The South Island saddleback or tīeke (''Philesturnus carunculatus'') is a forest

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the New Zealand wattlebird family which is

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 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 ...

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 ...

. Both the

North Island saddleback The North Island saddleback (''Philesturnus rufusater'') is a forest-dwelling passerine bird species endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. It was once considered conspecific with the South Island saddleback. The IUCN lists the species as Ne ...

and this species were formerly considered conspecific. The

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 ...

currently has the South Island saddleback listed as ''At Risk--Declining''.

Distribution and habitat

During the early 19th century, South Island saddlebacks were widely distributed throughout the South and

Stewart Islands Sikaiana (formerly called the Stewart Islands) is a small atoll NE of Malaita in Solomon Islands in the south Pacific Ocean. It is almost in length and its lagoon, known as Te Moana, is totally enclosed by the coral reef. Its total land s ...

. However, by the end of the century, the species was in decline and nearing extinction due to introduced predators. By 1905, the saddlebacks were confined to the South Cape Islands, off the coast of Stewart Island. In 1962, ship rats were introduced to

Big South Cape Island Big South Cape Island or Taukihepa is an offshore island of New Zealand to the west of the southern tip of Stewart Island / Rakiura. The island has no permanent inhabitants but muttonbirders visit the island to catch the sooty shearwater, known i ...

, causing the extinction of the

greater short-tailed bat The New Zealand greater short-tailed bat (''Mystacina robusta'') is one of two species of New Zealand short-tailed bats, a family (Mystacinidae) unique to New Zealand. Larger than the New Zealand lesser short-tailed bat, there have been no confi ...

Stewart Island snipe The South Island snipe (''Coenocorypha iredalei''), also known as the Stewart Island snipe or tutukiwi in Māori, is an extinct species of bird in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae that was endemic to New Zealand. Taxonomy and etymology Determ ...

and the Stead's bush wren. In early 1964, 36 individuals on Big South Cape Island were translocated by the

New Zealand Wildlife Service The New Zealand Wildlife Service was a division of the Department of Internal Affairs responsible for managing wildlife in New Zealand. It was established in 1945 (as the ''Wildlife Branch'') in order to unify wildlife administration and operation ...

to pest-free islands. Big Island received 21 individuals, whilst Kaimohu Island received 15. Further translocations and predator removal allowed the population to recover, with the current population estimated to be around 2000.

Behaviour and ecology

Threats

The South Island saddleback is at risk of outbreaks of

avian malaria Avian malaria is a parasitic disease of birds, caused by parasite species belonging to the genera ''Plasmodium'' and '' Hemoproteus'' (phylum Apicomplexa, class Haemosporidia, family Plasmoiidae). The disease is transmitted by a dipteran vector i ...

and

avian pox ''Avipoxvirus'' (avian pox) is a genus of viruses within the family ''Poxviridae''. ''Poxviridae'' is the family of viruses which cause the afflicted organism to have poxes as a symptom. Poxviruses have generally large genomes, and other such ex ...

- two outbreaks in 2002 and 2007 resulted in high mortality rates among those infected. Saddlebacks are especially vulnerable as they have had limited exposure to avian malaria, due to the disease's relatively short history in New Zealand.

Conservation

A threatened species recovery plan was established by the Department of Conservation in 1994, with the aims of maintaining wild populations, adopting quarantine procedures, and removing predators from islands potentially suitable for translocating members of the species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q760674

South Island saddleback The South Island saddleback or tīeke (''Philesturnus carunculatus'') is a forest bird in the New Zealand wattlebird family which is endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. Both the North Island saddleback and this species were formerly cons ...

Birds of the South Island

Endemic birds of New Zealand