Whitehead (bird)

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Whitehead

Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Pachycephalidae
Genus: Mohoua
Species: M. albicilla
Binomial name
Mohoua albicilla
(Lesson, 1830)

The Whitehead (Mohoua albicilla) or Pōpokotea is a small species ( 15 cm in length, 18/14 g[1]) of passerine bird endemic to New Zealand. It is currently classified in the family Pachycephalidae and thus regarded as a relative to the Whistlers in Australia.

The Whitehead's upper surface, wings and tail are a pale brown in colour while the head and underparts are white though slightly tinged with brown towards the edges[2] . The head is an almost pure white in the adult male and the beak is black and the feet blueish black in colouration

Contents

[edit] Ecology and behaviour

When encountered they are generally displaying flocking behaviour, frequently as members of a small family group . Their diet is primarily insectivorous in nature ( in terms of diet they are generally classed as arboreal insectivores)[3], and they will actively search tree trunks and branchs for insects, very occasionally descending to the forest floor.[2][4]However, they will also supplement their predominantly insectivorous diet with the fruits of native plants such as Mahoe, Matipo and Kaikamako. Like the Yellowhead they will frequently hang upside down from branches or twigs while foraging.

[edit] Distribution

The range of this species has always been restricted to the North Island of New Zealand, as well as several offshore islands surrounding it, including Hauturu/Little Barrier Island, Great Barrier Island and Kapiti Island[4] The distributions of the Whitehead and its close relative, the Yellowhead are sympatric with the range of the latter species conversely being restricted to the South island. Whiteheads are generally restricted to the larger tracts of native forest that remain in the north island but have proved their adaptibility by establishing populations in a number of exotic pine plantations, particularly on the North Island Volcanic Plateau.

[edit] Reproduction

Unlike the Yellowhead, which nests only in the cavities of tree trunks which are generally high up in the canopy, the Whitehead builds a more conventional cup shaped nest in the canopies of shrubs or low trees ( as little as 1-3 metres above the ground) or higher ( 9 metres or more) in tree canopies or in the forks of branchs. Between 2-4 eggs of variable colouration are laid, the incubation period is generally around 17 days and fledging takes a further 16-17, the chicks being fed by both parents[2]. In November and December, the Long tailed Cuckoo frequently acts as a brood parasite of nesting whiteheads by pushing their eggs out of the nest and laying a single egg of its own in their place[5][1]

[edit] Place in Māori culture

In the past, flocks of whiteheads were interpreted by Māori as warnings that kēhua (ghosts) were nearby[1]

[edit] Conservation

Whiteheads have declined with the introduction by European settlers of a number of mammalian invasive species including several species of rodents and mustelids which have both competed with them for food and preyed upon the birds themselves. As a result, the species has experienced local extinctions of many of its populations throughout the north island and a number of conservation reintroductions have been carried out in the last 20 years in an effort to restore this species to its former range. The first of these reintroductions was carried out on Tiritiri Matangi Island in september 1989 when 40 birds from Hauturu/Little barrier island were released there, an additional 40 being released in May 1990[6]. Whiteheads were, until recently, extinct on the mainland of the north island north of about Hamilton. However, in april 2003 this situation was rectified with the release of 40 Whiteheads into the Hunua Ranges through an Auckland Regional Council initiative, this reintroduction was part of a wider ecological restoration programme that had already seen the reintroduction of New Zealand Robins to the same area 2 years previously[7] . A further reintroduction in the greater Auckland area took place in August 2004 when 55 birds were reintroduced to the Waitakere Ranges.[8]

The most recent reintroduction was carried out in the extreme south of the North island when 63 Whiteheads were reintroduced to the hills behind Wellington in the suburb of Karori at Karori Wildlife Sanctuary between 2001 and 2002.[9]. All of the reintroductions have been successful with healthy, breeding populations of Whiteheads re-established in each of the 4 locations as a result of them.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Andrew Crowe, illustrated by David Gunson, "Which New Zealand bird?", Penguin, 2001"
  2. ^ a b c R.A Falla, R.B. Sibson and E.G. Turbott, " The new guide to the Birds of New Zealand", Collins, 1979
  3. ^ John Dawson and Rob Lucas,"The Nature Guide to the New Zealand Forest", Godwit, 2000
  4. ^ a b Chloe Talbot Kelly," Collins handguide to the Birds of New Zealand", Collins, 1982
  5. ^ F.C. Kinsky, C.J.R. Robertson, illustrated by Janet Marshall, " Handbook of common birds of New Zealand", Reed Methuen, 1987
  6. ^ http://www.massey.ac.nz/~darmstro/nz_projects.htm#whitehead
  7. ^ http://www.arc.govt.nz/arc/index.cfm?69FBF682-E018-8BD1-3219-356C43E54060 accessed on the 1st of February 2007
  8. ^ Michael Szabo, "Ark in the park", Forest and Bird, Number 319, February 2006
  9. ^ http://www.sanctuary.org.nz/restoration/birdspecies.html, accessed on the 2nd of February, 2007
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