We tend to call it by its scientific name, Pinus radiata, or just radiata pine, but it also has a more romantic sounding name, the Monterey pine, which gives away its coastal California origins. Pinus radiata is the cornerstone species of New Zealand’s exotic forest industry: 90 percent of exotic forest plantations are Pinus radiata [...]
Motueka
The white-faced heron (Egretta novaehollandiae novaehollandiae) is called matuku moana in Māori. The long strappy feathers on its back are much more pronounced in the breeding season. Both males and females have these nuptial plumes and use them in courtship displays. They also have short pinky brown plumes on their chest in the breeding season, [...]
This is a young thrush (Turdus philomelos), which you can tell from the pale marks on its wings. While I was sitting at my desk, it came in through an open ranch slider, flew over my shoulder and crashed into the window in front of the desk. Startling for both of us, and the bird [...]
Southern black-backed gulls (Larus dominicanus dominicanus) are found all around New Zealand’s coast, up rivers and around farmland. They’re also notorious scavengers and predators of native wildlife. And, to top all that off, they’re an aviation hazard, which is why they’re one of two native bird species that have no legal protection in New Zealand. [...]
Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris vulgaris) are common around towns and cities, but you can also see them at the beach. This one, on the Motueka estuary, is using its beak to hold up a stone and see what’s underneath it.
Have you ever fallen into that black hole that is watching owl videos on YouTube? No? Never mind… Following all the little bird introductions of the late 1800s, it was time to bring in the little owl to control them. Between 1906 and 1920, around 200 little owls (Athene noctua) were released by the Otago [...]
Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris vulgaris) were first released by the Nelson Acclimatisation Society in 1862, and only around a thousand were brought in to the country altogether. They’ve spread just about everywhere, except dense forests and mountains. Their introduction has been a success, from a farming point of view, as they were brought in to control [...]
The European greenfinch (Chloris chloris) was among the wave of birds introduced to New Zealand in the 1860s. They’re known for their song in some parts of the world and are caught and kept as songbirds. Possibly that’s the reason they were brought to New Zealand, because settlers wanted to hear familiar songbirds. By the [...]
About 130 bird species were introduced to New Zealand following European settlement, and about 40 of them are still around. The term used for these introductions is “successful”, but given the impact on native wildlife, that doesn’t seem quite right. The blackbird (Turdus merula) was one of the earliest introductions, brought here because English settlers [...]
This handsome fella was hanging out with the orange and black rooster I posted earlier in the week. There are hundreds of different breeds of the domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) and I have no idea which one this is. But he is gorgeous, in his grey/blue cape with its touch of tan, his silvery [...]
