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The Birds of the Lord Howe Island Group: a Review of Records

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The Birds of the Lord Howe Island Group: a Review of Records 1 AUSTRALIAN FIELD ORNITHOLOGY 2004, 21, Supplement The Birds of the Lord Howe Island Group: A Review of Records IAN A.W. McALLANt, BRIAN R. CURTIS2, IAN HUTTON3 and RICHARD M. COOPER4 146 Yeramba Street, Turramurra, New South Wales 2074 2P.O. Box 1967, Port Macquarie, New South Wales 2444 3P.O. Box 157, Lord Howe Island, New South Wales 2898 4 18 Lewis Drive, Medowie, New South Wales 2318 Summary This paper is an inventory of all known bird records from the Lord Howe Island Group of the central Tasman Sea. One hundred and eighty-two species are listed for the Group, of which 20 are resident landbirds, 14 are breeding seabirds, 17 are regular visitors and 120 are vagrants. Of the original avifauna 10 species are now apparently either completely or locally extinct. Extinctions of the White Gallinule P01phyrio a/bus, White-throated Pigeon Columba vitiensis godmanae and Red-crowned Parakeet Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae subflavescens were probably because of hunting by man. Those of the Grey Fantail Rhipidura fuliginosa cetvina, Robust White-eye Zosterops strenuus, Island Thrush Turdus poliocephalus vinitinctus and Tasman Starling Aplonis fusca hulliana were caused by the accidental release of Black Rats Rattus rattus on the main Island in 1918. The extinctions of the Southern Boobook Ninox novaeseelandiae albaria and Lord Howe Gerygone Getygone insulmis occurred later and the causes are not known. Pycroft's Petrel Pterodroma pycrofti and the White-faced Storm-Petrel Pelagodroma marina are known from subfossil deposits but are not known to breed on the Lord Howe Island Group today. The cause of their apparent extinction is also not known. Two species (Masked Owl Tyto novaehollandiae and Magpie-lark Grallina cyanoleuca) deliberately introduced during the 1920s are still fo und on the Group. However, several species have colonised the islands since the arrival of humans, some of which have had adverse effects on the endemic avifauna. Management issues are discussed where relevant to the species concerned. Additional background information to some previously reported records is also given. Introduction Although several accounts have been written on the birds of the Lord Howe Island Group (hereafter also called 'the Group'), the last paper to review and annotate individual records was written almost 40 years ago (McKean & Hindwood 1965). This was the third paper on this subject by Keith Hindwood, the first being his seminal work which took up most of an issue of The Emu (Hindwood 1940; also Hindwood & Cunningham 1950). Since 1965 there have been many ornithological studies undertaken on the Lord Howe Island Group, including those conducted by staff of the Australian Museum, the New South Wales (NSW) National Parks & Wildlife Service and the CSIRO Division of Wildlife (now CSIRO Division of Sustainable Ecosystems) (see for example Recher 1974, Recher & Clark 1974). The number of visitors to the Group has increased significantly following the construction of an airstrip in 1974. There has also been an increased interest in the local wildlife by Island residents, fostered in part by the interest of visitors, and the establishment of the Lord Howe Island Museum. During the preparation for publication of an atlas of the birds of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, three of the authors (McAllan, Curtis McALLAN, CURTIS, AUSTRALIAN 2 HUTTON & COOPER FIELD ORNITHOLOGY and Cooper) became aware that the post-Hindwood bird literature on the Lord Howe Island Group gave no indication of the current status of all the species, nor any detail of most of the records of vagrant species. Hutton has been resident on Lord Howe Island for extended periods from 1980 to the present and was aware that sightings of birds were not being recorded in a systematic fashion. This present paper is an attempt to bring together the many scattered records of Lord Howe Island birds, revise the individual species' status and assess the future of the Group's avifatfna. The Lord Howe Island Group The Lord Howe Island Group lies in the central Tasman Sea at 31 o33'S, 159°05'E.It is 570 km east of Port Macquarie on the NSW mainland, with Norfolk Island 800 km to the north-east and New Zealand 1350 km to the south-east. Colonisation of the Group by birds has largely come from these sources. Lord Howe Island proper (hereafter 'the main Island') is a crescent shape c. 11 km long and up to 2.8 km wide (Figure 1; Plate 2, p. 18). With a land area of 1455 ha, it is dominated by two peaks at the southern end: Mount Gower, with an altitude of 875 m, and Mount Lidgbird rising to 777 m. On the western side of the main Island is a lagoon formed by a 6-km-long fringing coral reef, which is the southernmost coral reef in the Pacific Ocean. There are several smaller islands in the Group, the most significant being the Admiralty Islets and Balls Pyramid (Plate 3, p. 18). The Admiralty Islets are a series of rock stacks immediately to the north-east of the main Island, with grassy vegetation on their higher parts. Balls Pyramid is 23 km to the south-east of the main Island and is an eroded stack with almost sheer sides rising to 550 m. Apart from coralline rocks and dunes associated with beach deposition, the Group is mainly composed of rocks derived from submarine volcanic activity dating from 6.9 to 6.4 million years ago. The islands of the Group have eroded to just 2.5% of their original area. The seas near Lord Howe Island are dominated by warm water originating in the Coral Sea and are perhaps more typical of tropical waters. Ultimately these southward-flowing waters mix with the cooler waters found over most of the southern and central Tasman Sea, and in the process a sharp temperature gradient known as the Tasman Front is formed. This front lies south of Lord Howe Island for most of the year, but lower water temperatures are often experienced in August and September when the front moves north. This variation in water temperature results in sporadic records of seabirds more typical of the Southern Ocean. There is no evidence to show that Lord Howe Island had been visited by humans before it was discovered in 1788. At that time most of the main Island was covered with rainforest. Although settlement occurred in 1834 the human population has remained low and there are still only approximately 350 residents. There is often a greater number of tourists visiting .the Group than there are residents, though there is a cap of 400 additional people at any one time. Only about 10 to 20% of the main Island has been cleared and the remainder is almost in its original state. In recognition of its outstanding natural values, including its unique landforms and the diversity of rare and endemic plants and animals, the Group was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in December 1982. General history of ornithology on Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island was discovered on 17 February 1788 and the following month the first landings were made on a return visit by the HMS Supply. The VOL. 21, Supplement 2004 Birds of Lord Howe Island 3 LORD HOWE ISLAND Roach Island Admiralty Islets .. Blackburn Island Muttonbird Island N 3km s - 2km - lkm 0 Gower Island ..., Figure 1. Lord Howe Island McALLAN, CURTIS, AUSTRALIAN 4 HUTTON & COOPER FIELD ORNITHOLOGY first accounts of the bird life come from this landing and a subsequent visit by members of the First Fleet in May 1788 (Hindwood 1940). Some bird species were mentioned and painted, notably the White Gallinule Porphyria albus, the Lord Howe Woodhen Gallirallus sylvestris and the local population of the White­ throated Pigeon Columba vitiensis godmanae, but these species were primarily appraised for food value. Some visits were made by provisioning ships over the next 40 years, but litt!e additional information was recorded on the avifauna. The first settlers arrived in 1834. The only record of birds in the early years of settlement was in a brief account written by a Dr Foulis, who was resident at the Group in the mid 1840s (Foulis 1853). The first detailed notes on birds at Lord Howe Island were written by Assistant Surgeon John Denis Macdonald and the naturalist John MacGillivray when they visited the Group on the HMS Herald in 1853 (Macdonald 1853; see also Some additional historical information, p. 10). Several of the endemic Lord Howe Island taxa were named from the specimens collected by MacGillivray, for example the local subspecies of the Pied Currawong Strepera graculina crissalis and the Robust White-eye Zosterops strenuus. Importantly, MacGillivray also noted that Cats Felis catus had been let loose on the main Island some time in the late 1840s (David 1995). A murder occurred on the Group in 1869 and a party headed by a NSW water-police magistrate was sent to investigate. At this time the Australian Museum in Sydney was afforded the opportunity of sending a staff member, George Masters, to collect specimens. This started an association between the Museum and the Group that continues today. Much later, Edward P. Ramsay of the Museum described some of the birds collected by Masters, including the now extinct subspecies of the Grey Fantail Rhipidura fuliginosa cervina. Apparently the first subfossil bone collections were made on this visit as one of the party, R.D. Fitzgerald, presented specimens to the British Museum in November 1885 (Bourne 1974). Alexander Morton, another Australian Museum collector, visited the Group in April 1882, as did a further Museum party in late 1887.
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