| North Island piopio | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A mounted specimen of the North Island piopio in the collection of Te Papa | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Oriolidae |
| Genus: | † Turnagra |
| Species: | †T. tanagra |
| Binomial name | |
| †Turnagra tanagra (Schlegel, 1866) | |
| Synonyms | |
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The North Island piopio (Turnagra tanagra) was a passerine bird of the family Oriolidae. The North Island piopio is now considered to be extinct.
For many years, the North Island piopio was considered to be conspecific with the South Island piopio, but the two are now regarded as two separate species due to their pronounced differences in external appearance and osteology (Olson et al., 1983). An alternate name for the North Island piopio is the North Island thrush.
The North Island piopio was endemic to the North Island of New Zealand and was described by Walter Buller as being common in 1873, although only a few specimens were ever collected, and it declined rapidly after that time (Buller, 1888). The last specimens were collected in 1900, or more probably in 1885/1886 (Medway, 1968), and by the 1960s only around 27 specimens remained in museums worldwide. [2] Occasional sight records of people claiming to have seen the bird (e.g. Sopp, 1957) persisted until 1970 (Bell & Singleton, 1974; Olsen 1993), but the North Island piopio is now considered extinct. Its last stronghold appears to have been the area that later became the Whanganui National Park, possibly extending north-east to the Hauhungaroa Range west of Lake Taupō. The introduction of foreign predatory mammals such as cats and rats to New Zealand's North Island is mostly to blame for the North Island piopio's extinction, with habitat loss and predation by mustelids also being significant from the 1880s onward.
The Old World orioles (Oriolidae) are an Old World family of passerine birds.
Callaeidae is a family of passerine birds endemic to New Zealand. It contains three genera, with five species in the family. One species, the huia, became extinct early in the 20th century, while the South Island kokako is critically endangered and may be extinct.
The huia is an extinct species of New Zealand wattlebird, endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. The last confirmed sighting of a huia was in 1907, although there were credible sightings into the 1960s.
The bushwren, bush wren, or mātuhituhi in Māori, was a very small and almost flightless bird that was endemic to New Zealand. It had three subspecies on each of the major islands of New Zealand, the North Island, South Island, and Stewart Island and nearby smaller islands. The species disappeared gradually after the introduction of invasive mammalian predators, last being seen on the North Island in 1955 and the South Island in 1968. Attempts were made to save the remaining population on small islands off Stewart Island, but they ultimately failed with the death of the last remaining known birds in 1972.
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The stitchbird or hihi is a honeyeater-like bird endemic to the North Island and adjacent offshore islands of New Zealand. Its evolutionary relationships have long puzzled ornithologists, but it is now classed as the only member of its own family, the Notiomystidae. It became rare, being extirpated everywhere except Little Barrier Island, but has been reintroduced to two other island sanctuaries and four locations on the North Island mainland.
The piopios or turnagras are an extinct genus of passerine birds in the family Oriolidae, that were endemic to New Zealand. Sometimes described as New Zealand thrushes, the piopios had only a coincidental, passing resemblance to the thrush family.
The South Island piopio also known as the New Zealand thrush, was a passerine bird of the family Oriolidae.
The saddlebacks are two species of New Zealand bird of the family Callaeidae. Both are glossy black with a chestnut saddle. Its taxonomic family is also known as that of the "wattlebirds" and includes the two subspecies of the kōkako as well as the extinct huia. All members of the family Callaeidae have coloured fleshy appendages on either side of the beak, known as wattles; Saddlebacks' wattles are a vivid red.
The Mauke starling or mysterious starling was a species of starling found on the island of Mauke, Cook Islands. It is now extinct. The binomen is the result of Buller's misreading of the name inornata on the specimen label. As he seems to have genuinely believed this spelling to be correct, the binomial, although it has no meaning, is valid.
The birds of New Zealand evolved into an avifauna that included many endemic species found in no other country. As an island archipelago, New Zealand accumulated bird diversity, and when Captain James Cook arrived in the 1770s he noted that the bird song was deafening.
Rallicola extinctus is an extinct species of phtilopterid louse. This parasite was only known to live on the now extinct huia and is thought to have become extinct with its host. It was initially placed in its own separate genus, Huiacola, which means "huia inhabitant". It was endemic to New Zealand's North Island.
Hodgens' waterhen is an extinct rail species from New Zealand. Its name commemorates the Hodgen brothers who were owners of the Pyramid Valley swamp where the holotype was discovered. It reached a weight of 280 g and its wings were so reduced that it was unable to fly. It occupied a wide range of habitats, including open forest and grassland along riverbanks.
The New Zealand musk duck, also known as de Lautour's duck, is an extinct stiff-tailed duck native to New Zealand. It is only known from subfossil bones. Its closest relative was the living Australian musk duck Biziura lobata, with which it has sometimes been combined.
The South Island kōkako is a possibly extinct forest bird endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. Unlike its close relative, the North Island kōkako, it has largely orange wattles, with only a small patch of blue at the base, and was also known as the orange-wattled crow. The last accepted sighting in 2007 was the first considered genuine since 1967, although there have been several other unauthenticated reports.
