Text extracted from Gill B.J.; Bell, B.D.; Chambers, G.K.; Medway, D.G.; Palma, R.L.; Scofield, R.P.; Tennyson, A.J.D.; Worthy, T.H. 2010. Checklist of the of , Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica. 4th edition. Wellington, Te Papa Press and Ornithological Society of New Zealand. Pages 156-158.

Order CICONIIFORMES: , and Allies We recognise only herons, ibises and their allies as members of the Ciconiiformes, following Cracraft et al. (2004) who showed that the use of Ciconiiformes to include most of the non-passerines, sensu Sibley & Monroe (1990), is untenable as the taxon is then paraphyletic.

Suborder ARDEAE: Herons, and Allies Family ARDEIDAE Leach: Herons and Bitterns Subfamily ARDEINAE Leach: Herons and Ardeidae Leach, 1820: Eleventh room. In Synopsis Contents British Museum 17th Edition, London:69 – Type , Linnaeus 1758.

Ardeid is unstable at present. Two major papers (McCracken & Sheldon 1998, Sheldon et al. 2000) showed that traditional arrangements may be flawed, but failed to recommend viable alternatives. The arrangement below reflects recent consensus (Martínez-Vilalta & Motis 1992, Dickinson 2003, Kushlan & Hancock 2005). Casmerodius was formerly regarded as a distinct genus (e.g. Pinto 1938, Hellmayr & Conover 1948, Phelps & Phelps 1958, Meyer de Schauensee 1970, AOU 1983), but morphometrics (Payne & Risley 1976), vocal analyses (McCracken & Sheldon 1997), and genetic data (Sheldon 1987, Sheldon et al. 1995, McCracken & Sheldon 1998) do not support its separation from Ardea. Some classifications (e.g. Blake 1977) have placed Ardea alba in , but we follow Sheldon (1987), Sheldon et al. (1995, 2000), McCracken & Sheldon (1998) and Kushlan & Hancock (2005).

Bubulcus is included in the genus Ardeola Boie, 1822 in some classifications (e.g. Fjeldså & Krabbe 1990), but Wetmore (1965) and Payne & Risley (1976) listed many characters of Bubulcus that differ from those of other species in Ardeola Boie. Payne & Risley (1976) and Payne (1979) merged Bubulcus into Egretta based mainly on morphometric data, and this was followed by Haverschmidt & Mees (1994). Genetic data, however, do not support a close relationship between Bubulcus and Egretta, but suggest a close relationship to Ardea (Sheldon 1987, Sheldon et al. 1995, McCracken & Sheldon 1998, Kushlan & Hancock 2005). Mesophoyx is sometimes placed in Egretta, but, using DNA hybridisation, Sheldon (1987) concluded that it should be included within Ardea. This was followed by Sibley & Monroe (1990), although a phylogenetic analysis of osteology still shows a closer relationship to Egretta (see Sheldon et al. 1995). We follow Kushlan & Hancock (2005) in including A. intermedia within Ardea.

Otago Museum holds a specimen of striated Butorides striata (Linnaeus, 1758) labelled as coming from the Kermadec Islands (Veitch et al. 2004). The provenance of this specimen requires more research before the species can be added to the New Zealand list.

Genus Ardea Linnaeus Ardea Linnaeus, 1758: Syst. Nat., 10th edition 1(1): 141 – Type species (by subsequent designation) Ardea cinerea Linnaeus. Ardaea Dumont, 1804: in Levrault, Dict. Sci. Nat.: 467. Unjustified emendation. Casmerodius Gloger, 1841: Gemein. Handb. Hilfsb. Naturgesch.: 412 – Type species (by subsequent designation) Ardea egretta Gmelin = Ardea alba Linnaeus. Bubulcus Bonaparte, 1855: Compt. Rend. Séa. Acad. Sci., Paris 40: 722 – Type species (by tautonymy) Ardea “Hasselquist” = Ardea bubulcus Audouin. Cosmerodius Salvadori, 1882: Ornitologia Papuasia Molucche 3: 349. Unjustified emendation. Mesophoyx Sharpe, 1894: Bull. Brit. Ornith. Club 3: 38 – Type species (by original designation) Ardea intermedia Wagler, 1829. Myola Mathews, 1913: Austral Avian Rec. 1: 195 – Type species (by original designation) Ardea pacifica Latham.

Ardea modesta Gray White Heron Ardea modesta J.E. Gray, 1831: Zool. Miscell.: 19 – . Ardea Torra Franklin, 1831: Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1830–1831 (1): 123 – central India. Ardea Putea Franklin, 1831: Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1830–1831 (1): 124 – India. Ardea timoriensis Lesson, 1831: Traité d’Ornith. 1830: 575 – Timor. Herodias flavirostris (Wagler); G.R. Gray 1845, in Richardson & J.E. Gray (eds), Zool. Voy. ‘Erebus’ & ‘Terror’, Birds 1(8): 12. Not Ardea flavirostris Vieillot, 1823. Herodias syrmatophorus Gould, 1846: Birds of 6: pl. 56 – New South Wales, Australia. Ardea alba Ellman, 1861: Zoologist 19: 7469 – New Zealand. Junior primary homonym of Ardea alba Linnaeus, 1758. Ardea flavirostris Wagler; G.R. Gray 1862, Ibis 4: 235. Not Ardea flavirostris Vieillot, 1823. Ardea syrmatophora (Gould); Buller 1873, History of the Birds of N.Z., 1st edition: 226. Emendation. Ardea egretta; Sharpe 1875, in Richardson & J.E. Gray (eds), Zool. Voy. ‘Erebus’ & ‘Terror’, Birds – 1 (Appendix): 30. Not Ardea egretta Gmelin, 1789. Herodias timoriensis (Lesson); Buller 1905, Suppl. Birds N.Z. 1: 194. Egretta alba syrmatophora (Gould); Mathews 1912, Novit. Zool. 18(3): 230. Egretta alba neglecta Mathews, 1912: Novit. Zool. 18(3): 230 – Parry’s Creek, . Herodias alba syrmatophora Gould; Mathews 1913, List Birds Australia: 81. Herodias alba maoriana Mathews & Iredale, 1913: Ibis 1 (10th ser.): 404 – South Island. Casmerodius albus maorianus (Mathews & Iredale); C.A. Fleming 1939, Emu 38: 389. Egretta alba modesta (J.E. Gray); Checklist Committee 1953, Checklist N.Z. Birds: 32. Ardea alba modesta J.E. Gray; Payne 1979, in Peters Check-list birds World 1 (2nd edition): 204. Egretta alba; Moore 1999, Notornis 46: 358. Not Ardea alba Linnaeus, 1758. Casmerodius albus; Holdaway et al. 2001, New Zealand Journ. Zool. 28(2): 129, 177. Not Ardea alba Linnaeus, 1758. Ardea modesta J.E. Gray; Kushlan & Hancock 2005, The Herons. Ardeidae: 104.

Sometimes considered a subspecies of the great Ardea alba. However, treated as a full species by Sibley & Monroe (1990), and in the most recent review (Kushlan & Hancock 2005), and so treated here. Known as the eastern elsewhere in range. Distributed from India, and to Australia and New Zealand. In New Zealand, the only known breeding place is at Okarito, Westland (15–25 pairs). Immature birds disperse widely, mainly north, but some even reach the subantarctic islands. Winter numbers are sometimes boosted, as in 1957, by vagrants from Australia (Andrew 1963). Four records from Macquarie Island: 1951 and 1957 (Keith & Hines 1958), and 1975 and 1976 (Green 1989). Accidental to Norfolk Island (Bassett-Hull 1910, Hermes et al. 1986). Holocene sand- dune deposits in the Far North (Tom Bowling Bay, Waikuku Beach) include bones of immature birds, and are numerous enough to suggest a former breeding colony in that area. Scattered records throughout New Zealand in dune deposits and middens (Millener 1981a, Scofield et al. 2003).