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Eagle skull

Extinct birds

58 losses since human arrival

Critically endangered birds

Nine Red List, 26 nationally critical
Kakapo

Flightless
birds

Takahe  Kiwi
Kakapo  Penguin
Moa  Wren

Penguin

Yellow-eyed
Four crested
Little blue
White-flippered

Huia

Native
birds list

273 oceanic,
coastal and
terrestrial birds
Teal

Teal

Auckland Is.
Campbell Is.
Brown teal

Parrots & Parakeets

Kea
Kea
Kaka
Kakapo
5 parakeets
Huia

Wattlebirds

Huia
Kokako
Saddleback
Bat

Mammals

Greater & Lesser
short-tailed bats,
Long-tailed bat

Gigantism in insects

Earthworms   
Weta

Living fossils

Leiopelma frogs
Land snails

Tuatara
Kauri

Big trees

Kauri

During the 20th century and the beginning of this century, there have been five miraculous rediscoveries of birds that were believed to be extinct - the most recent in 2003.  A new species that was previously unknown was discovered in 1997.  All of the survivors are endemic to New Zealand, and all of them except takahe are restricted to a limited range on offshore islands.  They are some of the rarest birds in the world, and are all critically endangered, living on the brink of extinction.

New Zealand storm-petrel  Oceanites maorianis

The New Zealand storm-petrel was known only from three museum specimens from the mid-19th century. After it was declared extinct with no recorded sightings for more than 150 years, it was seen in 2003 near the Mercury Islands off the Coromandel Peninsula.  There have been several sightings off Little Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf, and three birds were banded and fitted with transmitters in 2006 near the Hen and Chickens Islands, but their breeding location has not yet been found.  Photo Copyright © Brent Stephenson 2005 www.eco-vista.com

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New Zealand storm-petrel

Chatham Island taiko  Pterodroma magentae

The taiko, also known as the magenta petrel, is endemic to the Chatham Islands.  It was thought to be extinct for more than a hundred years before David Crocket miraculously rediscovered it in 1978.  It was nearly another decade before the first burrow was found in 1987.  The taiko is one of New Zealand's most critically endangered species, living on the brink of extinction with a population of less than 150 birds.
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Taiko

Campbell Island snipe  Coenocorypha 'Campbell'

A tiny population of Campbell Island snipe was discovered in 1997, during a search for teal on Jacquemart Island, a 19ha inhospitable rock stack 1km off Campbell Island.  Jacquemart is New Zealand's most southern piece of land in the Southern Ocean.  The first naturalists that landed on Campbell Island in 1840 found no land birds - all of them had been wiped out by rats that got ashore from shipwrecks. After rat eradication on the main island in 2001, snipe have returned naturally, with about 30 birds found during the summer of 2006.

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Campbell Island snipe

Campbell Island teal  Anas nesiotis

The Campbell Island teal, which is the world's rarest duck, is one of only four flightless ducks, and is historically endemic to Campbell Island and the tiny islet Dent Island in the subantarctic ocean southeast of the New Zealand mainland.  It was declared extinct until 20 teal were discovered on Dent Island in 1975.  After a 20-year captive breeding programme, 153 birds were sent back in three translocations from 2004 to 2006 to occupy their former range, and are now breeding on Campbell Island.  See more

Campbell Island teal

Takahe  Porphyrio mantelli

The takahe is the largest living member of the rail family which is found throughout the Southern Oceanic islands.  Takahe were hunted until they were rarely found in the 19th century. None were seen after 1900 and it was declared extinct, but amazingly, 200 pairs were found in a remote region of Fiordland in 1948.  The North Island takahe is extinct, but about 220 of the South Island species continue their dramatic brink of extinction existence.  See more
Hear the call of takahe
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Takahe

Kakapo  Strigops habroptilus

In 1974 the only known kakapo was an aging male named Jonathon Livingston. Then 18 birds, all male, were found in Fiordland.  One female was seen on Resolution Island in 1908, but no other was found for more than 70 years, so the species was effectively extinct. A single female, Mandy, was found on Stewart Island in 1980, but she disappeared. The next big find was 200 birds, but that population was decimated by cats, before 61 survivors were translocated to Maud Island and Codfish Island from 1982 to 1992.  The future looks a little better for kakapo since 22 chicks hatched in 2002, bringing the total number up to 86 birds, but it is still one of the world's most critically endangered birds.  See more
Hear the booming call of male kakapo

Kakapo, Department of Conservation

2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

New Zealand storm-petrel
Oceanites maorianis
Critically endangered
Taiko (Magenta petrel)
Pterodroma magentae
Critically endangered
Campbell Island teal
Anas nesiotis
Critically endangered
South Island takahe
Porphyrio mantelli
Endangered
Kakapo
Strigops habroptilus
Critically endangered

2005 New Zealand Threat Classification System

Campbell Island snipe
Coenocorypha 'Campbell'
[1] Nationally critical
Chatham Island taiko
Pterodroma magentae
[1] Nationally critical
Campbell Island teal
Anas nesiotis
[1] Nationally critical
South Island takahe
Porphyrio mantelli
[1] Nationally critical
Kakapo
Strigops habroptilus
[1] Nationally critical

Photo Credit
Left 6th from top: Kokako
Left 7th from top: Greater short-tailed bat
Left 8th from top: Tusked weta
Left 9th from top: Archeys frog
Right top: Kakapo
Center 2nd from top: Taiko, Graeme Taylor 1993
Center 3rd from top: Campbell Is. snipe, Jeremy Carroll 1997
Center 4th from top: Campbell Is. teal,
Center bottom: Takahe
Crown Copyright © Department of Conservation

   


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