North Island saddleback

Last updated

North Island saddleback
North Island Saddleback 0A2A0096.jpg
North Island saddleback on Tiritiri Matingi Island
Status NZTCS R.svg
Recovering (NZ TCS) [2]
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Callaeidae
Genus: Philesturnus
Species:
P. rufusater
Binomial name
Philesturnus rufusater
(Lesson, 1828)
North Island saddleback distribution map (unlabelled).svg
  Islands and sanctuaries where North Island saddlebacks are present
Synonyms

Philesturnus carunculatus rufusater

The North Island saddleback (Philesturnus rufusater) is a forest-dwelling passerine bird species endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. It was once considered conspecific with the South Island saddleback. [3] The IUCN lists the species as Near Threatened, while it is listed as a "recovering" species in the New Zealand Threat Classification System. [1] [2] Saddlebacks are known in Māori as tīeke.

Contents

Taxonomy and systematics

North Island saddleback at Orana Wildlife Park

René Lesson first described the species in 1828 from a specimen collected in the Bay of Islands four years earlier, using the binomial name Icterus rufusater. [4] [5] The specific name rufusater refers to the saddleback's plumage – a combination of the Latin words rufus 'reddish-brown', and ater 'black'. [6] Their placement in the genus Icterus has since been revised, and the two saddleback species are now in their own genus, Philesturnus . The name of this genus, created by Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1832, comes from a portmanteau of two genus names – Philemon (friarbirds) and Sturnus (starlings). [7]

Historically, there has been some uncertainty over the status of the North Island saddleback as its own species. North Island and South Island saddlebacks were formerly considered to be two subspecies of Philesturnus carunculatus, with the North Island subspecies being designated P. c. rufusater. [3] Today they are generally considered to be separate species, with the North Island saddlebacks having the binomial Philesturnus rufusater. [8]

Description

The plumage of North Island saddlebacks is mostly black apart from the saddle, rump, and tail coverts, which are chestnut. [3] North Island saddlebacks are distinguished from South Island saddlebacks by a faint yellow lining on the superior edge of the saddle. The black bill is starling-like, with orange-red wattles hanging from its base. [9] North Island saddlebacks have an average length of 25 cm. [3] Males tend to be heavier (80 g) than females (69 g), and possess longer bills and larger wattles. [10] North Island saddlebacks produce calls described as "cheet, te-te-te-te" or "ti-e-ke-ke-ke-ke". [11] [3] The Māori name for the bird, tīeke, is derived from the sound of this call. [11]

Distribution and habitat

North Island saddlebacks naturally occupy lowland broadleaf and coastal evergreen forests, though as a result of translocations, they are now also found in various other forest environments. [9] Before the arrival of Europeans and the mammalian predators they introduced, North Island saddlebacks were widespread on the North Island mainland and offshore islands. [12] A combination of deforestation and introduced predators – first brown rats and feral cats, then also black rats and mustelids [12] – decimated these populations, and by the 1890s, the mainland population was eliminated, and the only remaining North Island saddlebacks were those on Hen Island, a small island off the coast of Northland. [9] [13]

Translocations

An artificial nest box for North Island saddleback at Zealandia Nest box 01.jpg
An artificial nest box for North Island saddleback at Zealandia

Translocation efforts by the New Zealand Wildlife Service began in 1964, with birds being transported to nearby Whatupuke Island (Middle Chicken Island). Following further translocations, the North Island saddleback inhabits a number of islands offshore (and onshore, at Lake Rotorua), including: [9]

North Island saddlebacks were first re-introduced to the mainland in 2002, at the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary (now known as Zealandia) in Wellington. [15] They have since started breeding outside the predator-proof sanctuary. [15] [16] They have also been introduced at several other mainland sanctuaries. [14] North Island saddlebacks have become very dense on some offshore islands and the total population has increased to about 10,000. [12]

Behaviour and ecology

Breeding

North Island saddlebacks are monogamous and usually mate for life. The breeding season can vary from year to year and location to location, though clutches typically start appearing from August to April. [9] Fledgling saddlebacks are often seen until March and April. [9] Saddleback nests are mostly built in tree cavities [9] within three metres of the ground. [12] They lay up to four eggs per clutch. [9]

Food and feeding

Saddleback feeding on nectar from a flax flower Philesturnus rufusater - Adam Mark Lenny 01.jpg
Saddleback feeding on nectar from a flax flower

The diet of North Island saddlebacks mostly consists of insects and other invertebrates, berries, and nectar. [9] Their bill allows them to force open dead wood to expose insects such as grubs. [17] In forests, saddlebacks forage at all heights, but tend to spend most of the time on the forest floor browsing in leaf litter. [3] [9]

Threats

Introduced mammalian predators, particularly brown rats, were the primary cause of the North Island saddleback's extinction from mainland New Zealand. [9] Saddlebacks are particularly susceptible to predation because of their tendency to roost and nest close to the ground. [18] Several translocations of North Island saddlebacks were made to Kapiti Island between 1981 and 1990, but the population suffered high mortality due to rat predation (rats were not eradicated until 1998). [18] Today, North Island saddleback populations are usually found on predator-free islands and in sanctuaries protected by pest fences, affording the birds protection from these predators. North Island saddlebacks appear to be capable of co-existing with some predators such as the kiore, possibly because they have had a longer history of cohabitation than with brown and black rats. [19] Current efforts are focused towards exterminating pests surrounding mainland sanctuaries, to allow the saddlebacks to successfully expand outside of the sanctuaries. [15]

South Island saddlebacks have been affected by avian malaria and avian pox; this has not yet spread to the North Island saddlebacks, but there are concerns that it may do so in the future. [20] [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Callaeidae</span> Family of 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kapiti Island</span> Island next to the Kapiti Coast of New Zealand

Kapiti Island is an island about 5 km (3 mi) off the west coast of the lower North Island of New Zealand. It is 10 km (6.2 mi) long, running southwest/northeast, and roughly 2 km (1.2 mi) wide, being more or less rectangular in shape, and has an area of 19.65 km2 (7.59 sq mi). Its name has been used since 1989 by the Kapiti Coast District Council, which includes towns such as Paekakariki, Raumati South, Paraparaumu and Waikanae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiritiri Matangi Island</span> Island located in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand

Tiritiri Matangi Island is located in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand, 3.4 km (2.1 mi) east of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula in the North Island and 30 km (19 mi) north east of Auckland. The 2.2 km2 (1 sq mi) island is an open nature reserve managed by the Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi Incorporated, under the supervision of the Department of Conservation and is noted for its bird life, including takahē, North Island kōkako and kiwi. It attracts between 30,000 and 32,000 visitors a year, the latter figure being the maximum allowed by the Auckland Conservation Management Strategy.

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

Kōkako (Callaeas) are two species of endangered forest birds which are endemic to New Zealand, the North Island kōkako and the presumably extinct South Island kōkako. They are both slate-grey with wattles and have black masks. They belong to a genus containing five known species of New Zealand wattlebird, the other three being two species of tieke (saddleback) and the extinct huia. Previously widespread, kōkako populations throughout New Zealand have been decimated by the predations of mammalian invasive species such as possums, stoats, cats and rats, and their range has contracted significantly. In the past this bird was called the New Zealand crow; however, it is not a crow at all, but it looks like one from a distance.

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

Ulva Island is a small island about 3.5 km (2.17 mi) long lying within Paterson Inlet, which is part of Stewart Island/Rakiura in New Zealand. It has an area of 267 hectares, of which almost all (261 ha) is part of Rakiura National Park. It was named after the island of Ulva in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland and was formerly called Coopers Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malherbe's parakeet</span> Species of New Zealand bird

Malherbe's parakeet, usually known as the orange-fronted parakeet, is a small parrot endemic to New Zealand. In New Zealand it is always known as the orange-fronted parakeet, a name it shares with a species from Central America, while in the rest of the world it is known as Malherbe's parakeet. Restricted to a few valleys in the South Island and four offshore islands, its population declined to around 200 in the 1990s, and it is considered critically endangered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Barrier Island</span> Island in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand

Little Barrier Island, or Hauturu in Māori language, lies off the northeastern coast of New Zealand's North Island. Located 80 kilometres (50 mi) to the north of Auckland, the island is separated from the mainland to the west by Jellicoe Channel, and from the larger Great Barrier Island to the east by Cradock Channel. The two aptly named islands shelter the Hauraki Gulf from many of the storms of the Pacific Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hen and Chicken Islands</span> Archipelago off the coast of New Zealand

The Hen and Chicken Islands lie to the east of the North Auckland Peninsula off the coast of northern New Zealand. They lie 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) east of Bream Head and 40 kilometres (25 mi) south-east of Whangarei with a total area of 8.44 km2 (3.26 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zealandia (wildlife sanctuary)</span> Protected natural area in Wellington, New Zealand

Zealandia, formerly known as the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, is a protected natural area in Wellington, New Zealand, the first urban completely fenced ecosanctuary, where the biodiversity of 225 ha of forest is being restored. The sanctuary was previously part of the water catchment area for Wellington, between Wrights Hill and the Brooklyn wind turbine on Polhill.

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

Conservation in New Zealand has a history associated with both Māori and Europeans. Both groups of people caused a loss of species and both altered their behaviour to a degree after realising their effect on indigenous flora and fauna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saddleback (bird)</span> Genus of birds

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.

An ecological island is a term used in New Zealand, and increasingly in Australia, to refer to an area of land isolated by natural or artificial means from the surrounding land, where a natural micro-habitat exists amidst a larger differing ecosystem. In New Zealand the term is used to refer to one of several types of nationally protected areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rotoroa Island</span>

Rotoroa Island is an island to the east of Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. It covers 82 hectares. The Salvation Army purchased it for £400 in 1908 from the Ruthe family to expand their alcohol and drug rehabilitation facility at nearby Pakatoa Island. Men were treated at Home Bay at Rotoroa, while women were treated at Pakatoa. This treatment facility was closed in 2005.

<i>Deinacrida rugosa</i> Species of orthopteran insect

Deinacrida rugosa, commonly called the Cook Strait giant weta or Stephens Island weta, is a species of insect in the family Anostostomatidae. The scientific name Deinacrida means "terrible grasshopper" and rugosa means "wrinkled". It is endemic to New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brook Waimārama Sanctuary</span> Wildlife sanctuary near Nelson, New Zealand

The Brook Waimārama Sanctuary is a nearly 700 hectare mainland "ecological island" sanctuary located 6 km south of Nelson, New Zealand. The sanctuary is the largest fenced sanctuary in New Zealand's South Island and the second largest in the country; it is the only sanctuary to feature mature New Zealand beech forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Rotokare</span> Lake in the North Island of New Zealand

Lake Rotokare is a landslide dammed lake in the New Zealand region of Taranaki. It is located 12 km (7.5 mi) east of Eltham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Island kōkako</span> Species of bird

The North Island kōkako is an endangered forest bird which is endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. It is grey in colour, with a small black mask. It has blue wattles. Because of its wattle, the bird is sometimes locally called the blue-wattled crow, although it is not a corvid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Island saddleback</span> Species of bird

The South Island saddleback or tīeke is a forest bird in the New Zealand wattlebird family which is endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. Both the North Island saddleback and this species were formerly considered conspecific. The Department of Conservation currently has the South Island saddleback listed as At Risk--Declining.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dianne Brunton</span> New Zealand ecology researcher

Dianne Heather Brunton is a New Zealand ecologist, and head of the Institute of Natural and Computational Sciences at Massey University. Her research area is the behaviour and cultural evolution of animal communication, especially bird song in southern hemisphere species such as the New Zealand bellbird.

References

  1. 1 2 3 BirdLife International (2018). "Philesturnus rufusater". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T103730503A132191453. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T103730503A132191453.en . Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 Robertson, Hugh A.; Baird, Karen; Dowding, John E.; Elliott, Graeme P.; Hitchmough, Rodney A.; Miskelly, Colin M.; McArthur, Nikki; O'Donnell, Colin F. J.; Sagar, Paul M.; Scofield, R. Paul; Taylor, Graeme A. (2017). New Zealand Threat Classification Series (PDF) (Report). 19. Wellington, New Zealand: Department of Conservation.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Heather, Barrie & Robertson, Hugh (1996). The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand. Viking. pp. 418–419. ISBN   0-670-86911-2.
  4. ↑ Watola, George V. (2011) [2008]. The Discovery of New Zealand’s Birds (PDF) (2nd ed.). Orewa, New Zealand: Arun Books. p. 196.
  5. ↑ "North Island Saddleback (Philesturnus rufusater)". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  6. ↑ Jobling, James A. "Rufusater". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  7. ↑ Jobling, James A. "Philesturnus". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  8. ↑ Holdaway, Richard N.; Worthy, Trevor H.; Tennyson, Alan J. D. (2001). "A working list of breeding bird species of the New Zealand region at first human contact". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 28 (2): 119–187. doi: 10.1080/03014223.2001.9518262 .
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Higgins, P. J.; Peter, J. M. & Cowling, S. J., eds. (2006). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds. Vol. 7: Boatbill to starlings. Oxford University Press. pp. 986–1013. ISBN   9780195530681.
  10. ↑ Jenkins, P. F.; Veitch, C. R. (1991). "Sexual dimorphism and age determination in the North Island saddleback (Philesturnus carunculatus rufaster)". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 18 (4): 445–450. doi: 10.1080/03014223.1991.10422851 .
  11. 1 2 "Tīeke / North Island saddleback". Auckland Zoo. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Heather, Barrie & Robertson, Hugh (2015). The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand (Revised and updated ed.). Penguin. pp. 397–398. ISBN   978-0-143-57092-9.
  13. ↑ "Saddleback/tīeke: New Zealand native land birds". Department of Conservation. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "North Island saddleback". New Zealand Birds Online. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  15. 1 2 3 Swinnen, Lucy (26 May 2017). "Moment of truth for tieke reintroduced to Wellington's urban environment from Zealandia". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  16. ↑ "Rare saddleback chicks found in Polhill Gully". Wellington City Council. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  17. ↑ Troup, Christina. "Small forest birds - Saddlebacks and stitchbirds". Te Ara. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  18. 1 2 Lovegrove, T. G. (1996). "A comparison of the effects of predation by Norway (Rattus norvegicus) and Polynesian rats (R. exulans) on the Saddleback (Philesturnus carunculatus)" (PDF). Notornis. 43 (2): 91–112.
  19. ↑ Hooson, Scott; Jamieson, Ian G. (2003). "The distribution and current status of New Zealand Saddleback Philesturnus carunculatus". Bird Conservation International. 13: 79–95. doi: 10.1017/S0959270903003083 .
  20. ↑ Hale, Katrina A. (2008). Disease outbreak amongst South Island saddlebacks (Philesturnus carunculatus carunculatus) on Long Island (PDF) (Report). Wellington, New Zealand: Department of Conservation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-02-01. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.