Daniel Philippe
Well-known member
Coenocorypha aucklandica perseverance
Notornis, 2009, Vol. 56: 113-123
0029-4470 © The Ornithological Society of New Zealand, Inc.
Description of a new subspecies of Coenocorypha snipe from subantarctic Campbell Island, New Zealand
COLIN M. MISKELLY*
Wellington Hawke’s Bay Conservancy, Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 5086, Wellington 6145, New Zealand
ALLAN J. BAKER
Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON M5S 2C6, Canada Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3B2, Canada
Abstract A new subspecies of Coenocorypha snipe from Campbell I is described and named. This bird was discovered on rat-free 19 ha Jacquemart I in 1997, and had probably been confined there as a breeding species for about 170 years. Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) were eradicated from 11,268 ha Campbell I in 2001, and snipe soon began to recolonise the main island from Jacquemart I 1 km offshore. Twelve adults and 5 chicks were caught on Campbell I in Jan 2006, and 1 nest was found. Genetic analysis of blood samples, and measurements and plumage descriptions from these birds revealed that they were best regarded as a subspecies of Coenocorypha aucklandica, a species here recognised as confined to the subantarctic Auckland, Antipodes and Campbell Is, and specifically distinct from the 2 other extant Coenocorypha snipes (Snares I snipe C. huegeli and Chatham I snipe C. pusilla).
Notornis, 2009, Vol. 56: 113-123
0029-4470 © The Ornithological Society of New Zealand, Inc.
Description of a new subspecies of Coenocorypha snipe from subantarctic Campbell Island, New Zealand
COLIN M. MISKELLY*
Wellington Hawke’s Bay Conservancy, Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 5086, Wellington 6145, New Zealand
ALLAN J. BAKER
Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON M5S 2C6, Canada Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3B2, Canada
Abstract A new subspecies of Coenocorypha snipe from Campbell I is described and named. This bird was discovered on rat-free 19 ha Jacquemart I in 1997, and had probably been confined there as a breeding species for about 170 years. Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) were eradicated from 11,268 ha Campbell I in 2001, and snipe soon began to recolonise the main island from Jacquemart I 1 km offshore. Twelve adults and 5 chicks were caught on Campbell I in Jan 2006, and 1 nest was found. Genetic analysis of blood samples, and measurements and plumage descriptions from these birds revealed that they were best regarded as a subspecies of Coenocorypha aucklandica, a species here recognised as confined to the subantarctic Auckland, Antipodes and Campbell Is, and specifically distinct from the 2 other extant Coenocorypha snipes (Snares I snipe C. huegeli and Chatham I snipe C. pusilla).
