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You’re Not Helping

10,000 Birds

Conservation was in the news again in the last few weeks here in New Zealand, and unfortunately not in a good way. As most people know cats, both feral and domestic, have a pretty big impact on wild birds and other wildlife, and the effect of mammals is particularly profound in New Zealand.

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Restless New Zealand Fantails

10,000 Birds

In his comment in last week’s post on the Marlborough Sounds , Beat writer Jochen described the New Zealand Fantail as one of the best birds in the world. wakawaka, the New Zealand Fantail is a delightful inhabitant of New Zealand, and one of my favourite local birds. Fantails don’t do necks.

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24 Hours in Bangkok, Bang Poo and Muang Boran

10,000 Birds

Also known as the Flyeater, this tiny bird is the only representative of the Australasian warbler family found in mainland Asia, and very similar to my own Grey Warblers in New Zealand, even their songs. Then, among tall grasses, a flock of Bayan Weavers, the first representative of this family I had seen in 8 years.

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Saving a New Zealand Icon

10,000 Birds

Kiwi, New Zealand icons par excellence , are rather endangered. The suite of predators introduced to New Zealand, on the whole, can’t do to much damage to adult kiwi. The stoats, weasels, rats and the like, are unable to kill the big guys but can make short work of the chicks. So what was going on?

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Frogs and Toads of the World: A Book Review by a Fairy Tale Junkie

10,000 Birds

For example, I was going to add “no tail” to the list of features above, what all frogs share, when I remembered that there are indeed a small family of Tailed frogs, four species in New Zealand and two in North America (though, the tails are quite tiny). But, within the frog group there is a tremendous range of diversity.

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Here’s the new bird family tree. It’s amazing.

10,000 Birds

’s bird family tree in a new tab and follow along as you read. Seriema at the deepest branch of Australaves could be considered to belong to a raptorial taxon because they kill vertebrate prey and are the sole living relatives of the extinct giant “terror birds,” apex predators during the Paleogene. Open Jarvis et al.’s

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Sirocco the Kakapo

10,000 Birds

They are rock stars in their family (or group of families, depending on what taxonomists have been smoking lately), a family that includes Scarlet Macaws , Crimson Shining-parrots , Golden Parakeets and Rainbow Lorikeets , and that is no mean feat. I guess New Zealanders really like flightless birds.)