BIRDS NEW ZEALAND Te Kahui Matai Manu o Aotearoa No.24 December 2019 The Magazine of the Ornithological Society of New Zealand NO.24 DECEMBER 2019 Proud sponsors of Birds New Zealand From the President's Desk Find us in your local 3 New World or PAKn’ Save 4 NZ Bird Conference & AGM 2020 5 First Summer of NZ Bird Atlas 6 Birds New Zealand Research Fund 2019 8 Solomon Islands – Monarchs & Megapodes 12 The Inspiration of Birds – Mike Ashbee 15 Aka Aka swampbird Youth Camp 16 Regional Roundup PUBLISHERS Published on behalf of the members of the Ornithological Society of New Zealand 19 Bird News (Inc), P.O. Box 834, Nelson 7040, New Zealand. Email:
[email protected] Website: www.birdsnz.org.nz Editor: Michael Szabo, 6/238 The Esplanade, Island Bay, Wellington 6023. Email:
[email protected] Tel: (04) 383 5784 COVER IMAGE ISSN 2357-1586 (Print) ISSN 2357-1594 (Online) Morepork or Ruru. Photo by Mike Ashbee. We welcome advertising enquiries. Free classified ads for members are at the https://www.mikeashbeephotography.com/ editor’s discretion. Articles or illustrations related to birds in New Zealand and the South Pacific region are welcome in electronic form, such as news about birds, members’ activities, birding sites, identification, letters, reviews, or photographs. Letter to the Editor – Conservation Copy deadlines are 10th Feb, May, Aug and 1st Nov. Views expressed by contributors do not necessarily represent those of OSNZ (Inc) or the editor. Birds New Zealand has a proud history of research, but times are changing and most New Zealand bird species are declining in numbers.