Australian and NZ names for birds from southern hemisphere migrating northwards (1 Viewer)

[Andy Hurley]

Hi, I am researching for the Migration - BirdForum Opus | BirdForum page. I know that the word Austral means from the southern hemisphere. So far Austral migration searches points me to South America's birds that migrate north as far up as Panama and the Caribbean for the austral winter. Does anybody know what term is used from Australia or New Zealand or their southern islands?

 

[DMW]

I'm not sure there is a widely-used term, but possibly Antipodean would fit the bill? The great majority of migrants in this region are wintering shorebirds which breed in East Asia, or seabirds. Off the top of my head, I can only think of a handful of birds which migrate within the region (eg a couple of parrots and a plover).

 

[Mike Crawley]

I know of Shining Cuckoo and Welcome Swallow that I believe migrate between Australia and New Zealand

It might be worth registering here:-

BirdingNZ - Home

and asking the locals

good luck with your search

 

[Andy Hurley]

THanks very much DWN. I know of the Australian-New Zealand migration, which is more east- west, than south-north. There seems to be only a handful that cross the equator and they are indeed shorebirds. I have reseached this quite a bit and found 4 species that island hop their way from north to south, the Pacific Golden Plover, Wandering Tattler, Bristle-thighed Curlew and the Bar-tailed Godwit. The latter set a new long distance record non-stop from Alaska to Australia. Most come from either Siberia or Alaska

 

[Andy Hurley]

I know of Shining Cuckoo and Welcome Swallow that I believe migrate between Australia and New Zealand

It might be worth registering here:-

BirdingNZ - Home

and asking the locals

good luck with your search

Thanks very much Mike. I was looking for the name for the birds that breed in the eastern southern hemishere and migrate north. In South America they call it Austral migration, but I can't find any Aussie or NZ references to Austral migration. I'll take a look at your link though.

 

[DMW]

When people talk about Austral migrants in a South American context, they are typically referring to Neotropical species which migrate entirely within South America, to distinguish them from wintering migrants from North America. The same applies to the term Afrotropical for strictly intra-African migrants.

The only species I can think of which breed in Australasia and then migrate outside the region are seabirds and Australian Pratincole (sort of).

 

[Jos Stratford]

When people talk about Austral migrants in a South American context, they are typically referring to Neotropical species which migrate entirely within South America, to distinguish them from wintering migrants from North America. The same applies to the term Afrotropical for strictly intra-African migrants.

The only species I can think of which breed in Australasia and then migrate outside the region are seabirds and Australian Pratincole (sort of).

Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher breeds in Australia, then winters north in Papua New Guinea, etc. Kind of out of the region.

 

[DMW]

Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher breeds in Australia, then winters north in Papua New Guinea, etc. Kind of out of the region.

Kind of indeed 😏
Channel-billed Cuckoo kind of also.

 

[Butty]

I was looking for the name for the birds that breed in the eastern southern hemishere and migrate north

Try 'intratropical migrant'.

Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher breeds in Australia, then winters north in Papua New Guinea, etc.

This is the one that I had in mind for Australia - but there must surely be many others? Just trawl through the near-passerines and passerines in an Australian field guide.

 

[Andy Hurley]

Thanks for the replies!

When people talk about Austral migrants in a South American context, they are typically referring to Neotropical species which migrate entirely within South America, to distinguish them from wintering migrants from North America. The same applies to the term Afrotropical for strictly intra-African migrants.

There are some austral migrants that reach Central America and the Caribbean, so not strictly intra South American migrants, but not that far out of the region.
It is strange that intra-African migrants don't leave sub-Saharan Africa, but Boreal migrants move freely back and forth.

The only species I can think of which breed in Australasia and then migrate outside the region are seabirds and Australian Pratincole (sort of).

odd that there are so few non-wader/shorebird migrants out of Australasia, considering that Australia was connected during the last ice age to Asia. The conditions seem to be good enough that migration becomes unnecessary. Blackbirds etc from Eurasia on being introduced down under, gave up migration. I read in a paper somewhere that once the temperature never reaches below an annual low of 20 °C migration tends to stop. May be thats part of the reason. Of course there is The Australo-Papuan bird migration system: another consequence of Wallace's Line: Emu - Austral Ornithology: Vol 104, No 2

 

[Andy Hurley]

Try 'intratropical migrant'.

Migrants from south of Alice Springs in Oz and all of NZ are outside the tropics. The islands to the south of NZ and Oz are where you might expects more migrants to breed when considering the breeding locations for Boreal migrants, certainly don't come into this category. Similarly, not all Austral migrants are tropical, or intra-African ones, most of ZA being outside the tropics. This would however fit the leapfrogged tropical migrants. Migrants tend to migrate to a similar latitude in the opposite hemisphere. It seems to me that this phenomena applies more to Boreal breeding migrants than their Austral breeding counterparts. Some birds migrating from Terra del Fuego only reach Central America.

This is the one that I had in mind for Australia - but there must surely be many others? Just trawl through the near-passerines and passerines in an Australian field guide.

Thanks Butty. The fact that there are so few non-wader/shorebird migrants that cross the equator is interesting enough to find out the names of them all.

There are routes crisscrossing the Pacific that makes it possible for Alaskan/Siberian breeders to island hop all the way to New Zealand with only a couple of days in a single leg.

I believe the Pacific ocean is crossed from north to south more often than previously thought and can even be considered a flyway in it's own right. Many hours of research has gone into this and all without access to archives of research papers. Something I am enjoying very much. Still a long way to go.

 

[halftwo]

Austral refers to the southern hemisphere, not just S.America.
So austral fits for Oz.

 

[Andy Hurley]

Austral refers to the southern hemisphere, not just S.America.
So austral fits for Oz.

Very true, but it isn't used in a bird migration context outside of South America in any searches I have done so far. I'm not the most clued up when it comes to searching the internet, so it may be that I missed something.

 

[halftwo]

Here's a quote-ish from Pizzey & Knight's Birds of Oz:
OZ lacks harsh winters...bird migration differs from Eurasia & N. America.
Every summer Oz ...has...80 birds that breed mostly in Arctic Asia, Alaska, & the North Pacific.
The inference here is that Oz receives wintering birds but its breeders don't go in for migration much.

 

[Andy Hurley]

Thanks very much for that quote summary, Halftwo! Do most use the East Asian - Australasian Flyway and do the north Pacific breeders breed mainly in the Aleutian Islands chain or islands in the Bering Sea ?
Do you know if any beed in the island chain dropping south of Honshu, eg the Iwo Jima group?

 

[pbjosh]

Just a comment that Long-tailed Koel breeds in NZ and then winters in Papua and points W so both in and out of the region. Perhaps more out but that’s just a guess?

 

[Andy Hurley]

Just a comment that Long-tailed Koel breeds in NZ and then winters in Papua and points W so both in and out of the region. Perhaps more out but that’s just a guess?

Interestingly, Papua New Guinea | The Convention on Wetlands, The Convention on Wetlands refers to the "New Guinea-Australian region". To do with This ?

 

[Butty]

Interestingly, Papua New Guinea | The Convention on Wetlands, The Convention on Wetlands refers to the "New Guinea-Australian region". To do with This ?

You lost me. You imply a link between this and PB's comment about long-tailed koel?
Faunal regions and their distinctness may have their roots in the movements of tectonic plates - or may not.

 

[Grahame Walbridge]

Hi, I am researching for the Migration - BirdForum Opus | BirdForum page. I know that the word Austral means from the southern hemisphere. So far Austral migration searches points me to South America's birds that migrate north as far up as Panama and the Caribbean for the austral winter. Does anybody know what term is used from Australia or New Zealand or their southern islands?

I have always used the term Austral migrants Andy which is the term used by Eaton in his Birds of Indonesia.

There are several examples, perhaps the best, is Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo which winters north to New Guinea, Indonesia and the Malay Peninsula, including several recent records from peninsular Thailand. Other examples are Shining Bronze Cuckoo which migrates to New Guinea and the Lesser Sundas and Sacred Kingfisher which winters north to New Guinea and Indonesia. Vagrants of the latter have been recorded in Christmas Is, Marshall Is, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. The Thai record involves an individual trapped at Laem Pak Bia in the northern Gulf on 17 Feb 2019.

These are just some examples.

Grahame

 

[Andy Hurley]

I have always used the term Austral migrants Andy which is the term used by Eaton in his Birds of Indonesia.

There are several examples, perhaps the best, is Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo which winters north to New Guinea, Indonesia and the Malay Peninsula, including several recent records from peninsular Thailand. Other examples are Shining Bronze Cuckoo which migrates to New Guinea and the Lesser Sundas and Sacred Kingfisher which winters north to New Guinea and Indonesia. Vagrants of the latter have been recorded in Christmas Is, Marshall Is, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. The Thai record involves an individual trapped at Laem Pak Bia in the northern Gulf on 17 Feb 2019.

These are just some examples.

Grahame

Thanks very much Grahame.
That list is slowly coming together! Many thanks to all contributors