Parrots of AotearoaThere are quite a few species of parrot in New Zealand, some of which are sadly extinct. There are nine surviving species which are endemic to NZ. Two of these species are on our list of the Threatened–Nationally Critical birds to draw in this series (shown in bold). Sadly, several others are also endangered.
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Meet the Tokoeka (at the same time as me, lol)OMG - the tokoeka is a Kiwi! How delightful! I really enjoy being a bit surprised by the subject of my design each day, so I research as I go. Duck detectionOK, so at first glance, this just looks like "a duck". Like, a normal duck. Oh dear, there are multiple species called "toroa" on this list, and I didn't realise. Ok, let's make sure that we get the differences between them really clear!
Consulting Wikipedia: Current thinking divides the albatrosses into four genera. The number of species is a matter of debate. The IUCN and BirdLife International recognise 22 extant species (listed below), ITIS recognise 21 (the 22 below minus T. steadi), and one recent paper proposed a reduction to 13 (indicated in parentheses below), comprising the traditional 14 species minus D. amsterdamensis. Chatham Island taaiko is also known as the magenta petrel
My first thought was: "Magenta petrel" sounds amazing... but the bird is not at all pink or red...
"At sea, one bird was taken as a specimen in 1867 and named the Magenta petrel after the Italian expedition’s ship" - oh. Today has been a busy day, with errands and earrings taking up most of the daylight. As I finally settle down to draw, El Huzbando is already making our dinner! ResearchShags have a very distinct silhouette, and, with their amusing name, became one of the only non-forest birds that I could recognise easily - but there are so many species! The watercolour image below shows the importance of tiny details in making sure each species is correctly represented. Every day, another birdIt's sometimes hard to get started on a drawing. Generally, I just let myself choose another task, and come back to the drawing when the mood takes me - but I have committed to a bird every weekday, so here we go - my first attempt at overcoming "drawer's block".
Not that long ago, I found out that black-billed gulls were actually endangered. I hadn't ever really looked at the seagulls at the beach except to protect whatever I was trying to eat*, or avoid being pooed on, as happened on a recent walk along Petone foreshore. *Never feed gulls any food or scraps – some of our food is harmful to them. The kakii
Kakii, or black stilt, is a native wading bird only found in New Zealand. It is regarded by Maaori as a taonga species, a living treasure.
Source: DOC
Once the common stilt of New Zealand, the black stilt is now critically endangered with a breeding population confined to the Mackenzie Basin of South Canterbury and North Otago. Adults are distinctive in having entirely black plumage, long red legs and a thin black bill, but juveniles and subadults can easily be overlooked amongst pied stilts, while hybrids add to the plumage confusion. Black stilts frequent the wide open braided rivers and associated wetlands of the Mackenzie Basin. There they favour shallow waters of invertebrate-rich sidestreams and pools, wading out into deep water if necessary. Some birds migrate to northern New Zealand harbours.
Source: NZ birds online The kakaruia - a tiny birbRobins in general are tiny creatures, straining at the seams to encompass enormous personalities. From what I can tell, the Chatham Islands black robin is no different. |
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December 2019
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