Story: Petrels

More links and websites

• Action plan for seabird conservation in New Zealand. Part A: threatened seabirds

  This online article in PDF format (236 pages, 1.89 MB download) by Graeme A. Taylor is part of the Department of Conservation’s series on threatened species.

• Action plan for seabird conservation in New Zealand. Part B: non-threatened seabirds

  A second article in PDF format (203 pages, 1.6 MB download) by Graeme A. Taylor, discussing non-threatened seabirds, their habitat, and conservation issues.

• Chatham Island Taiko Trust

  This site tells the story of the loss and rediscovery of the Chatham Island tāiko or magenta petrel, and the people involved in finding and protecting this extremely rare bird. The site includes cutaway views of a burrow and a recording of the bird’s call.

• National plan of action to reduce the incidental catch of seabirds in New Zealand fisheries

  This document in PDF format (62 pages, 287 KB download) outlines plans developed by the Department of Conservation, Ministry of Fisheries and the fishing industry to reduce the loss of thousands of petrels a year, many from species that are already endangered.

• New Zealand Birds Online

  This website contains detailed information on all New Zealand bird species, including extinct and fossil species, searchable by name. It also contains a photographic key to guide bird identification.

• Wrybill Birding Tours, NZ: the ‘rediscovery’ of the extinct New Zealand storm-petrel

  For a century, the New Zealand storm petrel was thought to have been extinct. However, it was seen in 2003, and this site describes the first sightings and efforts to identify the species.

More suggestions and sources

• Brooke, Michael. Albatrosses and petrels across the world. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
• Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds. Vol. 1. Melbourne: Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union and Oxford University Press, 1990.
• Heather, Barrie D., and Hugh A. Robertson. The field guide to the birds of New Zealand. Auckland: Viking, 1996.
• Warham, John. The behaviour, population biology and physiology of the petrels. London: Academic Press, 1996.
• Warham, John. The petrels: their ecology and breeding systems. London: Academic Press, 1990.
• Wilson, Kerry-Jayne. Flight of the huia: ecology and conservation of New Zealand’s frogs, reptiles, birds and mammals. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press, 2004.