Wildfowl at Risk, 1979

Wildfowl at risk, 1979 J A N E T K E A R Following publication of the recent review geese occurring there, despite an earlier (Kear & Williams 1978) of the status of the statement by Nowak (1970) that it was the world’s threatened wildfowl species, it has most numerous. Further information is been decided to update the information required. periodically. Correspondence with workers having additional data would therefore be welcomed by the author, who is Chairman of Bar-headed Goose Anser indicus the Endangered Waterfowl Group sponsored by the IUCN’s Survival Service Commission The Red Data Book of the USSR states that and the IWRB. in 1971, there were probably no more than 1,000 geese in USSR, and that numbers are decreasing. In the Altai, the bird is now very Cuban Whistling Duck Dendrocygna rare. arborea W. B. King (pers, com.) reports that five Aleutian Canada Goose Branta canadensis Cuban Whistling Duck were seen at leucopareia Parrottee, Jamaica in December 1976. An autumn, winter and spring study of the Aleutian Canada in California was con Coscoroba Swan Coscoroba coscoroba ducted through 1977/78. Areas that are commonly frequented in the Sacramento and The Government of Chile, in an application San Joaquim Valleys were surveyed, with to have this Swan added to Appendix I of daily population counts and searches for CITES, have said that the species is ringed individuals. A combined count of becoming increasingly rare. At the moment, 1,630 birds was made on 10/11 November there are only 1,000 individuals known to 1977, and a known mortality of 130 in occur in Chile and the bird has significantly dividuals between autumn 1976 and spring diminished in range, being found currently 1977 compares favourably with previous only in the south. In the event, Chile’s applica years (Woolington et al. 1979). The ban on tion was rejected on the grounds of insufficient Canada Goose hunting has been effective in evidence. Counts of the swan in other parts of protecting the Aleutian subspecies on its South America are urgently required. wintering grounds (Yparraguirre 1978). In the summer of 1978, 139 Aleutian Canadas were released on Agattu Island, Trumpeter Swan Cygnus Cygnus buccinator which has now been cleared of foxes. Twenty-two were adult birds, most of which The US Government is proposing to remove were live-trapped in the winter. It was hoped the Trumpeter Swan from Appendix II of that these would act as ‘guide birds’ for the CITES. In fact, due to an error, the Swan is 117 young geese, raised in captivity at not mentioned in the final listing, and has Amchitka Island, in the Aleutians and at never been treated as a Washington Conven Patuxent, Maryland, and released with them. tion animal, except possibly by the USA. All 139 birds have been marked with blue Continuing efforts to conserve it have plastic neck collars so that precise wintering resulted in a stable or increasing population areas in California can be located. that is well censused and adequately protected. Cape Barren Goose Cereopsis Eastern Greylag Anser anser rubrirostris novaehollandiae Suggestions have been made that the Eastern The management programme for the Cape Greylag is declining throughout much of its Barren Goose in Tasmania has been range (M. J. S. Mackenzie, pers. com.). In described in an article in the Game Bird Mongolia, for instance, Kitson (1978) found Breeders Gazette (1978). In the summer of that this was the least common of the four 1977, the National Parks and Wildlife Ser Wildfowl 30 (1979): 159-61 159 160 Janet Kear vice again allowed an open season on The status of the Crozet Pintail is more Flinders Island. During two weekends, 204 alarming. Dr Voisin estimated its numbers licensed shooters killed approximately 1,000 on Possession Island in 1966 to be about geese out of an estimated total Furneaux 400 adults, with a preponderence of males. Island Group population of 5,000. From the On Hog Island (Ile aux Cochons) it is very point of view of the Wildlife Service, the rare, represented by only 30-50 individuals. shoot was considered successful. The goose On East Island, there are perhaps slightly population of the Fumeaux Group is in more than on Possession Island. Penguin creasing due to changes in its largely and Apostles’ Islands were unvisited, but are agricultural habitat, where scrub has been small and steep and could hold few birds. cleared, grassland improved, and water Thus the race may consist of only 1,000 to provided for stock. Three of the five major 1,200 birds (see Paulian 1953; Derenne et a l breeding islands have been made into nature 1974; Derenne et a l 1976; Despin et a l reserves and are being managed for the 1972). geese, so that production of young birds is high. It is, however, the non-breeding, New Zealand Brown Teal Anas aucklandica summering flocks that come into conflict chlorotis with the farmers. The policy of the Wildlife Service towards the summer flocks involves: Since 1975, ‘Operation Pateke’ has made (a) providing a refuge area of improved progress: Ducks Unlimited (NZ) Ltd. pasture on Flinders Island remote from the members now hold 34 pairs of Brown Teal in farms; (b) leasing three paddocks traditional captivity and have returned 19 birds to the ly favoured by the geese from the farmers on Wildlife Service for release (F. N. Hayes, the understanding that birds feeding there pers. com.). Eight pairs are held by the are undisturbed; (c) allowing a limited open Wildlife Service and there are four further season on farmland in order to encourage pairs in captivity that, it is hoped, will geese to use the refuge areas. Research will produce duck for release into the wild. continue to monitor population size, breeding success and the value of the summer management programme. Hawaiian Duck Anas (platyrhynchos) wyvilliana Galapagos Pintail A. bahamensis W. B. King (pers, com.) feels that the galapagensis mongoose can still be prevented from becoming established on the island of Kauai, Kear & Williams (1978) were incorrect in if a concerted effort is made to eliminate it. supposing that no Galapagos Pintail are Captive-bred duck released on Oahu appear currently held in captivity. Wuppertal Zoo in to be surviving and are still seen. West Germany has had a pair for three or four years. The female has laid but the eggs have been infertile so far (C. R. Schmidt pers, Mexican Duck Anas platyrhynchos diazi com., Schürer pers. com.). The US Government is proposing to delete the Mexican Duck from Appendix I of Kerquelen and Crozet Island Pintail A . acuta CITES. The bird is thought to be secure in eatoni an d A.a. drygalskyi its primary range in central Mexico (a pop ulation in excess of 50,000 is indicated), and J.-F. Voisin (in litt.) has stated that the is expanding its historical range into Arizona Kerguelen Pintail (which he feels is a ‘good’ and Texas in the USA. Its status as a sub species and not merely a race of the species of the Mallard rather than a species Northern Pintail) is abundant along the coast in its own right is now firmly established. of Kerguelen ‘mainland’ and of the many The Mexican Duck has also been removed offshore islands. His studies of 1967 es from the US List of Endangered & tablished a population size of several Threatened Wildlife where it has been since thousands. The duck breeds in inaccessible 1967. places far from human habitation, so is not directly threatened by Man. However, in troductions of feral cats and Mallard A n a s Meller’s Duck Anas melleri platyrhynchos are likely to be a hazard as yet uninvestigated. The captive pair at Jersey Zoo proved very Wildfowl at risk 161 productive in 1978 (Darby 1979), and birds Mandarin is still being imported and sold in are now held by the Wildfowl Trust at Mar Hong Kong ‘quite frequently’. Numbers are tin Mere, Lancashire, as well as at Slim declining in the Soviet parts of its range due bridge. In egg size, clutch size, duckling to degradation of habitat, the felling of old weight and appearance, and growth rate, hollow trees and hunting (Red Data Book of M eller’s D u ck is sim ilar to the M allard. the USSR), and a complete census is needed. Blue D u ck Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos Australian Pygmy Goose Nettapus cor- Fears continue to be expressed about the omandelianus albipennis future of this species. A number of hydro electric schemes are planned that will dam The Australian Government was proposing the rivers on which the duck occurs. A count CITES Appendix II listing for this race of of 64 birds was made recently on the the Pygmy Goose. It is the rarest of the Manganui, north of Raetihi, where one such Australian duck and its range, already project is being considered (F. N. Hayes, restricted, has been considerably reduced pers. com.). through drainage and land reclamation for agriculture. A t the conference o f the parties to CITES in Costa Ricca, this application was New Zealand Scaup Aythya novaeseelandiae w ithdraw n. Good numbers are being recorded in the wild, and over 100 are held in captivity in White-winged Wood Duck C a ir in a New Zealand with good breeding results (F. scutulata N. Hayes, pers. com.). The presence of this duck on the island of M an d arin A ix galericulata Siberut off the west coast of Sumatra has not been confirmed despite repeated searching D. S. Melville (pers, com.) writes that the (A.

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