Rabbit Island (Chatham Islands)

Last updated

Tarawhenua Pt and Rabbit Island in centre. Sugar Loaf and Mangere Islands behind Tarawhenua Pt, Rabbit Is, Sugar Loaf and Mangere Islands.jpg
Tarawhenua Pt and Rabbit Island in centre. Sugar Loaf and Mangere Islands behind

Pitt shag, illustrated by Keulemans Phalacrocorax featherstoni Keulemans.jpg
Pitt shag, illustrated by Keulemans

Rabbit Island is a rocky islet lying off Tarawhenua Point on the north-west coast of Pitt Island in the Chatham Islands group of New Zealand. About 300 m long by 200 m across, its highest point is 44 m above sea level. It has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because it supports breeding colonies of the critically endangered Chatham and endangered Pitt shags. [1] [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chatham Islands</span> Remote New Zealand archipelago

The Chatham Islands are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about 800 km (430 nmi) east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about 10 islands within an approximate 60 km (30 nmi) radius, the largest of which are Chatham Island and Pitt Island (Rangiauria). They include New Zealand's easternmost point, the Forty-Fours. Some of the islands, formerly cleared for farming, are now preserved as nature reserves to conserve some of the unique flora and fauna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Pyramid (Chatham Islands)</span> Island in the Chatham Islands, New Zealand

The Pyramid (Moriori: Tcharako; Māori: Te Tara Koi Koia; officially The Pyramid (Tarakoikoia)) is a small island south of Pitt Island in the Chatham Islands group of New Zealand. The site has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because it supports the only known breeding colony of Chatham albatrosses, with 4575 pairs recorded in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiwai Point</span>

Tiwai Point lies at the entrance to Bluff Harbour on the southern coast of the South Island of New Zealand. A spit which extends from the western end of the Awarua Plain, it lies between Awarua Bay to the north and Foveaux Strait to the south. It is known for the Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter, one of the largest industrial facilities in New Zealand.

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

The Bounty Islands are a small group of uninhabited granite islets and numerous rocks, with a combined area of circa 50 ha in the South Pacific Ocean. Territorially part of New Zealand, they lie about 670 km (420 mi) east-south-east of New Zealand's South Island, 530 km (330 mi) south-west of the Chatham Islands, and 215 km (134 mi) north of the Antipodes Islands. The group is a World Heritage Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moturoa / Rabbit Island</span> Small island in New Zealand

Moturoa / Rabbit Island is a small island that lies across the southernmost part of Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, on the northern coast of New Zealand's South Island. The long narrow island runs east–west for 8 kilometres (5 mi), and covers 15 km2 (5.8 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otago shag</span> Species of bird

The Otago shag, together with the Foveaux shag formerly known as the Stewart Island shag and in its dark phase as the bronze shag, is a species of shag now found only in coastal Otago, New Zealand.

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

Mangere Island is part of the Chatham Islands archipelago, located about 800 kilometres (500 mi) east of New Zealand's South Island and has an area of 113 hectares. The island lies off the west coast of Pitt Island, 45 kilometres (28 mi) south-east of the main settlement in the Chathams, Waitangi, on Chatham Island.

<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">The Sisters (New Zealand)</span> Northernmost islands of the Chatham archipelago

The Sisters is a group of three main islands located 16 kilometres (10 mi) north of Cape Pattison, Chatham Island. They are the northernmost members of the Chatham Archipelago, located 800 kilometres (497 mi) east of New Zealand's South Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Star Keys</span>

The Star Keys are group of five rocky islets in the Chatham Archipelago, about 12 kilometres (7 mi) east of Pitt Island They are called Motuhope in Moriori and Māori. The archipelago is part of New Zealand, whose South Island lies 800 kilometres (497 mi) to the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Mangere Island</span> Island in the Chatham Islands, New Zealand

Little Mangere is a small island of the Chatham Archipelago, just off the western end of Mangere Island, about 4 km west of Pitt Island and 45 kilometres (28 mi) south-east of the town of Waitangi on Chatham Island. The island is called Tapuaenuku in Moriori and Māori, and was formerly called The Fort. The archipelago is part of New Zealand and is located about 800 kilometres (500 mi) to the east of the South Island.

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

The Chatham parakeet, also known as Forbes' parakeet, is a rare parakeet endemic to the Chatham Islands group, New Zealand. This parakeet is one of New Zealand's rarest birds and is classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, as a result of a range of threats to the species survival, including habitat loss, predation, and hybridization. A number of conservation methods have been employed to assist the recovery of this species, and currently the population trend is considered stable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pitt shag</span> Species of bird

The Pitt shag, also known as the Pitt Island shag or Featherstone's shag, is a species of bird in the family Phalacrocoracidae. It is endemic to Pitt Island where its natural habitats are open seas and rocky shores. The bird with the color of a dark body, gray chest, yellow eyes and feet can be found in small groups in their breeding habitat or alone within 18 km from their territory searching for food. The species was close to extinction in 1905 but actions of conservation have been done ever since. The Pitt shag is threatened by habitat loss due to predation and climate change causing a decline from 1997 to 2012, but there is a recovery plan by the Department of Conservation.

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

The Chatham shag, also known as the Chatham Island shag, is a species of bird in the cormorant and shag family, Phalacrocoracidae. It is endemic to the Chatham Islands of New Zealand. For a long time the species was placed in the genus Phalacrocorax; today it is mostly placed with the other blue-eyed shags of New Zealand and Antarctica in the genus Leucocarbo. Its closest relative is the Otago shag of South Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Fournier</span>

Cape Fournier is a headland on Chatham Island, in New Zealand's Chatham Islands group. It is the southeasternmost point in the island, and is the closest point on the island to the second largest of the Chatham Islands, Pitt Island, which lies 20 kilometres to the south-southeast across Pitt Strait.

The Tuku Nature Reserve is a nature reserve on Chatham Island, New Zealand, in the Tuku-a-tamatea (Tuku) River Valley in the south-west of the island. The 1238 hectares of land, largely covered with dense native forest, are owned by the New Zealand government and is managed by its Department of Conservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Okawa Point</span>

Okawa Point lies at the north-eastern end of Hanson Bay near the easternmost point of the main Chatham Island in the Chatham Islands group of New Zealand. It has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because it supports breeding colonies of the critically endangered Chatham and endangered Pitt shags.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matarakau Point</span>

Matarakau Point is a headland on the north coast, and 13 km from the easternmost point, of the main Chatham Island in the Chatham Islands group of New Zealand. It has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because it supports breeding colonies of the critically endangered Chatham and endangered Pitt shags.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flowerpot Bay</span> Place in Chatham Islands, New Zealand

Flowerpot Bay, also spelt Flower Pot Bay, is a small bay, some 250 m across, on the north coast of Pitt Island in the Chatham Islands group of New Zealand. With a jetty at its western end, it is the main point of access by sea to the island.

References

  1. "Chatham Islands (Rabbit Island)". BirdLife data zone: Important Bird Areas. BirdLife International. 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  2. Debski, Igor; Bell, Mike; Palmer, Dan. "MCSPOP2010-02 Chatham Island and Pitt Island Shag census 2011" (PDF). Department of Conservation, New Zealand. Retrieved 16 November 2012.

44°14′24″S176°16′54″W / 44.24000°S 176.28167°W / -44.24000; -176.28167