Further evidence for the natural re-establishment of the pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae aucklandicus) on Campbell Island, New Zealand | Notornis and Birds New Zealand

[摘要] [First paragraph...] Occurring on both Auckland and Campbell Is. (52°32.4’S, 169°8.7’E; 11,300 ha), the Auckland Is pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae aucklandicus G.R. Gray) is a subspecies of the New Zealand pipit, Anthus novaeseelandiae novaeseelandiae Gmelin (Turbott 1990). At Campbell Is, the pipit is restricted to small offshore islets. A similarly restricted distribution of this southern subspecies to offshore stacks at Campbell Is is reported by Heather & Robertson (1996), and Foggo (1984) who suggested that this situation is caused by the effects of Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) and cat (Felis silvestris catus) predation. Foggo (1984) noted that the inability of pipits to co-exist with rats on subantarctic islands has been demonstrated in South Georgia by Pye & Bonner (1980). Foggo & Meurk (1981) commented that it is likely that rats and cats have eliminated this species from the main island. Deliberate burning of vegetation as a farming practice in the early 19th century (Wilmshurst et al. 2004) may also have restricted the distribution of the pipit. Foggo (1984) collected pipits on Dent Is in 1975 and reported that they “were immediately obvious and very tame” during a brief helicopter visit to the summit of Jacquemart Is in 1980 (Foggo & Meurk 1981), adding that on each of these offshore islands the birds had fulvous plumage. Thompson et al. (2005) encountered pipits at 2 locations on Campbell Is in 2003 and that they were distributed more extensively in 2004, 2 main centres being around Penguin Bay in the southwest, and towards the south around Eboulé Peak.

[学科分类] 动物科学

[关键词] brood parasitism;Chrysococcyx lucidus;Gerygone igata;Grey Warbler;nestling eviction;Shining Cuckoo