Coming in live from #BirdsNZ2024 in sunny Nelson! We kick off with Graeme Elliott sharing how fisheries bycatch is having huge impacts on wandering #albatrosses from the Antipodes & Auckland islands. #seabirds

Richard Holdaway discusses morphometric data from museum skins for identifying shining #cuckoo subspecies across Australasia. With huge overlaps in geographic distribution, it’s a complex complex! #BirdsNZ2024

Conservation translocations are a key tool to support species recovery, but success rates have been very low. Kevin Parker Kevin A. Parker asks how do we measure & predict success? Assessing habitat quality is key! #BirdsNZ2024

The central Aotearoa black swan/kakiānau popn averages 17k, Lawson Davey Fish & Game New Zealand reports. As a game bird, annual harvest is a key factor in how the population is doing. #BirdsNZ2024

Shorebird banding projects are a great way of collecting data on age and sex profiles of populations. Rob Schuckard discusses refinement of age and sex characters for South Island pied oystercatchers, incl colouration of bare body parts like legs & bill. #BirdsNZ2024

James Braund leads us on a historical expedition - the Austrian Novara visit to Auckland in 1858-59. 25 spp of birds were collected during this visit, some of which were displayed during the 1873 Vienna Exhibition. #BirdsNZ2024

Emma Williams Department of Conservation.bsky.social shares work from the tracking nationally migratory and dispersive species like South Island pied oystercatchers. 134 trackers along with 100s of bands have been used to help understand movement and decline. #BirdsNZ2024

Kath Walker calls for Gibson’s and Antipodean albatrosses to be split as separate species based on morphometric and breeding characters, and differences in foraging locations. #BirdsNZ2024

Biz Bell Biz Bell provides an update on Tākoketai/black petrels. With mark/recapture data available since 1962, we can delve into recruitment and survival. Only 8% of chicks return to breed at the colony - what’s going on? #BirdsNZ2024

Johannes Chambon @Otago shares work from Chatham Island taiko conservation. The species was once thought extinct, and today integrated popn modelling is pulling together data streams to inform conservation. #BirdsNZ2024

Hiltrun Ratz @ NZ Penguin Initiative explains how a lack of data for kororā/little penguins makes it hard to tell how they are doing. NZPI are supporting community groups to run local monitoring, and sharing data to support conservation efforts. #BirdsNZ2024

Caitlin Lavery presents work surveying pīhoihoi/NZ pipits - the most charismatic birds with swag! Construction work exposing soil creates prime habitat for pipits, making management of earthworks tricky during breeding season. #BirdsNZ2024

Brian Gill discusses diet of shining cuckoos through dissection of museum specimens. Among the 10 orders of insects identified in gizzards were beetles, ladybirds, caterpillars, craneflies. #BirdsNZ2024

Bruce McKinlay, Birds NZ President, provides an update on the risks associated with avian influenza, which is yet to reach Aotearoa. So far more than 500 species have been affected globally. #BirdsNZ2024

Indicators of avian influenza include tremors, convulsions, wing droop, paralysis, respiratory distress, diarrhea among others. It is a noticeable disease, so if you see concerning bird behaviour, please get in touch with MPI, and use good hygiene practices. #BirdsNZ2024

Wendy Fox has been working to learn more about black-backed gull movements. The max distance moved by 1 individual was 292 km! #BirdsNZ2024

Jodanne Aitken presents work tracking kea to understand where they are going, given numbers are declining, with the population currently sitting at around 5000. #BirdsNZ2024

Brenda Greene shares how eBird and Department of Conservation Tier 1 data are contributing to understand status and distribution of tītipounamu/rifleman and riroriro/grey warbler. #BirdsNZ2024

Little penguins spend about 20% of their lives on land. Georgia Gwatkin @UCNZbiology discusses how terrestrial factors affect nest site selection for these penguins at Pōhatu/Flea Bay. #BirdsNZ2024

Colin Miskelly Te Papa tells us about his adventure walking the whole of Te Araroa over summer, counting birds for Aotearoa’s Bird Atlas project - surely the longest transect study! #BirdsNZ2024