Moa are an extinct group of flightless birds formerly endemic to New Zealand. There were nine species. The two largest species, Dinornis robustus and Dinornis novaezelandiae, reached about 3.6 m (12 ft) in height with neck outstretched, and weighed about 230 kg (510 lb) while the smallest, the bush moa, was around the size of a turkey. Estimates of the moa population when Polynesians settled New Zealand circa 1300 vary between 58,000 and approximately 2.5 million.
The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small- to medium-sized, ground-living birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity and includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules. Many species are associated with wetlands, although the family is found in every terrestrial habitat except dry deserts, polar regions, and alpine areas above the snow line. Members of the Rallidae occur on every continent except Antarctica. Numerous island species are known. The most common rail habitats are marshland and dense forest. They are especially fond of dense vegetation.
The swamp harrier, also known as the Australasian marsh harrier, Australasian harrier or swamp-hawk, is a large, slim bird of prey widely distributed across Australasia. In New Zealand it is also known as the harrier hawk, hawk, or by the Māori name kāhu. Its arrival in New Zealand happened within the last 700 years, replacing its sister species, the larger extinct New Zealand endemic Eyles's harrier.
The common moorhen, also known as the waterhen or swamp chicken, is a bird species in the rail family (Rallidae). It is distributed across many parts of the Old World.
Moorhens—sometimes called marsh hens—are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family (Rallidae). Most species are placed in the genus Gallinula, Latin for "little hen". They are close relatives of coots. They are often referred to as (black) gallinules. Recently, one of the species of Gallinula was found to have enough differences to form a new genus Paragallinula with the only species being the lesser moorhen.
The laughing owl, also known as whēkau or the white-faced owl, was an endemic owl of New Zealand. Plentiful when European settlers arrived in New Zealand, its scientific description was published in 1845, but it was largely or completely extinct by 1914. The species was traditionally considered to belong to the monotypic genus SceloglauxKaup, 1848, although recent genetic studies indicate that it belongs with the boobook owls in the genus Ninox. After various studies and analysis it was concluded that it is more of a terrestrial bird due to the great advantage it had to prey on ground at nighttime (1996).
The Mascarene coot is an extinct species of coot that inhabited the Mascarene islands of Mauritius and Réunion. Long known from subfossil bones found in the Mare aux Songes swamp on the former island, but only assumed from descriptions to also have been present on the latter, remains have more recently been found on Réunion also. Early travellers' reports from Mauritius were, in reverse, generally assumed to refer to common moorhens, but it seems that this species only colonized the island after the extinction of the endemic coot.
Gallirallus is a genus of rails that live in the Australasian-Pacific region. The genus is characterised by an ability to colonise relatively small and isolated islands and thereafter to evolve flightless forms, many of which became extinct following Polynesian settlement.
Eyles's harrier is an extinct bird of prey which lived in New Zealand. Its closest relative is the smaller Swamp harrier, which arrived in New Zealand after its extinction.
The long-billed wren was a species of New Zealand wren endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. It was the only species in the genus Dendroscansor. It shares the name "long-billed wren" with the Brazilian bird Cantorchilus longirostris.
Forbes's snipe was a species of New Zealand snipe endemic to the Chatham Islands. It was the larger of two species found there, the smaller being the surviving Chatham snipe. It was never seen alive by scientists and is known only from fossil material collected on the islands. Why it became extinct while its smaller relative survived is a mystery, as is the exact timing of its extinction, although it may have survived, unnoticed, until the 15th century.
Scarlett's duck is an extinct duck species from New Zealand which was closely related to the Australian pink-eared duck. The scientific name commemorates the late New Zealand ornithologist and palaeontologist Ron Scarlett who discovered the holotype in 1941. However, previously undescribed bones of the species found in 1903 were rediscovered in the Otago Museum in 1998. At least 32 fossil remains from deposits in Pyramid Valley, at Ngapara in the South Island, and at Lake Poukawa in the North Island are in museum collections.
Ronald Jack Scarlett was a New Zealand paleozoologist.
Pyramid Valley is a locality in the Hurunui District of New Zealand. It is well known for its prominent limestone rock formations. It is located near Waikari in the North Canterbury region, 80 km north-west of Christchurch.
The New Zealand goose is the common name given to the extinct genus Cnemiornis of the family Anatidae, subfamily Anserinae.
Scarlett's shearwater is an extinct species of seabird in the petrel family Procellariidae. Its common name commemorates New Zealand palaeontologist Ron Scarlett, who recognised the bird's subfossil remains represented a distinct species.
Imber's petrel is an extinct seabird of gadfly petrel from the Chatham Islands. The species' epithet commemorates New Zealand ornithologist Mike Imber (1940–2011).
Richard Noel Holdaway is ornithologist in New Zealand. With a doctorate in avian palaeobiology and systematics and a BSc in neurophysiology and ornithology, he has studied birds for three decades primarily in New Zealand. In 2003 he received the 2003 D. L. Serventy Medal Holdaway is director of Palaecol Research Ltd in Christchurch, New Zealand. He was recognized for his findings on the extinction of the New Zealand terrestrial megafauna by the University of Otago. His work has also appeared in the New Zealand Journal of Zoology, Nature Communications, the US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health and Royal Society Publishing among others.
