The very rare Magenta Petrel
Otto Plantema
Trips around the world
CHATHAM ISLANDS’ ENDEMIC BIRD SPECIES
The Chatham Islands form an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, about 680 kilometres SE of New Zealand. There are about ten islands, Chatham, Pitt, South East, The Fort, Little Mangere, Star Keys, The Sisters and the Forty-Fours Islands.
Only the largest islands Chatham and Pitt are inhabited and the tourism is increasing.
The archipelago covers a total of more than 950 square kilometres, but the two main islands cover almost all the area.
The coast includes cliffs and sand dunes, beaches and lagoons. The islands are mostly hilly. Chatham has several streams.
These islands have cold, wet and windy climate, with temperatures between 5 and 10°C in July, during the Southern Hemisphere winter.
The vegetation includes forest, scrubby heath and swamps, but most of the land has become pasture. The islands are home to about 50 endemic plant species adapted to cold and wind.
Huge flocks of seabirds breed there, and some birds are endemic species. Several of them are yet extinct, others are threatened by forest clearance for farming, introduced predators and human disturbances.
However, smaller islands of the archipelago such as The Fort and South East Island, are recovering after removing the livestock.
Endemic bird species :
Black Robin or Chatham Island Robin - Petroica traversi - Miro des Chatham
Chatham Island Albatross - Thalassarche eremita - Albatros des Chatham
Chatham Island Gerygone (Warbler) – Gerygone albofrontata - Gérygone des Chatham
Chatham Island Oystercatcher – Haematopus chathamensis - Huîtrier des Chatham
Chatham (Island) Parakeet – Cyanoramphus forbesi – Perruche des Chatham
Chatham Island Pigeon – Hemiphaga chathamensis – Carpophage des Chatham
Chatham (Island) Shag – Leucocarbo onslowi – Cormoran des Chatham
Chatham Petrel - Pterodroma axillaris - Pétrel des Chatham
Chatham (Island) Snipe – Coenocorypha pusilla - Bécassine des Chatham
Magenta Petrel - Pterodroma magentae – Pétrel de Magenta
Pitt Island Shag – Phalacrocorax featherstoni – Cormoran de Featherston
Shore Plover (Dotterel) – Thinornis novaeseelandiae - Pluvier de Nouvelle-Zélande
Endemic bird species country/region:
Buller's Shearwater - Puffinus bulleri - Puffin de Buller
Cook's Petrel - Pterodroma cookii - Pétrel de Cook
Grey Gerygone or Grey Warbler - Gerygone igata - Gérygone de Nouvelle- Zélande
Long-tailed Cuckoo or Koel - Urodynamis taitensis - Coucou de Nouvelle Zélande
New Zealand Robin - Petroica australis - Miro rubisole
Spotted Shag - Phalacrocorax punctatus - Cormoran moucheté
Red-billed Gull - Chroicocephalus scopulinus - Mouette scopuline
Tomtit - Petroica macrocephala - Miro mésange
Tui - Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae - Méliphage tui ou Tui cravate-frisée
Westland Petrel - Procellaria westlandica - Pétrel du Westland
White-fronted Tern - Sterna striata - Sterne tara
Photographer for this page :
Otto Plantema
Trips around the world
Text by Nicole Bouglouan
Sources:
A Complete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife by Hadoram Shirihai and Illustrated by Brett Jarrett - Edited by Guy M. Kirwan - ALUL.A Press Oy, Finland - ISBN 9519894705
Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia
BirdLife International (BirdLife International)