gregory, 2007][BLI, 2007a] and by the end of the year the first chicks had fledged there.
In 2017, 40 birds were released into the
Lake Rotokare Scenic Reserve in Taranaki, with 17 chicks raised.
A further 30 were released in 2018.
Gallery
File:Male hihi (stitchbird) perched on a twig in sunlight.jpg, Male Hihi
File:Hihi (Stitchbird)-1.jpg, Female in typical 'tail cocked' stance
File:Hihi chicks in nest.jpg, Hihi chicks in nest
File:Face-to-face_hihi_mating.jpg, Face-to-face hihi mating
File:Notiomystis cincta cincta.jpg, upThe extinct North Island subspecies
References
Sources
*Adams, L and Ewen, J (2019): Hihi Conservation: Annual Report of the Hihi Recovery Group http://www.hihiconservation.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Hihi_Conservation_2019_FINAL_smaller.pdf
*Angehr, George R. (1985): ''Stitchbird'', NZ Wildlife Service
*
*
*
BirdLife International (BLI) (2007a)
Hihi returns home after 125 years Includes photo of adult male. Version of 23 February 2007. Retrieved 26 February 2007.
* Buller, Walter L. (1888)
in his
', Second Edition. London: Walter Buller. Retrieved 26 April 2009.
* Castro, I. (2016). Stitchbird. ''In'' Miskelly, C.M. (ed.) New Zealand Birds Online. www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz
*
*
*
*Gregory, Angela (2007)
Waitakere hihi prepare for flight ''New Zealand Herald'' 17 December 2007.
*Gregory, Angela (2007)
Mysterious bird in a league of its own ''New Zealand Herald'' 17 March 2008.
* Karori Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS) (2005)
Version of 2005-OCT-31. Retrieved 26 February 2007.
*
External links
*
Karori Wildlife SanctuaryStitchbird Facts*
Birdlife InternationalSpecies factsheet*
Hihi conservation
{{Taxonbar, from=Q939459
Meliphagidae
Endemic birds of New Zealand
Birds of the North Island
Higher-level bird taxa restricted to New Zealand
Birds described in 1839
Taxa named by Bernard du Bus de Gisignies