Auckland Island snipe | |
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Auckland Island snipe with chick on Enderby Island | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Charadriiformes |
Family: | Scolopacidae |
Genus: | Coenocorypha |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | C. a. aucklandica |
Trinomial name | |
Coenocorypha aucklandica aucklandica (Gray, 1844) | |
Native range | |
Synonyms | |
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The Auckland snipe (Coenocorypha aucklandica aucklandica), also known as the Auckland Island snipe, is a small bird in the sandpiper family. It is the isolated nominate subspecies of the subantarctic snipe that is endemic to the Auckland Islands, a subantarctic island group south of New Zealand in the Southern Ocean.
The Auckland snipe was first collected in 1840 both by Charles Wilkes’ United States Exploring Expedition, and James Ross’ Erebus and Terror Antarctic expedition, with the British specimens forming the basis for George Gray's 1844 description. [1] The species name, and hence the subspecific epithet, refer to the type locality.
The subspecies is generally similar to others in the genus, being a small, brown, cryptically patterned snipe with a long bill, short neck, tail and legs, and short, rounded wings. Females are slightly larger than males, weighing about 107 g compared with the males’ 82–94 g. [2]
The snipe is endemic to the Auckland Islands, which has a total surface area of 625 km2. However, it is no longer present on main Auckland Island, but only on 100 km2 Adams Island, Enderby Island, and the much smaller Disappointment, Ewing, Figure of Eight, Rose, Ocean and Dundas Islands. [2] It inhabits the islands’ tussock grasslands, Olearia forest, shrubland and herbfields. [2]
Breeding is seasonal, with a records of egg-laying from late September to early November with chicks present in November–December. The typical clutch size is two. [2] “Hakawai” aerial displays have been recorded. [3]
The population of the snipe is estimated at 20,000 birds. [4] It has been classified as a range-restricted island endemic with a stable population. [5]
The Auckland Islands are an archipelago of New Zealand, lying 465 km (289 mi) south of the South Island. The main Auckland Island, occupying 460 km2 (180 sq mi), is surrounded by smaller Adams Island, Enderby Island, Disappointment Island, Ewing Island, Rose Island, Dundas Island, and Green Island, with a combined area of 570 km2 (220 sq mi). The islands have no permanent human inhabitants.
Auckland Island is the main island of the eponymous uninhabited archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the New Zealand subantarctic area. It is inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list together with the other New Zealand Subantarctic Islands in the region.
The Auckland Island merganser, also known as the New Zealand merganser, was a typical merganser that is now extinct.
Jacquemart Island, one of the islets surrounding Campbell Island in New Zealand, lies 1 km south of Campbell Island and is the southernmost island of New Zealand.
Adams Island is the second largest island of New Zealand's Auckland Islands archipelago.
Enderby Island is part of New Zealand's uninhabited Auckland Islands archipelago, south of mainland New Zealand. It is situated just off the northern tip of Auckland Island, the largest island in the archipelago.
The Subantarctic snipe is a species of snipe endemic to New Zealand's subantarctic islands. The Maori call it "Tutukiwi". The nominate race C. a. aucklandica is found on the Auckland Islands. Other subspecies include C. a. meinertzhagenae from the Antipodes Islands, and C. a. perseverance from Campbell Island / Motu Ihupuku. The former subspecies from the Snares Islands has been separated as a full species, the Snares snipe, as have the extinct South Island and North Island snipes.
The austral snipes, also known as the New Zealand snipes or tutukiwi, are a genus, Coenocorypha, of tiny birds in the sandpiper family, which are now only found on New Zealand's outlying islands. There are currently three living species and six known extinct species, with the Subantarctic snipe having three subspecies, including the Campbell Island snipe discovered as recently as 1997. The genus was once distributed from Fiji, New Caledonia and Norfolk Island, across New Zealand and southwards into New Zealand's subantarctic islands, but predation by introduced species, especially rats, has drastically reduced their range.
Hakawai, also Hōkioi in the North Island, was to the New Zealand Māori people, a mythological bird that was sometimes heard but not usually seen. It is now associated with the nocturnal aerial displays made by Coenocorypha snipe.
Disappointment Island is one of seven uninhabited islands in the Auckland Islands archipelago, in New Zealand. It is 475 kilometres (295 mi) south of the country's main South Island and 8 kilometres (5 mi) from the northwest end of Auckland Island.
The Campbell snipe, also known as the Campbell Island snipe, is a rare subspecies of the Subantarctic snipe, endemic to Campbell Island, a subantarctic island south of New Zealand in the Southern Ocean. It was not formally described until January 2010. The subspecific name alludes to the name of the sealing brig Perseverance, captained by Frederick Hasselborough, that discovered Campbell Island in 1810, and which probably inadvertently introduced rats to the island when it was wrecked there in 1828.
The Snares snipe, also known as the Snares Island snipe, or tutukiwi in Māori, is a species of bird in the sandpiper family, Scolopacidae.
The South Island snipe, 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.
The North Island snipe, also known as the little barrier snipe or tutukiwi, is an extinct species of bird in the sandpiper family, Scolopacidae, that was endemic to New Zealand.
The Antipodes snipe, also known as the Antipodes Island snipe, is an isolated subspecies of the Subantarctic snipe that is endemic to the Antipodes Islands, a subantarctic island group south of New Zealand in the Southern Ocean.
The southern New Zealand dotterel or southern red-breasted plover is a critically endangered subspecies of the New Zealand dotterel, a shorebird endemic to New Zealand. The subspecies was once widespread across the South Island, but now breeds almost exclusively on Stewart Island.
Plantago aucklandica is a species of flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae that is endemic to the subantarctic Auckland Islands, New Zealand. Joseph Dalton Hooker described P. aucklandica in his Flora Antarctica in 1844. Plants of this plantain are large with large leaves, up to seven veins, wide petioles, colliculate seeds, and long spikes with dozens of flowers and one-seeded fruits. This species in considered to be At Risk - Naturally Uncommon, as it is an island endemic with a restricted range.
Megaherbs are a group of herbaceous wildflowers growing in the New Zealand subantarctic islands and on the other subantarctic islands. They are characterised by their great size, with huge leaves and very large and often unusually coloured flowers, which have evolved as an adaptation to the harsh weather conditions on the islands. They suffer from overgrazing due to introduced mammals.
Colin Miskelly is a New Zealand ornithologist and museum curator.