Bird Watching at Dawn

The morning of Wednesday may 27 started early with Dr. Bill Capman leading a group of four of us on an early morning bird watching expedition at the holiday park in Mapua. We began by looking for California Quail which is obviously not a native species. We found a small group foraging in the early dawn light less than 200 hundred yards from the cabins we were staying in. They were easily disturbed and didn't let us approach closer than 50 yards. While we were looking at them through binoculars, Dr. Capman noticed a group of Wax-eyes flitting about in the trees nearby. These are a little Old-World bird about the size of House Sparrows that can also be seen in New Zealand. They arrived in New Zealand from Australia fairly recently with the first reported sighting being in the early 1800s and a sizable population first noticed in the mid 1800s. This begins to ask the question “What constitutes a native species?” How do you define what is native, what is introduced, and what is invasive? Most definitions state that a native species is one that is naturally occurring or found in the area. A better one would be an organism that is living within its natural range (past or present), including the area that it can reach and occupy using its own legs, wings and wind- or water-borne or other dispersal systems, even if it is seldom found there. An introduced species would then be one that didn’t reach where it currently is found or occupies by its own means. This then means that anything brought intentionally or unintentionally by man constitutes an introduced species. Finally, an invasive species would then be one that not only is introduced, but then out-competes a local, native species for resources and causes the native species to decline.

After seeing the Wax-eyes and a Song Thrush at the top of a Norway Pine, we made our way to the estuary down the street. Walking up the street, we approached the estuary and immediately saw Pied Stilts foraging in the shallows. A number of Mallard Ducks were also present as well as a New Zealand Shovelhead. Looking to the other side of the road, we were surprised to see a Royal Spoonbill, a larger white wading bird that filters the shallows for crustaceans and other small invertebrates. Perched nearby on some power lines was a group of four New Zealand Kingfishers. As we approached all but one took flight out into the estuary.

Also commonly seen in the area, but not that morning, were Red-Billed Gulls, the Southern Black-Backed Gulls and the Black Oystereaters. After nearly 45 minutes of bird watching we had to cut the outing short to hit the road for Westport.