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Kermadec White-Faced Storm-Petrel Annual Distribution Lineage

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Kermadec White-Faced Storm-Petrel Annual Distribution Lineage To view this as a map and many more go to: www.nabis.govt.nz web mapping tool Type the map name into: Search for a map layer or place Lineage – Scientific methodology Annual distribution of Kermadec white-faced storm-petrel lineage 1. Literature sources were searched for distribution information. a. Scientific papers, published texts, unpublished reports and university theses available to the expert who prepared the distributional layers. b. Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts for 1960-2009. c. OSNZ News and Southern Bird for 1977–2009. 2. Other sources. a. NZSAS (New Zealand Seabirds at Sea) database maintained by Natural Environment, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington. Also, a database of daily seabird sightings off Kaikoura (www.oceanwings.co.nz). 3. Summary a. An expert scientist integrated information from the literature and expert opinion, and produced hand-drawn distributional zones on a template map. These maps were then digitised and imported into a GIS software package as layers. The areas of the zones were calculated, and the layers were linked to attribute and metadata files. b. The primary sources of distribution data for Kermadec white-faced storm-petrel were the NZSAS database, published texts and unpublished reports. c. A distribution “hotspot” for New Zealand seabirds is defined as “an area of increased abundance of a species, as considered by the expert compiling the species account”. Typical examples of hotspots include areas around breeding locations during the breeding season, regardless of the absolute size of the breeding colony, and areas that are consistently and repeatedly favoured as feeding locations. d. Kermadec white-faced storm-petrel is an endemic sub-species thought to be confined to breeding sites within the Kermadec archipelago, although it may also breed on islets and stacks off Norfolk Island. However, confirmation of breeding is still to be achieved for any location. A distribution hotspot is centred on the Kermadec Islands group. e. The majority of information about the distribution of Kermadec white-faced storm-petrel is derived from records of birds close to the Kermadec Islands, during October and November. Imber (1984) summarised the early reports. One bird was seen 1 km offshore from Macauley Island in May 1982 (C.M. Miskelly pers. comm.), and more recently Tennyson & Taylor (1990) reported birds at sea off Curtis Island, Greene et al. (2004) noted birds flying over Macauley Island in July 2002, and Veitch et al. (2004) summarised reports of birds at Macauley Island in December 1988 and in August 1990. Imber & Stephenson (2008) provided another summary of sightings around the Kermadec Islands, and additionally observed more than 150 birds around the archipelago during November 2004. Jenkins (1982) reported four birds identified as albiclunis at 35o43' S 155o50' E (about 450 km off the east coast of Australia), to date the only record of this sub-species away from the Kermadec archipelago. 4. References The following sources provided useful information on the distribution of this species. This is not an exhaustive list of all references to the species. Cheeseman, T.F. (1891). On the birds of the Kermadec Islands. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 23: 216-226. Edgar, A.T. (1975). Classified summarised notes. Notornis 22: 313-340. Greene, T.C.; Scofield, R.P.; Dilks, P.J. (2004). Status of Kermadec red-crowned parakeets and the likely effects of a proposed kiore eradication programme. DOC Science Internal Series 179, Department of Conservation, Wellington. 33p. Imber, M.J. (1984). Migration of white-faced storm petrels Pelagodroma marina in the south Pacific and the status of the Kermadec subspecies. Emu 84: 32-35. Imber, M.J.; Stephenson, B.M. (2008). Sightings and capture of Kermadec storm petrels (Pelagodroma marina albiclunis), off Haszard Island and the Meyer Islets, Kermadec Islands, in 2004. Notornis 55: 166-170. Iredale, T. (1910). Birdlife on the Kermadec Islands. Emu 10: 2-16. Jenkins, J. (1980). Seabirds off Raoul Island. Notornis 27: 97. Jenkins, J. (1981). Kermadec storm petrel. Notornis 28: 138. Jenkins, J. (1982). Kermadec storm petrel. Notornis 29: 112. Marchant, S.; Higgins, P.J. (1990). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds. Volume 1, Part A. Oxford University Press, Melbourne. 735p. Merton, D.V. (1970). Kermadec Islands expedition reports: a general account of birdlife. Notornis 17: 147-199. Taylor, G.A. (2000). Action plan for seabird conservation in New Zealand. Part A: threatened seabirds. Threatened species occasional publication No. 16, Department of Conservation, Wellington. 233p. Tennyson, A.; Taylor, G. (1990). Curtis Island. OSNZ News 57: 10. Veitch, C.R.; Miskelly, C.M.; Harper, G.A.; Taylor, G.A.; Tennyson, A.J.D. (2004). Birds of the Kermadec Islands, south-west Pacific. Notornis 51: 61-90. .
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