SPRING IS HERE

SPRING IS HERE

 

I can always tell when Spring is here because a pair of mallard ducks start knocking at my door... every Spring without fail the pair arrive on our front deck and tap on our glass sliding door wanting a feed. Spring is finally here!!! and the breeding, nesting and hatching has begun! What a wonderful time of year for a wildlife photographer. Amongst the earthquake rubble the daffodils are in full flower and our city is being transformed by Spring's vivid colours!

| Above: A pied shag with stunning breeding colours |

Lately I've been busily trying to get my images organised and I've spent the last few weeks editing and sorting through a huge number of photos... and I can happily say that I'm almost done (phew!). I always prefer to be out with the camera rather than behind a computer, although I find it interesting going through old pictures and re-discovering photos and trips again.

It's been great doing talks for photography clubs and societies... and I had a wonderful time talking to the New Brighton Photography Club on Tuesday night - what a good bunch of people! I'm looking forward to meeting and talking to the members of the Greymouth Photography Club next month and spending some time photographing some of the birds on the west coast!

 | Above & Below: The endemic Black-fronted tern |

Last Friday night a friend and I threw our kayaks on the car and headed up the coast to a place called Kaikoura to spend the weekend kayaking around the peninsula. There is always something special about kayaking around the peninsula and we were treated by some great weather, some fantastic views and great wildlife like the New Zealand fur seals. 

A special moment for me was when a reef heron flew directly over our kayaks and landed on the rock platform a few metres away. The photos below are  some of the photos of the reef heron (Egretta sacra) feeding... what a buzz considering that these secretive herons are not a common sighting in New Zealand, especially in the south island.

 

  

| Above: A banded dotterel strolls amongst the weed on the Kaikoura Peninsula |

| Above: A New Zealand dotterel preening | Below: Shag Pile, Christchurch |

It's been fantastic to have the very talented Karen Neal use some of my photos as references for her wonderful wildlife paintings. I received a print of the wonderful kingfisher painting 'Gone Fishing' recently... go check out her work!

SPOTLIGHT: Pied Stilt (Poaka)

Pied stilts (Himantopus himantopus leucocephalus) or black-winged stilts as they are also known, are a common native to New Zealand and are also found in Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Bismarck Archipelago.

Pied stilts are found throughout the world and the classification of these birds can be controversial as they differ  from place to place. Some believe that there are as many as five separate species while others consider them to be subspecies.  Whatever the case may be the pied stilts found here Himantopus himantopus leucocephalus or poaka as the Maori know these beautiful birds are classified by an all-white head, neck white, black behind, open black chest band and usually a white band across upper back.

Pied stilts are found in a variety of habitats such as sheltered marine harbours, wetlands, estuaries, lagoons, riverbeds, waterlogged pastures and lakesides where they use their extremely long and lanky legs (which give them their name) to wade through the water in search of small insects, marine molluscs, worms and crustaceans which are probed out of the sand or mud. In winter many of the birds that breed on Canterbury's rivers migrate to the warmer North Island harbours to feed.

Breeding and nesting can occur as early as July in the northern part of the country and can continue into summer. Nests are usually built on the edge of wetlands/lagoons or above the high-tide mark on sandy beaches and riverbeds. The stilts are very vocal at this time of year and if an intruder ventures too close to their nest or young they make sharp yapping calls and  often feign a broken wing in order to draw attention away from their exposed nest or young. The female usually lays four eggs which are incubated by both parents. Incubation usually lasts for 25 days. The chicks usually leave the nest the same day after hatching and are covered with a soft down with speckled yellow-brown upper-parts and white under-parts. When danger threatens they drop straight to the the ground and remain motionless becoming extremely difficult to detect. 

 

Above: A young stilt finds its legs on the estuary mud

Right: A pied stilt incubates it's eggs in waterlogged pasture.

Left: A newly hatched chick sits on its nest, stilt chicks usually leave the nest the same day. 

Below: A newly hatched chick soaks up some rays, a relief after being cramped in the egg for 25 days :)

LOVE IS IN THE AIR

'LOVE IS IN THE AIR' 

The white-fronted terns' noisy chattering is a sure sign that spring is underway! From now (October) to January these birds will breed on sand dunes, rocky islets and shingle banks around the country. Males court females by delivering fish held crosswise in their bill. I can't help feeling a little sorry for these small fish which are often still alive and kicking as they are held in the male's beak for a few minutes and then offered as a gift... I wonder what the fish is thinking? 

White-fronted Terns (Sterna striata) are the most common tern in New Zealand. Unfortunately recent counts have shown that their numbers are declining quite rapidly!

The reasons for this are not fully known, although it is thought that disturbances to their breeding habitats such as 4WD vehicles and predation from rats, stoats, hedgehogs, black-backed gulls etc. have all contributed to this decline.

White-fronted terns are also known as 'kahawai birds' as they are often seen feeding with schools of kahawai (Australian Salmon) that push krill and small fish like smelt and pilchards to the surface making it easier for the terns to feed. It is therefore also quite likely that the over-fishing of kahawai may also be contributing to their decline.

The Red Beak District

THE RED BEAK DISTRICT 

PROMISCUOUS PUKEKOS

Forget 'Fort St' in Auckland or 'Kings Cross' in Sydney, there are far more sinister districts popping up all over the place at this time of year. From August to March every year New Zealand's recreational parks and open fields are transformed into 'Red beak districts' where promiscuity and 'fowl play' is the name of the game!

Pukekos (Porphyrio porphyrio) would have to be the hippies of the avian world, a world that consists of 'free love' and communal living! Group sex, partner sharing, homosexuality and incest are a common occurrence. In fact, in the pukeko world you could say that love is one big 'family affair'.  (Right: No privacy in a pukeko commune)

Pukeko's have a complex social system, and monogamy, polygamy, polyandry,  and polygynandry can occur  within the same population! Females are often hounded by numerous males and can be copulated by up to three different males within a matter of minutes! (Below:  Males hastily pursue an unwilling female)

This kind of libertine lifestyle raises a lot of questions... how could this level of promiscuity benefit the pukeko? Partner sharing seems to go against the evolutionary grain, where it is argued that as a result of natural selection individuals will try and maximize their own genotype in subsequent generations. Although in communal breeding groups it seems that they toss their own interests aside in order to assist the reproductive efforts of others and benefit the group as a whole.

There are many theories as to why these purple clad hippies share mates and participate in incestuous and homosexual activity when it seems detrimental and pointless to their evolutionary success.

When it comes to inbreeding it seems that pukeko have several mechanisms for reducing the disadvantages of incest such as possible gamete selection (the process of determining which egg matures and what sperm succeeds in fertilizing the egg). Other theories suggest that regular inbreeding may have eliminated deleterious generic consequences. Whatever the reason or reasons may be, there have been no obvious harmful effects due to inbreeding observed in pukeko breeding groups. Homosexuality and partner sharing are believed to help synchronize sexual cycles allowing several females to lay in the same nest at the same time.

Although these raunchy rails' sexual habits may seem a little lewd and communal breeding an evolutionary paradox, these districts, believe it or not, are 'family friendly'. In fact these lewd acts seem to benefit the group as a whole, and strengthen family ties. Community breeding offers its fair share of advantages, such as safety in numbers as each 'commune' has several males to defend it. It certainly makes the jobs of nestbuilding (Below), chick feeding/care (Right) and incubation (which is shared by all adults within a group) a bit easier with more helpers around. Due to the fact that males and females mate freely within the group, males have an uncertainty about which chicks they've fathered and this probably ensures that they  stick around and help with the raising of the chicks.

Each female will lay up to 7 eggs, and a communal nest can have eggs from 2-3 females. Unaware of the pukekos communal nesting behaviour early ornithologists were fooled into thinking that some females were highly productive because their nests contained up to 20 eggs. With multiple chick minders each chick may be looked after  by a parent, aunt/uncle or an older brother/sister.
 

Left: Males and females both participate in nest building, and in communal breeding groups helpers also lend a hand (or a beak).

 

Right: allopreening. In pukekos, allofeeding and allopreening (where birds will feed and preen one another) is a form of courtship and occurs between all sexually active birds in a group. Male pukeko also hold water weeds in their bill and bow to the female with loud chuckles as a form of courtship. 

 

Left: A pukeko swimming. Although not web-footed, pukekos are surprisingly strong swimmers.

Below: A pukeko nest  situated in an open field.