Colin Miskelly

Last updated

Colin Miskelly
Born1962/1963(age 61–62)
Alma mater University of Canterbury
Known forNew Zealand Birds Online website
Awards Cranwell Medal (2024)
Scientific career
Fields Ornithology
Institutions Department of Conservation
Te Papa
Thesis Social and Environmental Constraints on Breeding by New Zealand Snipe Coenocorypha aucklandica  (1989)

Colin Miskelly (born 1962/1963) [1] is a New Zealand ornithologist and museum curator.

Contents

Biography

Miskelly's father was a mechanical engineer and his mother was a nurse. [1] At the age of 13 he became a member of the Ornithological Society of New Zealand, and at age 15, he spent six weeks on the Chatham Islands on an expedition focussed on the Chatham Island tāiko (Pterodroma magentae). [1] In 1983 he received a Queen Elizabeth II Commonwealth Scholarship. From November 1983 to January 1984, alongside Don Merton, he was part of a team of conservationists who witnessed a successful breeding season of the Chatham Islands black robin (Petroica traversi) on Rangatira Island. During this period the total population was doubled from nine to 18 individuals. [1] In 1985, Miskelly received a Bachelor of Science degree summa cum laude from the University of Canterbury. After studying for a doctorate at the same university, he received his Ph.D. in 1989 with the dissertation Social and Environmental Constraints on Breeding by New Zealand SnipeCoenocorypha aucklandica. [2] He has spent six summers on the Snares Islands studying snipe. [1]

From February 1991 to May 2010, Miskelly was a conservation consultant, technical support officer and conservation analyst with the Department of Conservation (DOC), [3] [4] including representing DOC on the board of the Karori Sanctuary Trust (the operator of Zealandia) from 1998 to 2010. He then moved to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, where he became curator of vertebrates. He was the driving force behind the creation of the New Zealand Birds Online website, launched in 2013. Eleven main authors, over a hundred other contributors and over 250 photographers are involved in this digital encyclopedia, which records all of New Zealand's bird species (extant or extinct). [5] [6]

Miskelly's special area of interest is the New Zealand snipe (Coenocorypha). In 2002, a revision of the genus carried out in collaboration with Trevor Worthy led to the elevation of the former subspecies Coenocorypha aucklandica iredalei , Coenocorypha aucklandica huegeli and Coenocorypha aucklandica barrierensis to species status. [7] In 2010 he and Allan J. Baker (1943–2014) described the subspecies Coenocorypha aucklandica perseverance . [8]

In 2018, Miskelly was part of a team of scientists that first described the critically endangered diving petrel species Whenua Hou diving petrel (Pelecanoides whenuahouensis) from Codfish Island / Whenua Hou. [9] This taxon was originally considered a population of the broad-billed guillemot petrel (Pelecanoides georgicus).

Over the period November 2023 to March 2024, Miskelly undertook a trek along the full 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) length of the Te Araroa Trail from Cape Reinga to Bluff making observations of birds at 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) intervals along the way. The observations were reported progressively in blog posts during the walk. [10]

Selected publications

Articles

Miskelly has written or contributed to numerous articles for the journal Notornis, including:

Books

In 2008 he edited the book Chatham Islands: Heritage and Conservation. [11] [12]

In 2020, along with co-author Craig Symes, Miskelly edited a collection of papers entitled Lost Gold: Ornithology of the subantarctic Auckland Islands. [13] [14]

Awards

In 2021, Miskelly and his co-author Craig Symes won the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales Whitley Award for the book Lost Gold: Ornithology of the subantarctic Auckland Islands. [15]

In 2024, Miskelly was elected as a Fellow of the Ornithological Society of New Zealand. [16] [17]

In 2024, Miskelly was awarded the Cranwell Medal by the New Zealand Association of Scientists, for "excellence in communicating science to the general public in any area of science or technology". [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auckland Islands</span> Volcanic archipelago in New Zealand

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auckland Island merganser</span> Extinct species of bird

The Auckland Island merganser, also known as the New Zealand merganser, was a typical merganser that is now extinct.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magenta petrel</span> Species of bird

The magenta petrel, or Chatham Island tāiko, is a small seabird in the gadfly petrel genus, Pterodroma. Found exclusively on Chatham Island, New Zealand, it is one of the rarest birds in the world, believed to be extinct for over 100 years before its rediscovery in the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacquemart Island</span> Island in New Zealand

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chatham Islands petrel</span> Species of bird

The Chatham Islands petrel, also known as the Chatham petrel or ranguru (Māori), is a medium-sized, grey, white and black gadfly petrel. It only breeds on the Chatham Islands, New Zealand, and until recently was restricted to the 218-hectare Rangatira or South-East Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subantarctic snipe</span> Species of bird

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rangatira Island</span> Island of eastern New Zealand

Hokorereoro, Rangatira, or South East Island is the third largest island in the Chatham Islands archipelago, and covers an area of 218 hectares. It lies 800 kilometres (497 mi) east of New Zealand's South Island off the south-east coast of Pitt Island, 55 kilometres (34 mi) south-east of the main settlement, Waitangi, on Chatham Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mottled petrel</span> Species of bird

The mottled petrel or kōrure is a species of seabird and a member of the gadfly petrels. It usually attains 33 to 35 cm (13–14 in) in length with a 74 to 82 cm (29–32 in) wingspan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Falla</span> New Zealand ornithologist and museum director (1901–1979)

Sir Robert Alexander Falla was a New Zealand museum administrator and ornithologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austral snipe</span> Genus of birds

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Georgia diving petrel</span> Species of bird

The South Georgia diving petrel or Georgian diving-petrel is one of five very similar small auk-like diving petrels of the southern oceans. It is native to the South Atlantic and islands of the southern Indian Ocean and south-eastern Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hakawai (mythology)</span> Bird in Māori mythology

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campbell snipe</span> Subspecies of bird

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snares snipe</span> Species of bird

The Snares snipe, also known as the Snares Island snipe, or tutukiwi in Māori, is a species of bird in the sandpiper family, Scolopacidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Island snipe</span> Extinct species of bird

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antipodes snipe</span> Subspecies of bird

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auckland snipe</span> Subspecies of bird

The Auckland snipe, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1947 Snares Islands expedition</span> Expedition to the Snares Islands in 1947

The 1947 Snares Islands expedition was an expedition undertaken between November 1947 and December 1947 to research the birds and other biodiversity of the Snares Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kath Walker (scientist)</span> New Zealand conservation scientist

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Macdonald, Nikki (14 July 2018). "National Portrait: Colin Miskelly, Te Papa curator and bird expert". Stuff . Retrieved 27 November 2024.
  2. Miskelly, Colin M. (1989). Social and environmental constraints on breeding by New Zealand snipe Coenocorypha aucklandica (PhD thesis). University of Canterbury. doi:10.26021/8271. hdl:10092/5822.
  3. "Colin Miskelly". researchgate.net. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  4. Quirke, Michelle (26 February 2002). "It's just that time of the year for scruffy, grumpy penguins". Dominion . p. 3. ProQuest   315393884.
  5. "Congratulations to all of our 2024 NZAS Award winners". New Zealand Association of Scientists. 2024. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  6. "Greater prominence given to Māori bird names". RNZ . 31 May 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  7. Worthy, Trevor H.; Miskelly, Colin M.; Ching, Bob (R.) A. (2002). "Taxonomy of North and South Island snipe (Aves: Scolopacidae: Coenocorypha) , with analysis of a remarkable collection of snipe bones from Greymouth, New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 29 (3): 231–244. doi:10.1080/03014223.2002.9518307.
  8. Miskelly, C. M.; Baker, A. J. (2010). "Description of a new subspecies of Coenocorypha snipe from subantarctic Campbell Island, New Zealand" (PDF). Notornis . 56 (3): 113–123.
  9. Fischer, Johannes H.; Debski, Igor; Miskelly, Colin M.; Bost, Charles A.; Fromant, Aymeric; Tennyson, Alan J. D.; Tessler, Jake; Cole, Rosalind; Hiscock, Johanna H.; Taylor, Graeme A.; Wittmer, Heiko U. (2018). "Analyses of phenotypic differentiations among South Georgian Diving Petrel (Pelecanoides georgicus) populations reveal an undescribed and highly endangered species from New Zealand". PLOS ONE. 13 (6): e0197766. Bibcode:2018PLoSO..1397766F. doi: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0197766 . PMID   29949581.
  10. "Ornithologist Colin Miskelly walking the length of Aotearoa". RNZ . 30 October 2023.
  11. "Chatham Islands". The New Zealand Herald . 10 March 2009. ProQuest   430302574.
  12. "Chatham Islands: Heritage and conservation". University of Canterbury. 20 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  13. "Birds of the Auckland Islands - Colin Miskelly: Lost Gold". RNZ . 13 May 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  14. "Lost Gold: Ornithology of the subantarctic Auckland Islands". TePapaStore. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  15. "Whitley Awards 2021". Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales . Retrieved 28 November 2024.
  16. "Colin Miskelly – a fine Fellow". Te Papa’s Blog. 1 December 2024. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  17. "Colin Miskelly Elected as a Fellow of the Ornithological Society of New Zealand" (PDF). Birds New Zealand (43): 13. September 2024.
  18. "New Zealand Association Of Scientists Awards Celebrate The Achievements Of Scientists And Our Science System". Scoop . 25 November 2024. Retrieved 27 November 2024.