10,000 Birds

JULY 24, 2014

Unfortunately for the hunters these were already all extinct, and with the introduction of cats, rats, stoats and the like the only upland game bird, the New Zealand Quail , was fast on the way out too. With a boost like that the species was well and truly here to stay. Indeed, 30,000 mallards were released across the entire nation.

Species 170

Species New Zealand Ducks Game 170

10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2014

There are the endemics, which are odd in their own way, and then there introduced species, which are so varied in their type and origin that you get the feeling you’ve arrived at the aftermath of a small zoo that escaped. What is surprising is quite how many species did end up here, and how economically unimportant they were.

New Zealand 162

New Zealand Possums Rabbits Ferrets 162

10,000 Birds

JUNE 21, 2012

you’d get to see the much larger samples of prepared specimens in the drawers. Which keep eating rat poison. If a long period of gradual evolution or stasis was punctuated a few years back by a species radiation of bird books, now we are seeing intense environmental change. Or get your own. It all depends on the dogs.

Birds 172

Birds Collecting Rodents Wounded 172

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2011

I queried for birds and mammals living in the new world (but excluding sea birds) outside of the tropics (which includes a lot of tropical migratory birds, obviously) an a similar sample of mammals. There are 200 animals in each sample, and I presume that this is a random subset of the larger sample of over 400 or so in each category.

Mammals 182

Mammals Rodents Birds Reptiles 182