Ber Perlo - Birds of New Zealand, Hawaii, Central and West Pacific

It is said that the painting in my books is ‘a bit sketchy, somewhat fast and loose, not finely finished’. However, if you see a bird in the field you see its uniform-coloured plumage parts as a single surface; painting each individual feather will give too much information unless the feathers form a pattern. I also find it difficult to draw straight lines, for example, when depicting the parallel primaries in a folded wing, or perfect circles when forming an eye, but this does not prevent a species from being quickly recognised. To me, it is essential that one can see that my work is hand-painted; I love the magic of small spots and streaks, applied with skill and luck that create a shape of something that looks quite different in reality when seen from nearby.

In the introduction I have paid attention to landscape and habitats, specific to the area, that determine which bird species can be seen; that is also why information is given about plate tectonics, as one of the main landscape-forming factors.

An effort was made to update this book to 2009, but a recent record could not be inserted, namely that of American Avocet Recurvirostris avocetta on Maui, Hawaii. Very similar to 39.9 but with black mantle and white scapulars.

In June 2010, just before finishing writing this book, the fourth edition of the Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand was published by the Checklist Committee Ornithological Society of New Zealand. Only the common names from this publication could be incorporated in this book as explained in the first paragraph of ‘Systematics and Names’.

Symbols, Abbreviations and Glossary

Symbols

Habitat: a set of environmental factors that is preferred by a bird

Vocalisation

Notes on range

Abbreviations

1st W – The plumage worn by a bird after moulting from juvenile plumage

2nd W – The plumage worn in the 2nd winter of a bird’s life

– Male

– Males

– Female

– Females

Ad. – Adult

Ads – Adults

Br – Breeding

N-br – Non-Breeding

C – Central

Cf. – Compare to

E – East(ern)

E. – Endemic

Esp. – Especially

Excl. – Excluding

Extr. – Extreme

I – Introduced

I. – Island

Irr – Irregular visitor

Is – Islands

Imm. – Immature

Imms – Immatures

Incl. – Including

Juv. – Juvenile

Juvs – Juveniles

L – Length in cm

N – North(ern), etc.; also in combination with E and W

NI – New Zealand’s North Island

Nom. – Nominate; the subspecies of a species that was the first described

Pl – Plate

R – Rare

S – South(ern)

Sec – Second or seconds

SI – New Zealand’s South Island

Ssp – Subspecies

Ssps – > 1 subspecies

Thr. – Throughout

V – Vagrant

W – Wingspan in cm; can also mean West(ern): depends on context

Countries

A.Sa – American Samoa

Co – Cook Islands

Fi – Fiji

FrPo – French Polynesia

Gu – Guam

Ha – Hawaii

Ki – Kiribati

Ma – Marshall Islands

Mi – Micronesia

Na – Nauru

Ni – Niue

NMa – Northern Marianas

NZ – New Zealand

Pa – Palau

Pi – Pitcairn Islands

Sa – Samoa

Tok – Tokelau

Ton – Tonga

Tu – Tuvalu

WaF – Wallis and Futuna

Glossary

Endemic A species that occurs only in an area with well-defined boundaries such as a continent, a country, an island or a habitat.

Forest A tall, multi-layered habitat in which high trees dominate the canopy, which is continuous and closed.

Gallery forest A riverine belt that is dominated by trees.

Jizz Typical silhouette and stance of a bird species.

Riverine belt Any growth along a river or stream that is higher and greener than the more distant surroundings.

Rufescent Tinged with red-rufous colour.

Savanna In this book: any (large) area with a continuous cover of (high) grasses, interrupted by shrub and (5–30%) tree canopy.

Second growth New natural forest developing in places where the original forest has disappeared.

Speculum Patch of colour on the wing contrasting with that of the rest of the wing.

Transient plumage Stage between Br and N-br plumages with traces of Br plumage still visable.

Woodland A habitat in which trees dominate, but the canopy is not closed.

Parts of a Bird

Introduction

Systematics and Names

In order to apply a uniform systematic approach and set of names that are valid in New Zealand, Hawaii, the USA, Asia, Europe and anywhere else, this book follows James F. Clements The Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World, 6th Edition (Helm, 2007) with regard to systematic status (species or subspecies) and names (scientific and English).

However, the best-known or most widely used common names used by New Zealanders and in Hawaii should not be neglected, if only to make it easier to find the birds of this book in regional publications. Therefore, alternative English names for species, advised by the Ornithological Society of New Zealand (OSNZ) for New Zealand and by the American Ornithological Union (AOU) for Hawaii, are indicated as insertions in the ‘Clements name’, preceded by ‘NZ’ or ‘AOU’ in superscript. For example:

the species indicated by number 20.9 (Plate 20, number 9) in this book is named the ‘INTERMEDIATE (or NZPlumed) EGRET’; the ‘Clements name’ is INTERMEDIATE EGRET, while the ‘OSNZ name’ is PLUMED EGRET;

number 28.1 in this book is named the ‘( NZAustralian) WHITE-EYED DUCK’; the ‘Clements name’ is WHITE-EYED DUCK and the ‘OSNZ name’ is AUSTRALIAN WHITE-EYED DUCK.

In a few cases, well-known alternative names are inserted in the ‘Clements names’, such as:

41.5 SNOWY (or Kentish) PLOVER

There are also many local names for subspecies, mentioned by the OSNZ and in use for those that occur in New Zealand; these names are given in numbered notes following the captions. An example is:

38.5 PURPLE SWAMPHEN44 Porphyrio porphyrio

ssp melanotus NZPukeko;

ssp pelewensis [Palau]

ssp samoensis [Samoa and Fiji]

In this example, the subspecies Pukeko occurs solely and exclusively in New Zealand (with the extra complication that it is treated by the OSNZ as Nominate of SOUTH-WEST PACIFIC SWAMPHEN NZPorphyrio melanotus). In the following example there are four subspecies found in New Zealand:

14.8 LITTLE SHEARWATER19 Puffinus assimilis

Nom. NZNorfolk Island Little Shearwater

ssp kermadecensis NZKermadec Little Shearwater

ssp haurakensis NZNorth Island Little Shearwater

ssp elegans NZSubantarctic Little Shearwater

Of these, elegans can also be seen outside the area covered by this book, but only in NZ it is known as Subantarctic Little Shearwater. (Note: The OSNZ has recently risen the Clements subspecies elegans to independent species NZSUBANTARCTIC LITTLE SHEARWATER Puffinus elegans.)

The French names are those of the Commission Internationale des noms français d’oiseaux (CINFO 1993).

The sequence of families in this book is more or less traditional, but strongly adapted in order to include up to a maximum of nine, rarely ten similar-looking species, sometimes from different families, in one plate.