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Te Matuku Marine Reserve
Te Matuku Marine Reserve is a marine reserve administered by the New Zealand Department of Conservation. It includes Te Matuku Bay, one of the largest and least disturbed estuaries on Waiheke Island, as well as a surrounding area of sea. It covers an area of and was established in 2003. The bay and marine reserve are named after the now-rare matuku or Australasian bittern. Geography The marine reserve includes both the main bay and its entrance bays (Whites Bay, Little Bay, Sandy Bay and Otakawhe Bay) up to the high water line, and then out line level with Kauri Point on Ponui Island (Chamberlins Island). The sand, mudflats, mangroves and saltmarsh of Te Matuku Bay provides a habitat for eel grass, sea snails, cockles, crabs and worms, including colonies of spiny tubeworm (''Pomatoceros caeruleus'') that also used to be common in the inner Waitemata Harbour. During low tide, the bay almost dries out, allowing wading birds to hunt for these animals. During high tide, young flou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waiheke Island
Waiheke Island is the second-largest island (after Great Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. Its ferry terminal in Matiatia Bay at the western end is from the central-city terminal in Auckland. It is the most populated island in the gulf, with permanent residents, and the List of islands of New Zealand, third most populous island in New Zealand (behind the two main islands). An additional estimated 3,400 people have second homes or holiday homes on the island. It is more densely populated than the North Island, North and South Islands. It is the most accessible island in the gulf, with regular passenger and Roll-on/roll-off, car-ferry services, a helicopter operator based on the island, and other air links. In November 2015, Lonely Planet rated Waiheke Island the fifth-best region in the world to visit in 2016. Geography Overview The island is off the coast of the North Island. It is in length from west to east, varies in width from , and has a surface are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Island Oystercatcher
The South Island oystercatcher or South Island pied oystercatcher (''Haematopus finschi'') is one of two common oystercatcher species found in New Zealand. Its name is often contracted to the acronym "SIPO" (rhyming with "typo"). The indigenous Māori name is . The scientific name commemorates the German ethnographer, naturalist and colonial explorer Friedrich Hermann Otto Finsch (8 August 1839 – 31 January 1917, Braunschweig).Jobling, James A. (2010). Bloomsbury Publishing, ed. The Helm dictionary of scientific bird names from aalge to zusii. Londres: Christopher Helm. p. 159. ISBN 1408133261. Description The South Island oystercatcher is easily identifiable as a pied oystercatcher – a large wader with striking black and white plumage, long red-orange bill, and red legs. It is distinguished from the pied morph of the variable oystercatcher by a white lower back, more white on the wing, and a demarcation line of black and white further forward on the breast, and from the p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silvereye
The silvereye or wax-eye (''Zosterops lateralis''), also known by its Māori name tauhou, is a very small omnivorous passerine bird of the south-west Pacific. In Australia and New Zealand its common name is sometimes white-eye, but this name is more commonly used to refer to all members of the genus ''Zosterops'', or the entire family Zosteropidae. In New Zealand, the silvereye was first recorded in 1832. It arrived in greater numbers in 1856, and it is assumed that a migrating flock was swept eastwards by a storm. As an apparently self-introduced bird it is protected as a native New Zealand species. Its Māori name, , means "stranger" or more literally, "new arrival". Taxonomy The silvereye was first described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801 under the binomial name ''Sylvia lateralis''. There are 17 subspecies: * ''Z. l. chlorocephalus'' A. J. Campbell & S. A. White, 1910 ( Capricorn silvereye)– Capricorn and Bunker Group, central Queensland, Australia * ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grey Warbler
The grey warbler (''Gerygone igata''), also known by its Māori name or outside New Zealand as the grey gerygone, is an insectivorous bird in the family Acanthizidae endemic to New Zealand. It is sometimes known as the teetotum or rainbird. Its natural habitat is forests, but also tends to occupy lower vegetation habitats. These insectivorous birds feed on insects living in shrubs, and often feed on the wing. They are found throughout New Zealand, as well as offshore islands where shrub exists. They also flourish in suburban areas where there is vegetation present. Description The grey warbler has a long tail that is darker than its grey-brown body, with white tail end markings as well as a white tail underside. There is little sexual dimorphism between males and females, aside from females usually being smaller than males. Warblers are especially small; weighing around 6.5g with an average length of only around 10cm. Adults have a signature ruby red eye, while juveniles have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kererū
The kererū (''Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae''), also known as kūkupa (Māori language#Northern dialects, northern Māori dialects), New Zealand pigeon or wood pigeon, is a species of pigeon native to New Zealand. Johann Friedrich Gmelin described the bird in 1789 as a large, conspicuous pigeon up to in length and in weight, with a white breast and iridescent green–blue plumage. Two subspecies have been recognised; the second—the Norfolk pigeon of Norfolk Island—became extinct in the early 20th century. Kererū pairs are Monogamy in animals, monogamous, breeding over successive seasons and remaining together when not breeding. They construct nests with twigs in trees, with a single egg clutch. Found in a variety of habitats across the country, the kererū feeds mainly on fruits, as well as leaves, buds and flowers. Although widespread in both forest and urban habitats, its numbers have declined significantly since European colonisation and the arrival of invasive mammals ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kānuka
''Kunzea ericoides'', commonly known as kānuka or white tea-tree, is a tree or shrub in the myrtle Family (biology), family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to New Zealand. It has white or pink flowers similar to those of ''Leptospermum'' and from its first formal description in 1832 until 1983 was known as ''Leptospermum ericoides''. The flowers have five petals and up to 25 stamens which are mostly longer than the petals. Description ''Kunzea ericoides'' is a spreading shrub or tree, sometimes growing to a height of with bark which peels in long strips and young branches which tend to droop. The leaves are variable in shape from linear to narrow elliptic or lance-shaped, long and wide with a Petiole (botany), petiole up to long. The flowers are white or pale pink, crowded on side branches or in the wikt:axil#Noun, axils of upper leaves. The Hypanthium, floral cup is covered with soft, downy hairs and is on a Pedicel (botany), pedicel long. There are five triangular sepals about ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kauri
''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees, native to Australasia and Southeast Asia. It is one of three extant genera in the family Araucariaceae, alongside '' Wollemia'' and ''Araucaria'' (being more closely related to the former).de Laubenfels, David J. 1988. Coniferales. P. 337–453 in Flora Malesiana, Series I, Volume 10. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic. Its leaves are much broader than most conifers. Kauri gum is commercially harvested from New Zealand kauri. Description Mature kauri trees have characteristically large trunks, with little or no branching below the crown. In contrast, young trees are normally conical in shape, forming a more rounded or irregularly shaped crown as they achieve maturity.Whitmore, T.C. 1977. ''A first look at Agathis''. Tropical Forestry Papers No. 11. University of Oxford Commonwealth Forestry Institute. The bark is smooth and light grey to grey-brown, usually peeling into irregular flakes t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Zealand Longfin Eel
The New Zealand longfin eel (''Anguilla dieffenbachii'') is a species of freshwater eel that is endemic to New Zealand. It is the largest freshwater eel in New Zealand and the only endemic species – the other eels found in New Zealand are the native shortfin eel (''Anguilla australis''), also found in Australia, and the naturally introduced Australian longfin eel (''Anguilla reinhardtii''). Longfin eels are long-lived, migrating to the Pacific Ocean near Tonga to breed at the end of their lives. They are good climbers as juveniles and so are found in streams and lakes a long way inland. An important traditional food source for Māori (who name them ), longfin eel numbers are declining and they are classified as endangered, but over one hundred tonnes are still commercially fished each year. Description The easiest way to identify the longfin eel is by the length of its fins: the dorsal (top) fin is about two-thirds the length of the body and starts significantly further tow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paranephrops
''Paranephrops'' is a genus of freshwater crayfish found only in New Zealand. They are known by the English common names freshwater crayfish and koura, the latter from their Māori language, Māori name of ''kōura''. Species The two species are: Both species are a traditional food for Māori people, Māori, and a small koura aquaculture industry supplies the restaurant market. Description The northern koura (''P. planifrons'') reaches lengths of about , whereas the southern koura (''P. zealandicus'') is slightly larger – – with relatively shorter antennae. Their first pair of legs (Chela (organ), chelipeds) are pincers used for scavenging food and warding off predators or other koura. The chelipeds in ''P. zealandicus'' are much hairier at their tips than those of ''P. planifrons.'' The four pairs of well-developed walking legs are used for most movement, but the Decapod anatomy, pleopods are small and no use for swimming; when alarmed, koura can flick their tails for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spotless Crake
The spotless crake (''Zapornia tabuensis'') is a species of bird in the rail family, Rallidae. It is widely distributed species occurring from the Philippines, New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand across the southern Pacific Ocean to the Marquesas Islands to the south east along the Tuamotus island chain to Pitcairn Oeno island, Taxonomy The spotless crake was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's ''Systema Naturae''. He placed it with the other crakes and rails in the genus ''Rallus'' and coined the binomial name ''Rallus tabuensis''. Gmelin's account is taken from that of the "Tabuan rail" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his book ''A General Synopsis of Birds''. Latham's description was probably based on a plate painted by the German naturalist Georg Forster who had accompanied the British explorer James Cook on his second voyage to the Pacific ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White-faced Heron
The white-faced heron (''Egretta novaehollandiae'') also known as the white-fronted heron, and incorrectly as the grey heron, or blue crane, is a common bird throughout most of Australasia, including New Guinea, the islands of Torres Strait, Indonesia, New Zealand, and all but the driest areas of Australia. It is a medium-sized heron, pale, slightly bluish-grey, with yellow legs and white facial markings. It can be found almost anywhere near shallow water, fresh or salt, and although it is prompt to depart the scene on long, slow-beating wings if disturbed, it will boldly raid suburban fish ponds. Taxonomy The white-faced heron was formally described in 1790 by the English ornithologist John Latham. He placed it with the herons in the genus '' Ardea'' and coined the binomial name ''Ardea novaehollandiae''. Latham based his account on the "white-fronted heron" that had been described and illustrated in 1789 by the first Governor of New South Wales Arthur Phillip in his book ''T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
