Newsletter #100
Tēnā koutou katoa,
28 June – 6 July: The annual garden bird survey is happening once again.
I’m wondering where does ‘backyard’ begin and ‘property’ end? My office overlooks a creek and body of water too big to be called a ‘pond’ yet too small to be referred to as a ‘lake’. As I write this, a glance through my window reveals dozens of rakiraki/mallards, four pūkekos, a pair of pūtangitangi/Paradise shelducks, and a houmea/shag (not sure what species)drying its wings.
Also, Bird of the Year is coming up again soon! Pūkorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre are getting behind the ngutupare/wrybill this year. Ngutupare/wrybill winter up their way and migrate down our way to breed. Voting for them helps raise awareness of this very special little bird and its bi-annual journey between Te Waipounamu and Te Ika-a-Māui.
Of course, a vote for any braided river bird would be great to see.
Ngā mihi,
Sonny Whitelaw
manager@braid.org.nz
Annual Braided River Seminar
Thanks to the Waitaha Action to Impact Fund and the Department of Conservation contributing funding.
Thank you to everyone who has booked. Places are still available as we will be in the larger of the two Stewart lecture theatres (see map here). If you have not yet booked but wish to come, please be aware that bookings will close Friday 4 July, as this is the deadline for the caterer. As with 2024, the cost of the full day event is $49.00 to help cover the balance of the costs. Lunch, morning, and afternoon teas are included, and there is plenty of free parking at the venue. I look forward to seeing you there.
A copy of the 16-page programme will be available upon booking. Those who have booked and paid have been sent copy.
Bird Surveys
- Please remember to send me your bird surveys when they are completed. These are added to each of the river pages on the website. This helps researchers and community groups to discern trends over time.
- Please also send a copy to Miles Burford at ECan, as Miles is compiling an amazing database with the aim of eventually making it accessible online through Canterbury Maps.
News/articles/conferences
- Birds NZ: For the 2025 AOC in Perth, Birds New Zealand will offer two Student Travel Grants of $700 each. The criteria and application form can be downloaded via the above link. Applications must be received by the Executive Officer by 20 June 2025.
- Coleridge Habitat Trust: Summary of Activities 2024 includes willow control, predator control, new CHET grant processes and visitor signage.
- The Conversation: We know heatwaves kill animals. But new research shows the survivors don’t get off scot-free “Our study…describes how exposure to hot and dry conditions can damage the DNA of nestling birds in their first few days of life. This can mean they age earlier, die younger and produce less offspring.”
- 2025 EDS Conference & Oceans Symposium: Dollars & Sense: making the economy work for nature Monday 12 May 2025: Oceans Symposium Tuesday 13 – Wednesday 14 May 2025: The presentations are in 22 videos (at the time of writing they have not been curated).
- North Canterbury News: Winners of the Young Writers competition Ashley Rakahuri River. The article and winning essay appeared in the May 29 edition. It takes time to navigate online to find it, so a copy of the article is here, and winning essay is here.
- North Canterbury News: Protecting Native Birds focus of report to Kaikoura District Council is considering how banded dotterels can be protected. The article also appeared in the May 29 edition. A copy of the article is here.
- Science Media Centre: Reviewing our strategy to go predator free by 2050 – Expert Reaction
- Canon Oceania’s 2025 Grants Program is now open and offering community groups and schools the chance to win $5,000. Submissions are open now until 11.59pm NZST Sunday 27 July 2025. Application forms are available here.
Research & Reports
- Brumby et al; Trait-based climate change vulnerability assessments of terrestrial taxa in Aotearoa New Zealand. DOC Science for Conservation 343
- Morrison et al; AvianLexiconAtlas: A database of descriptive categories of English-language bird names around the world. PLOS One (Open access)
- Hernández-Carrasco et al; Ecological and evolutionary consequences of changing seasonality Science 388 | 6750
- Brown; Engineered change : how invasive macrophytes restructure communities in springs. MSc thesis (University of Canterbury) “...invasive aquatic macrophytes that are spreading into remote New Zealand streams have received limited attention despite their potential to alter ecosystems drastically.”
- Wartmann et al; Global River Topology (GRIT): A Bifurcating River Hydrography, AGU Water Sources Research, May, 2025 (Open access)
- Bellvé et al; Burrowing Into the Past: Extending Niche Space Models of Procellariiform Breeding Grounds by Merging Fossil and Historic Data, Diversairy and Distributions /Conservation Biology 25 May. “Since human arrival in NZ, most procellariiforms have declined in abundance and breeding ranges, primarily due to introduced mammalian predators. We combined record sources to improve ENMs of burrowing procellariiform breeding colonies and reconstruct narratives of decline.”
- Nousias et al: Shotgun sequencing of airborne eDNA achieves rapid assessment of whole biomes, population genetics and genomic variation. Nature Ecology and Evolution 9 pp1043-1060 (Open access) “Here we report the rapid application of shotgun long-read environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis for non-invasive biodiversity, genetic diversity and pathogen assessments from air.”
- 2025: Findlay et al; Ocean Acidification: Another Planetary Boundary Crossed, Global Change Biology 09 June (Open access; I’ve included it here as it covers coastal ecosystems that several braided river bird species depend upon).
- Bernardo-Madrid et al; A general rule on the organization of biodiversity in Earth’s biogeographical regions Nature Ecology & Evolution 04 June (open access)
