Tuesday, May 28, 2013

>Coracina caesia (Grey Cuckooshrike)

Grey Cuckooshrike


Grey Cuckooshrike
Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Campephagidae
Genus:Coracina
Species:C. caesia
Binomial name
Coracina caesia
(Lichtenstein, 1823)
The Grey Cuckooshrike (Coracina caesia) is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is found in Burundi, Cameroon,Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan,Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.

>Coracina caeruleogrisea (Stout-billed Cuckooshrike)

Stout-billed Cuckooshrike


Stout-billed Cuckooshrike
Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Campephagidae
Genus:Coracina
Species:C. caeruleogrisea
Binomial name
Coracina caeruleogrisea
(Gray, 1858)
The Stout-billed Cuckooshrike (Coracina caeruleogrisea) is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.


Monday, May 27, 2013

>Coracina boyeri (Boyer's Cuckooshrike)

Boyer's Cuckooshrike





Boyer's Cuckooshrike
Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Campephagidae
Genus:Coracina
Species:C. boyeri
Binomial name
Coracina boyeri
(Gray, 1846)
The Boyer's Cuckooshrike (Coracina boyeri) is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.

>Coracina bicolor (Pied Cuckooshrike)

Pied Cuckooshrike


Pied Cuckooshrike
Conservation status

Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Campephagidae
Genus:Coracina
Species:C. bicolor
Binomial name
Coracina bicolor
(Temminck, 1824)
The Pied Cuckooshrike (Coracina bicolor) is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is endemic to Indonesia.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.




Sunday, May 26, 2013

>Coracina azurea (Blue Cuckooshrike)

Blue Cuckooshrike






Blue Cuckooshrike
Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Campephagidae
Genus:Coracina
Species:C. azurea
Binomial name
Coracina azurea
(Cassin, 1852)
The Blue Cuckooshrike (Coracina azurea) is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is found in Angola, Burkina Faso,Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon,Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.







>Coracina atriceps (Moluccan Cuckooshrike)

Moluccan Cuckooshrike







Moluccan Cuckooshrike
Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Campephagidae
Genus:Coracina
Species:C. atriceps
Binomial name
Coracina atriceps
(Müller, 1843)
The Moluccan Cuckooshrike (Coracina atriceps) is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is endemic to Indonesia.
Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.







Saturday, May 25, 2013

>Coracina analisn (New Caledonian Cuckooshrike)

New Caledonian Cuckooshrike



New Caledonian Cuckooshrike
Conservation status

Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Campephagidae
Genus:Coracina
Species:C. analis
Binomial name
Coracina analis
Verreaux & Des Murs, 1860
The New Caledonian Cuckooshrike (Coracina analis) is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is endemic to New Caledonia.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.






>Coracina abbotti (Pygmy Cuckooshrike)

Pygmy Cuckooshrike







Pygmy Cuckooshrike
Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Campephagidae
Genus:Coracina
Species:C. abbotti
Binomial name
Coracina abbotti
(Riley, 1918)
The Pygmy Cuckooshrike (Coracina abbotti) is a species of bird in the Campephagidae family. It is endemic to Indonesia.
Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.







Friday, May 24, 2013

>>Genus Coracina

Coracina



Coracina
Black-faced Cuckooshrike (Coracina novaehollandiae)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Campephagidae
Genus:Coracina
Vieillot, 1816
Species
49 recognized species, see article.

Large Cuckooshrike Coracina macei
Coracina is a large genus of bird in the Campephagidae family. A revision of this genus may be involved since the group is found to be polyphyletic in relation to other genera within the Campephagidae. It contains the following 49 species:
  • Pygmy Cuckooshrike (Coracina abbotti)
  • New Caledonian Cuckooshrike (Coracina analis)
  • Moluccan Cuckooshrike (Coracina atriceps)
  • Blue Cuckooshrike (Coracina azurea)
  • Pied Cuckooshrike (Coracina bicolor)
  • Boyer's Cuckooshrike (Coracina boyeri)
  • Stout-billed Cuckooshrike (Coracina caeruleogrisea)
  • Grey Cuckooshrike (Coracina caesia)
  • South Melanesian Cuckooshrike (Coracina caledonica)
  • North Melanesian Cuckooshrike (Coracina welchmani)
  • Pale Cicadabird (Coracina ceramensis)
  • Madagascar Cuckooshrike (Coracina cinerea)
    • Comoros Cuckooshrike (Coracina (cinerea) cucullata)
  • Blackish Cuckooshrike (Coracina coerulescens)
  • Kai Cicadabird (Coracina dispar)
  • Pale-shouldered Cicadabird (Coracina dohertyi)
  • Lesser Cuckooshrike (Coracina fimbriata)
  • Buru Cuckooshrike (Coracina fortis)
  • Grauer's Cuckooshrike (Coracina graueri)
  • Solomons Cuckooshrike (Coracina holopolia)
  • Black-shouldered Cicadabird (Coracina incerta)
  • Javan Cuckooshrike (Coracina javensis)
  • Sunda Cuckooshrike (Coracina larvata)
  • White-rumped Cuckooshrike (Coracina leucopygia)
  • Barred Cuckooshrike (Coracina lineata)
  • Hooded Cuckooshrike (Coracina longicauda)
  • Ground Cuckooshrike (Coracina maxima)
  • McGregor's Cuckooshrike (Coracina mcgregori)
  • Black-headed Cuckooshrike (Coracina melanoptera)
  • Black-winged Cuckooshrike (Coracina melaschistos)
  • Black Cicadabird (Coracina melas)
  • Black-bibbed Cicadabird (Coracina mindanensis)
  • Black-bellied Cuckooshrike (Coracina montana)
  • Sulawesi Cicadabird (Coracina morio)
  • Yap Cicadabird (Coracina nesiotis)
  • Makira Cicadabird (Coracina salomonis )
  • Reunion Cuckooshrike (Coracina newtoni)
  • Black-faced Cuckooshrike (Coracina novaehollandiae)
  • White-winged Cuckooshrike (Coracina ostenta)
  • White-bellied Cuckooshrike (Coracina papuensis)
  • Manus Cuckooshrike (Coracina ingens)
  • Halmahera Cuckooshrike (Coracina parvula)
  • White-breasted Cuckooshrike (Coracina pectoralis)
  • Wallacean Cuckooshrike (Coracina personata)
  • Indochinese Cuckooshrike (Coracina polioptera)
  • Slaty Cuckooshrike (Coracina schistacea)
  • Grey-headed Cuckooshrike (Coracina schisticeps)
  • Bar-bellied Cuckooshrike (Coracina striata)
  • Andaman Cuckooshrike (Coracina dobsoni)
  • Sula Cicadabird (Coracina sula)
  • Cerulean Cuckooshrike (Coracina temminckii)
  • Common Cicadabird (Coracina tenuirostris)
  • Mauritius Cuckooshrike (Coracina typica)
  • Large Cuckooshrike (Coracina macei)


>>>Family Campephagidae (Cuckooshrike)

Cuckooshrike


Cuckooshrike
Black-faced Cuckooshrike
Coracina novaehollandiae
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Suborder:Passeri
Family:Campephagidae
Vigors, 1825
Genera
  • Coracina
  • Campochaera
  • Lalage
  • Campephaga
  • Pericrocotus
  • Hemipus
The cuckooshrikes and allies in the Campephagidae family are small to medium-sized passerine bird species found in the subtropical and tropical Africa, Asia and Australasia. The roughly 85 species are found in eight (or nine) genera which comprise five distinct groups, the 'true' cuckooshrikes (CampephagaCoracinaLobotosPteropodocys and Campochaera) the trillers (Lalage), the minivets (Pericrocotus), the flycatcher-shrikes (Hemipus). The wood-shrikes (Tephrodornis) were often considered to be in this family but are probably closer to the helmetshrikes or bushshrikes. Another genus, Chlamydochaera, which has one species, the Black-breasted Fruithunter was often placed in this family but has now been shown to be a thrush (Turdidae).

Taxonomy

Cuckooshrikes are closely related neither to the cuckoos nor to the shrikes; the name probably comes from the grey colour of many of the cuckooshrikes. Some of the species also bear a superficial resemblance to cuckoos, and have a similar undulating flight. The grey colouration has led to one of their other names, the greybird. In some parts of the world they have also been known as caterpillar-birds, a name derived from their diet. They are in fact thought by some to be closely related to the Old World orioles (Oriolidae), although they differ strongly in some morphological characteristics (such as skull morphology and the arrangements of feathers on the wing).

Description

Overall the cuckooshrikes are medium to small arboreal birds, generally long and slender. The smallest species is the Small Minivet at 16 cm (6.3 in) and 6-12 grams (0.2-0.4 oz), while the largest is the South Melanesian Cuckooshrike at 35 cm (14 in) and 180 grams (6 oz).They are predominantly greyish with white and black, although the minivets are brightly coloured in red, yellow and black, and the Blue Cuckooshrike of central Africa is all-over glossy blue. The four cuckooshrikes in the genus Campephaga exhibit sexual dimorphism, with males that have glossy black plumage and bright red or yellow wattles, the females having more subdued olive-green plumage.The genus Coracina is not monophyletic.

Habitat

Of the 84 species of cuckooshrike, the majority are forest birds. Some species are restricted to primary forest, like the New Caledonian Cuckooshrike, others are able to use more disturbed forest. Around eleven species use much more open habitat, one Australian species, the Ground Cuckooshrike being found in open plains and scrubland with few trees.

Behaviour


Nesting Ground Cuckooshrike
The 'true' cuckooshrikes are usually found singly, in pairs, and in small family groups, whereas the minivets, flycatcher-shrikes and wood-shrikes more frequently form small flocks. There is a considerable amount of variation within the family as a whole with regards to calls, some call very infrequently and some, principally the minivets, are extremely vocal.
These are mainly insectivorous, and will take large hairy caterpillars. They have also been recorded eating small vertebrates, and some fruit, seeds and other plant matter.
Information about the breeding of this family is incomplete, with many species having never been studied. In all the species studied the cuckooshrikes are territorial; in species that do not migrate these territories are maintained year round. Cuckooshrikes are monogamous, with the pair bonds apparently lasting throughout the year. Only one instance of non-monogamous breeding has been recorded, an instance of polygyny in White-winged Trillers in Australia, where one male aided two females in raising their young. Several species of cuckooshrike exhibit cooperative breeding. About four blotchy white, green or blue eggs are laid in a cup nest in a tree. Incubation is about two weeks.


Taxonomic list of Campephagidae

FAMILY: CAMPEPHAGIDAE
  • Genus Coracina
    • Ground Cuckooshrike, Coracina maxima

      Coracina macei
    • Large Cuckooshrike, Coracina macei
    • Sunda Cuckooshrike, Coracina larvata
    • Javan Cuckooshrike, Coracina javensis
    • Slaty Cuckooshrike, Coracina schistacea
    • Wallacean Cuckooshrike, Coracina personata
    • South Melanesian Cuckooshrike, Coracina caledonica
    • North Melanesian Cuckooshrike, Coracina welchmani
    • Black-faced Cuckooshrike, Coracina novaehollandiae
    • Stout-billed Cuckooshrike, Coracina caeruleogrisea
    • Bar-bellied Cuckooshrike, Coracina striata
      • Cebu Bar-bellied Cuckooshrike, Coracina striata cebuensis - extinct (early 20th century)
    • Andaman Cuckooshrike, Coracina dobsoni
    • Pied Cuckooshrike, Coracina bicolor
    • Moluccan Cuckooshrike, Coracina atriceps
    • Buru Cuckooshrike, Coracina fortis
    • Cerulean Cuckooshrike, Coracina temminckii
    • Barred Cuckooshrike, Coracina lineata
    • Boyer's Cuckooshrike, Coracina boyeri
    • White-rumped Cuckooshrike, Coracina leucopygia
    • White-bellied Cuckooshrike, Coracina papuensis
    • Hooded Cuckooshrike, Coracina longicauda
    • Halmahera Cuckooshrike, Coracina parvula
    • Pygmy Cuckooshrike, Coracina abbotti
    • New Caledonian Cuckooshrike, Coracina analis
    • White-breasted Cuckooshrike, Coracina pectoralis
    • Blue Cuckooshrike, Coracina azurea
    • Grey Cuckooshrike, Coracina caesia
    • Grauer's Cuckooshrike, Coracina graueri
    • Madagascar Cuckooshrike, Coracina cinerea
    • Mauritius Cuckooshrike, Coracina typica
    • Reunion Cuckooshrike, Coracina newtoni
    • Common Cicadabird, Coracina tenuirostris
      • Maros Cicadabird, Coracina tenuirostris edithae - disputed; extinct (mid-20th century)
    • Blackish Cuckooshrike, Coracina coerulescens
      • Cebu Blackish Cuckooshrike, Coracina coerulescens altera - possibly extinct (early 20th century?)
      • Marinduque Blackish Cuckooshrike, Coracina coerulescens deschauenseei - possibly extinct (late 20th century?)
    • Pale-shouldered Cicadabird, Coracina dohertyi
    • Sula Cicadabird, Coracina sula
    • Kai Cicadabird, Coracina dispar
    • Black-bibbed Cicadabird, Coracina mindanensis
    • Sulawesi Cicadabird, Coracina morio
    • Pale Cicadabird, Coracina ceramensis
    • Black-shouldered Cicadabird, Coracina incerta
    • Grey-headed Cuckooshrike, Coracina schisticeps
    • Black Cicadabird, Coracina melas
    • Black-bellied Cuckooshrike, Coracina montana
    • Solomons Cuckooshrike, Coracina holopolia
    • McGregor's Cuckooshrike, Coracina mcgregori
    • Indochinese Cuckooshrike, Coracina polioptera
    • White-winged Cuckooshrike, Coracina ostenta
    • Black-winged Cuckooshrike, Coracina melaschistos
    • Lesser Cuckooshrike, Coracina fimbriata
    • Black-headed Cuckooshrike, Coracina melanoptera
  • Genus Campochaera
    • Golden Cuckooshrike, Campochaera sloetii
  • Genus Lalage
    • Black-and-white Triller, Lalage melanoleuca
    • Pied Triller, Lalage nigra
    • White-rumped Triller, Lalage leucopygialis
    • White-shouldered Triller, Lalage sueurii
    • White-winged Triller, Lalage tricolor
    • Rufous-bellied Triller, Lalage aurea
    • White-browed Triller, Lalage moesta
    • Varied Triller, Lalage leucomela
    • Black-browed Triller, Lalage atrovirens
    • Samoan Triller, Lalage sharpei
    • Polynesian Triller, Lalage maculosa
    • Long-tailed Triller, Lalage leucopyga
      • Norfolk Triller, Lalage (leucopyga) leucopyga - extinct (1976)
  • Genus Campephaga
    • Petit's Cuckooshrike, Campephaga petiti
    • Black Cuckooshrike, Campephaga flava
    • Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike, Campephaga phoenicea
    • Purple-throated Cuckooshrike, Campephaga quiscalina
  • Genus Lobotos
    • Western Wattled Cuckooshrike, Lobotos lobatus
    • Eastern Wattled Cuckooshrike, Lobotos oriolinus
  • Genus Pericrocotus
    • Rosy Minivet, Pericrocotus roseus
    • Brown-rumped Minivet, Pericrocotus cantonensis
    • Ashy Minivet, Pericrocotus divaricatus
    • Small Minivet, Pericrocotus cinnamomeus
    • Ryūkyū Minivet, Pericrocotus tegimae
    • Fiery Minivet, Pericrocotus igneus
    • Flores Minivet, Pericrocotus lansbergei
    • White-bellied Minivet, Pericrocotus erythropygius
    • Long-tailed Minivet, Pericrocotus ethologus
    • Short-billed Minivet, Pericrocotus brevirostris
    • Sunda Minivet, Pericrocotus miniatus
    • Scarlet Minivet, Pericrocotus flammeus
    • Gray-chinned Minivet, Pericrocotus solaris
  • Genus Hemipus
    • Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Hemipus picatus
    • Black-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Hemipus hirundinaceus

Thursday, May 23, 2013

>>Genus Heteralocha >Huia

Huia


Huia
Illustration of two birds on a tree branch
A pair (male in front of female)
Painting by J.G. Keulemans from W.L. Buller'sA History of the Birds of New Zealand (1888)
Conservation status

Extinct  (1907) (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Callaeidae
Genus:Heteralocha
Cabanis, 1851
Species:H. acutirostris
Binomial name
Heteralocha acutirostris
(Gould, 1837)
Map of the North Island of New Zealand coloured light green with dark green stripes from the central mountains to the sea along the east coast to Wellington, and one red and two yellow dots.
Light green: original range
Dark green stripes: 1840 range
Red: site of 1907 last confirmed sighting
Yellow: sites of later unconfirmed sightings
Synonyms
Neomorpha acutirostris (female)
Neomorpha crassirostris (male)
Heteralocha gouldi
The Huia (Māori: [ˈhʉia]Heteralocha acutirostris) was the largest species of New Zealand wattlebird, endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. Its extinction in the early 20th century had two primary causes. The first was rampant overhunting to procure Huia skins for mounted specimens, which were in worldwide demand by museums and wealthy private collectors. Huia were also hunted to obtain their long, striking tail feathers for locally fashionable hat decorations. The second major cause of extinction was the widespread deforestation of the lowlands of the North Island by European settlers to create pasture for agriculture. Most of these forests were ancient, ecologically complex primary forests, and Huia were unable to survive in regenerating secondary forests. The last confirmed sighting of a Huia was on 28 December 1907 in the Tararua Ranges. Further credible sightings near Wellington were reported until 1922, and in Te Urewera National Park in the early 1960s.
The Huia belonged to a family found only in New Zealand, a family so ancient that no relation is found elsewhere. Before the arrival of Europeans it was already a rare bird, confined to the Ruahine, Tararua, Rimutaka and Kaimanawa mountain ranges in the south east of the North Island. It was remarkable for having the most pronounced sexual dimorphism in bill shape of any bird species in the world. The female's beak was long, thin and arched downward, while the male's was short and stout, like that of a crow. The sexes were otherwise similar, with orange wattles and predominantly black plumage with a green sheen. The birds lived in forests at both montane and lowland altitudes – they are thought to have moved seasonally, living at higher altitude in summer and descending to lower altitudes in winter. Huia were omnivorous and ate insects, grubs and spiders, as well as the fruits of a small number of native plants. Males and females used their beaks to feed in different ways: the male used his bill to chisel away at rotting wood, while the female's longer, more flexible bill was able to probe deeper areas. Even though the Huia is frequently mentioned in biology and ornithology textbooks because of this striking dimorphism, not much is known about its biology; it was little studied before it was driven to extinction. The Huia is one of New Zealand's best-known extinct birds because of its bill shape, its sheer beauty and special place in Māori culture and oral tradition. The bird was regarded by Māori as tapu (sacred), and the wearing of its skin or feathers was reserved for people of high status. The Huia was a bird of deep metallic, bluish-black plumage with a greenish iridescence on the upper surface, especially about the head. The tail feathers were unique among endemic birds in having a broad white band across the tips.

Taxonomy and etymology

Two stuffed birds on a wooden stand
Taxidermy exhibit of a pair at Museum für Naturkunde, Germany
The genus name, Heteralocha, derives from Ancient Greek ἕτερος "different" and ἄλοχος"wife".It refers to the striking difference in bill shape between male and female. The specific name, acutirostris, derives from Latin acutus, meaning "sharp pointed", and rostrum, meaning "beak", and refers to the beak of the female.
John Gould described the Huia in 1836 as two species: Neomorpha acutirostris based on a female specimen, and N. crassirostris based on a male specimen—the epithet crassirostrisderives from the Latin crassus, meaning "thick" or "heavy", and refers to the male's short bill. In 1840, George Robert Gray proposed the name N. gouldii, arguing that neither of Gould's names was applicable to the species. In 1850, Jean Cabanis replaced the nameNeomorpha, which had been previously used for a cuckoo genus, with Heteralocha.In 1888 Sir Walter Buller wrote: "I have deemed it more in accordance with the accepted rules of zoological nomenclature to adopt the first of the two names applied to the species by Mr Gould; and the name Neomorpha having been previously used in ornithology, it becomes necessary to adopt that of Heteralocha, proposed by Dr Cabanis for this form."
The Huia appears to be a remnant of an early expansion of passerines in the country of New Zealand, and is the largest of the three members of the family Callaeidae, the New Zealand wattlebirds; the others are the saddleback and the kōkako. The only close relative to the family is the stitchbird; their taxonomic relationships to other birds remain to be determined. A molecular study of the nuclear RAG-1 and c-mos genes of the three species within the family proved inconclusive, the data providing most support for either a basally diverging kokako or Huia.

Description


Painting by J.G. Keulemans of a female, a male, and an albinistic female
The Huia had black plumage with a green metallic tinge and distinctive rounded bright orange wattles at the gape. In both sexes, the eyes were brown; the beak was ivory white, greyish at the base; the legs and feet were long and bluish grey while the claws were light brown.Huia had twelve long glossy black tail feathers, each tipped for 2.5–3 cm (1–1.2 in) with a broad band of white. Immature Huia had small pale wattles, duller plumage flecked with brown, and a reddish-buff tinge to the white tips of the tail feathers. The beak of the young female was only slightly curved. Māori referred to certain Huia ashuia-ariki, "chiefly huia". The huia-ariki had brownish plumage streaked with grey, and the feathers on the neck and head were darker. This variant may have been a partial albino, or perhaps such birds were simply of great age. Several true albino Huia were recorded.
Although sexual dimorphism in bill shape is found in other birds, such as the riflebirds, sicklebills and other wood-excavating birds including some species of woodpecker, it was most pronounced in the Huia. The beak of the male was short at approximately 60 mm (2.3 in) and slightly arched downwards and robust, very similar to that of the closely related saddleback, while the female's beak was finer, longer at around 104 mm (4 in), and decurved (curved downward) like that of a hummingbird or honeyeater. The difference was not only in the bone; the rhamphotheca grew way past the end of the bony maxilla and mandible to produce a pliable implement able to deeply penetrate holes made by wood-boring beetle larvae. The skulls and mandibles of the Huia and saddleback are very similar, the latter essentially miniatures of the former.
Skull of a bird drawn in outline, side view, back view and view from underneath
The skull had hollows,digastric fossae, accommodating the strong muscles that open the bill
There are two possible explanations for the evolution of this sexual difference in bill shape. The most widely supported is that it allowed birds of different sexes to utilise different food sources.This divergence may have arisen because of a lack of competitors in these foraging niches in the North Island forest ecosystems. The other idea is that the ivory-coloured bill, which contrasted sharply with the bird's black plumage, may have been used to attract a mate. In animals that use sexually dimorphic physical traits to attract a mate, the dimorphic feature is often brightly coloured or contrasts with the rest of the body, as with the Huia. It has been suggested that as the female was the main provider of food for the chicks by regurgitation, this sex evolved the longer bill to obtain the protein-rich invertebrate diet required for the chicks.
Another, less obvious aspect of the Huia's sexual dimorphism was the minor size difference between the sexes. Males were 45 cm (18 in) long, while females were larger at 48 cm (19 in). Additionally, the tail of the male was about 20 cm (7.8 in) in length and the wingspan was between 21 and 22 cm (8.2–8.6 in), while the female's tail was 19.5 to 20 cm (7.6–7.8 in) and the female's wingspan was 20 to 20.5 cm (7.8–8 in).

Distribution and habitat

Subfossil deposits and midden remains suggest that the Huia was once widespread in both lowland and montane native forest throughout the North Island, extending from the northernmost tip at Cape Reinga to Wellington and the Aorangi Range in the far south. Only a few Huia are known from the extensive pitfall deposits in the karst of the Waitomo caves area and they are also rare or absent in fossil deposits in the central North Island and Hawke's Bay; it seems to have preferred habitats that are not well sampled by the deposits known at present.Its range appears to have contracted following Māori settlement in the middle 12th century. By the time of European settlement in the 1840s, the bird was found only in the forests of the southern North Island, south of a line from the Raukumara Range in the east, across the Kaimanawa Range, to the Turakina River in the Rangitikei in the west. In the south, its range extended to the Wairarapa and the Rimutaka Range east of Wellington.Reports collected by Walter Buller and a single waiata (Māori song) suggest that the Huia was once also found in the Marlborough and Nelson districts of the South Island; however, it has never been identified in the rich fossil deposits south of Cook Strait, and there is no other evidence of the species' presence.
The Huia inhabited both of the two principal forest types in New Zealand. They were primarily found in broadleaf-podocarp forests where there was a dense understorey, but occasionally also in Southern Beech (Nothofagus) forest. The species was observed in native vegetation including Mataī (Prumnopitys taxifolia), Rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum), Kahikatea (Dacrycarpus dacrydioides), Northern Rātā (Metrosideros robusta), Maire (Nestegis), Hinau (Elaeocarpus dentatus), Totara (Podocarpus totara), Rewarewa (Knightia excelsa), Mahoe (Melicytus ramiflorus), and Taraire (Beilschmiedia tarairi), and at sea level in Karaka (Corynocarpus laevigatus) trees at Cape Turakirae. It was never seen in burnt forest or land cleared for farming.


Ecology and behaviour

Stuffed bird in side view, mounted on a stump
Mounted female Huia taxidermy specimen illustrating its well-developed long legs and its long downward curved beak

Movements [edit]

The Huia's movements are little known, but it was most likely sedentary. The Huia is thought to have undertaken seasonal movements, living in montane forests in the summer and moving down into lowland forests in the winter to avoid the harsher weather and cold temperatures of higher altitudes. Like the surviving New Zealand wattlebirds, the saddleback and the kōkako, the Huia was a weak flier and could only fly for short distances, and seldom above tree height. More often it would use its powerful legs to propel it in long leaps and bounds through the canopy or across the forest floor,or cling vertically to tree trunks with its tail spread for balance.


Feeding and ecology

The Huia, with the previously endangered saddleback, were the two species of classic bark and wood probers in the arboreal insectivore guild in the New Zealand avifauna. Woodpeckers do not occur east of Wallace's line; their ecological niche is filled by other groups of birds that feed on wood-boring beetle larvae, albeit in rotting wood. The woodpecker-like role was taken on by two species in two different families in the New Zealand mixed-podocarp and Nothofagus forests; one was the Huia and the other was the kaka.
Two large insect larvae in tunnels in a tree branch
A favourite food of the Huia: the larvae of the huhu beetle, Prionoplus reticularis
The Huia foraged mainly on decaying wood.Although it was considered a specialist predator of the larvae of the nocturnal huhu beetle (Prionoplus reticularis), it also ate other insects—including weta—insect larvae, spiders, and fruit.
Insects and spiders were taken from decaying wood, from under bark, mosses and lichens, and from the ground. Huia foraged either alone, in pairs, or in small flocks of up to five, which were probably family groups.The sexual dimorphism of the bill structure gave rise to feeding strategies that differed radically between the sexes. The male used its adze-like bill to chisel and rip into the outer layers of decaying wood,while the female probed areas inaccessible to the male, such as the burrows of insect larvae in living wood. The male had well-developed cranial musculature allowing rotten wood to be chiselled and pried apart by "gaping" motions. There are corresponding differences in the structure and musculature of the head and neck between males and females. Huia had very well developed depressor jaw muscles, and an occipital crest that provided extra surface for muscle attachment, allowing the jaw to be opened with considerable force.Once the bird had secured a meal, it flew to a perch with the insect in its feet. The Huia stripped its meal of any hard parts, then tossed the remainder up, caught, and swallowed it.
A pair did not cooperate in feeding, at least not in a strict sense. All such reports are based on misunderstanding of an account by ornithologist Walter Buller of a pair kept in captivity obtaining wood-boring beetle larvae. According to this misunderstanding, which has become part of ecological folklore, the male would tear at the wood and open larval tunnels, thus allowing the female to probe deeply into the tunnels with her long, pliant bill. Rather, the divergent bills represent an extreme example of niche differentiation, reducing intraspecific competition between the sexes. This allowed the species to exploit a wide range of food sources in different microhabitats.
Tree branches bearing masses of red and black fruit
Huia ate the fruits of a few native plantsincluding kahikatea (Dacrycarpus dacrydioides)
The New Zealand forest relies heavily on frugivorous birds for seed dispersal: about 70% of the woody plants have fruits that are probably dispersed by birds, which included the Huia.The range of fruits eaten by the Huia is difficult to establish:hinau (Elaeocarpus dentatus), pigeonwood (Hedycarya arborea) and various species of Coprosma are recorded by Buller, and they were also recorded as eating the fruits of kahikatea (Dacrycarpus dacrydioides).The extinction of the Huia and other frugivorous New Zealand bird species including the moa and piopio, and the diminishing range of many others, including the kiwi, weka, and Kōkako, has left few effective seed dispersers in the New Zealand forest. For plants with fruit greater than 1 cm in diameter, kereru are the sole remaining dispersers in the ecosystem, and they are rare or extinct in some areas.This depletion of avifauna in the forest ecosystem may be having major impacts on processes such as forest regeneration and seed dispersal.

Voice

Like so many other aspects of its biology, the vocalisations of the Huia are not well known, and present knowledge is based on very few accounts. The calls were mostly a varied array of whistles, "peculiar and strange", but also "soft, melodious and flute-like". An imitation of the bird's call survives as a recording of 1909 Huia Search Team member Henare Haumana whistling the call (see External links). Huia were often silent. When they did vocalise, their calls could carry considerable distances – some were audible from up to 400 m (1300 ft) away through dense forest.The calls were said to differ between sexes, though there are no details. Calls were given with the bird's head and neck stretched outward and its bill pointing 30 to 45 degrees from the vertical.Most references describe Huia calls as heard in the early morning; one records it as the first bird to sing in the dawn chorus, and captive birds were known to "wake the household". Like the Whitehead, Huia behaved unusually before the onset of wet weather, being "happy and in full song". The bird's name is onomatopoeic:it was named by Māori for its loud distress call, a smooth, unslurred whistle rendered as uia, uia, uia or where are you?. This call was said to be given when the bird was excited or hungry. Chicks had a "plaintive cry, pleasant to the ear", would feebly answer imitations by people, and were very noisy when kept in tents.

Commensals and parasites

A species of parasitic phtilopterid louse, Rallicola extinctus, was only known to live on the Huia, and apparently became extinct with its host. In 2008, a new species of feather mite, Coraciacarus muellermotzfeldi, was described from dried corpses found in the feathers of a Huia skin held by a European museum.While the genus Coraciacarushas a wide range of hosts globally, the presence of a representative of the genus on a passerine bird was an "enigmatic phenomenon". The discoverers suggested the mite could have been horizontally transferred from one of the two native, migratory species of cuckoo (Cuculiformes).

Social behaviour and reproduction

Painting showing two birds heads. The bill of one is long and curved, the other is shorter and stouter
A 1830s painting by John Gould illustrating the remarkable sexual dimorphism of the Huia's beak. The female's beak (top) was finer, longer, and more curved than the male's (below)
A quiet, social bird, the Huia was monogamous, and pairs probably paired for life. The bird was usually found in breeding pairs, although sometimes groups of four or more were encountered. Walter Buller records that a tame pair would always keep close to each other, constantly uttering a "low affectionate twitter", even when in captivity. There are records of this same pair and a further, wild pair "hopping from branch to branch and fanning their tails, then meeting to caress each other with their bills" and uttering these noises. The male is said to have fed the female in courtship.It is thought that these behaviours may have been a sexual display. The claim that the male fed the female while she was incubating and on the nest "lacks evidence".When the male of this captive pair was accidentally killed, the female "manifesting the utmost distress pined for her mate and died 10 days afterwards".A Māori man in the 19th century recalled: "I was always told by my old people that a pair of Huia lived on most affectionate terms ... If the male died first, the female died soon after of grief". The Huia had no fear of people; females allowed themselves to be handled on the nest,and birds could easily be captured by hand.
Little is known about the Huia's reproduction, as only two eggs and four nests were ever described.The only known Huia egg to still exist is in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. The breeding season for mating, building nests, laying eggs and raising young is thought to have been late spring (October–November). It is thought they nested solitarily; pairs are said to have been territorial and the birds would remain on their territories for life.Huia appear to have raised just one brood per season;the number of eggs in a clutch is variously described as being 3–5,4,2–4 and 1–4. These eggs were greyish with purple and brown speckles, and measured 45 by 30 mm (1.8 by 1.5 in). Incubation was mostly by the female, though there is evidence that the male also had a small role, as rubbed-bare brooding patches that were smaller than those of females were discovered on some males in November. The incubation period is unknown. Eggshells were apparently removed from the nest by adults. The brood size was usually one or two, though there was the odd record of up to three chicks in a single nest. Nests were constructed in varying places: in dead trees, the crooks of large branches, tree hollows, on branches, or "on or near the ground", and some nests were covered with hanging vegetation or vines. The nest itself was a large saucer-shaped structure, up to 350 mm in diameter and 70 mm deep, with thick walls of dry grass, leaves and "withered stems of herbaceous plants".A central small, shallow cup of soft materials such as grass and fine twigs cushioned and insulated the eggs. After hatching, young remained in the family group and were fed by the adults for three months, by which time they appeared adult.


Relationship with humans

In culture

Old painting of a Māori man wearing a birdskin ornament from one ear
Tukukino, a Māori chief from the Hauraki District, wearing apōhoi ornament made from a Huia skin (part of a painting c. 1880)
In Māori culture, the "white heron and the Huia were not normally eaten but were rare birds treasured for their precious plumes, worn by people of high rank". The bold and inquisitive nature of the Huia made it particularly easy to capture. Māori attracted the Huia by imitating its call and then captured it with a tari (a carved pole with a noose at the end) or snare, or killed it with clubs or long spears. Often they exploited the strong pair bond by capturing one of a pair, which would then call out, attracting its mate, which could be easily captured.Opinion on the quality of Huia meat as food varied wildly; although not usually hunted for this purpose, the Huia was considered "good eating" in pies or curried stew by some,but a "tough morsel" and "unfit to eat" by others.
Although the Huia's range was restricted to the southern North Island, its tail feathers were valued highly and were exchanged among tribes for other valuable goods such as pounamu and shark teeth, or given as tokens of friendship and respect. Through this trade, the feathers reached the far north and the far south of New Zealand. They were stored in intricately carved boxes called waka huia, which were hung from the ceilings of chiefs' houses.Huia feathers were worn at funerals and used to decorate the heads of the deceased. The marereko, described by Edward Robert Tregear as an "ancient war-plume", consisted of twelve Huia feathers. The highly valued pōhoi was an ornament made from the skin of the Huia: the bird was skinned with the beak, skull and wattles attached and the legs and wings removed, carefully dried, and the resulting ornament worn from the neck or ears.Dried Huia heads were also worn as pendants called ngutu huia. A captured Huia would be kept in a small cage so that its tail feathers could be plucked as they grew to full size.
The bird was also kept by Māori as a pet, and like the tui, it could be trained to say a few words.There is also a record of a tame Huia kept by European settlers in a small village in the Forty-Mile Bush in the 19th century.
Orange-coloured postage stamp with a central picture of two birds
A pair of Huia are pictured on New Zealand's 1898 threepenny stamp.
New Zealand has released several postage stamps portraying the Huia, and the New Zealand sixpence circulated from 1933 to 1966 featured a female Huia on the reverse.
The degree to which the Huia was known and admired in New Zealand is reflected in the large number of suburban and geographical features which are named after the species. There are several roads and streets named after the Huia in the North Island, with several in Wellington (including Huia Road in Days Bay – not far from where one of the last sightings of this species occurred in the early 1920s in the forests of East Harbour Regional Park) and also in Auckland, where there is even a Huia suburb in Waitakere. A river on the west coast of the South Island and the Huiarau Ranges in the central North Island are also named after the bird. The species was once found living in great abundance in the forests of these mountains: Huiarau means "a hundred Huia". Businesses include the public swimming pool in Lower Hutt, a Marlborough winery, and Huia Publishers, which specialises in Māori writing and perspectives. The name was first given to a child in the late 19th century, to the son of members of a lower North Island iwi concerned about the bird's rapid decline, and although uncommon, it is still used today in New Zealand as a name for girls and more rarely for boys (e.g. Huia Edmonds), of both European and Māori descent.
Tail feathers of the extinct Huia are very rare and they have become a collectors' item. In June 2010 a single Huia tail feather sold at auction in Auckland for NZ$8,000, much higher than the $500 the auctioneers had expected, making it the most expensive feather ever. The previous record price for a single feather was $US2,800 (NZ$4,000) achieved by a bald eagle feather at auction in the United States.

Extinction

The Huia was found throughout the North Island before humans arrived in New Zealand. The Māori arrived around 800 years ago, and by the arrival of European settlers in the 1840s, habitat destruction and hunting had reduced the bird's range to the southern North Island.However, Māori hunting pressures on the Huia were limited to some extent by traditional protocols. The hunting season was from May to July when the bird's plumage was in prime condition, while a rāhui (hunting ban) was enforced in spring and summer. It was not until European settlement that the Huia's numbers began to decline severely, due mainly to two well-documented factors: widespread deforestation and overhunting.
Two stuffed birds on a wooden stand
Mounted pair in Birmingham, England. Commercial hunting may have contributed to the extinction of the Huia
Like the extinctions of other New Zealand birds such as the piopio in the 19th century, the decline of the Huia was poorly studied. Massive deforestation occurred in the North Island at this time, particularly in the lowlands of southern Hawkes Bay, the Manawatu and the Wairarapa, as land was cleared by European settlers for agriculture. The Huia was particularly vulnerable to this as it could only live in old-growth forest where there were abundant rotting trees filled with wood-boring insect larvae. It seems it could not survive in regenerating, secondary forests. Although the mountainous part of its former range was not deforested, the lowland forests of the valleys below were systematically destroyed.The destruction of this part of its habitat would have undoubtedly had a severe impact on Huia populations, but its removal would have been particularly dire if they did in fact descend to the lowlands as a winter refuge to escape snow at higher altitudes as some researchers including Oliver have surmised.
It appears that predation by invasive mammalian species including ship rats, cats, and mustelids was an additional factor in the decline in Huia numbers – introduction of these animals by New Zealand Acclimatisation Societies peaked in the 1880s and coincided with a particularly sharp decline in Huia populations. Because it spent a lot of time on the ground, the Huia would have been particularly vulnerable to mammalian predators. Another hypothetical cause of extinction is exotic parasites and disease introduced from Asia with the common myna.
Habitat destruction and the predations of introduced species were problems faced by all New Zealand birds, but in addition the Huia faced massive pressure from hunting. Due to its pronounced sexual dimorphism and its beauty, Huia were sought after as mounted specimens by wealthy collectors in Europe and by museums all over the world. These individuals and institutions were willing to pay large sums of money for good specimens, and the overseas demand created a strong financial incentive for hunters in New Zealand. This hunting was initially by naturalists. Austrian taxidermist Andreas Reischek took 212 pairs as specimens for the natural history museum in Vienna over a period of 10 years,while New Zealand ornithologist Walter Buller collected 18 on just one of several expeditions to the Rimutaka Ranges in 1883.Others keen to profit soon joined in. Buller records that also in 1883, a party of 11 Māori obtained 646 Huia skins from the forest between the Manawatu Gorge and Akitio. Several thousand Huia were exported overseas as part of this trade. Infrastructure development within lowland forest did not help the situation: hundreds of Huia were shot around road and rail construction camps.
While we were looking at and admiring this little picture of bird-life, a pair of Huia, without uttering a sound, appeared in a tree overhead, and as they were caressing each other with their beautiful bills, a charge of No. 6 brought them both to the ground together. The incident was rather touching and I felt almost glad that the shot was not mine, although by no means loth to appropriate 2 fine specimens.
Sir Walter Buller, New Zealand's well-known 19th-century ornithologist, encapsulating what one source describes as the "ambiguous" 19th-century attitudes towards the declining New Zealand avifauna.
Man wearing traditional Māori cloak with two feathers in his hair
Māori man from the Hauraki district wearing Huia tail feathers in his hair (photo prior to 1886)
The rampant and unsustainable hunting was not just financially motivated: it also had a more philosophical, fatalistic aspect. The conventional wisdom among New Zealand Europeans in the 19th century was that things colonial, whether they were plants, animals or people, were inferior to things European. It was widely assumed that the plants and animals of New Zealand's forest ecosystems would be quickly replaced by more vigorous and competitive European species. This assumption of inevitable doom led to a conclusion that the conservation of native biota was pointless and futile; Victorian collectors instead focused their efforts on acquiring a good range of specimens before the rare species disappeared altogether.
There were some attempts to conserve the Huia, but they were few, poorly organised and poorly enforced legally: the conservation movement in New Zealand was still very much in its infancy. There were successive sharp declines in numbers of Huia in the 1860s and in the late 1880s, prompting the chiefs of the Manawatu and the Wairarapa to place a rāhui on the Tararua Range.In February 1892, the Wild Birds Protection Act was amended to include the Huia, making it illegal to kill the bird, but enforcement was not taken seriously.Island sanctuaries were set up for endangered native birds after this Act, but the new bird sanctuaries, including Kapiti Island, Little Barrier Island and Resolution Island, were never stocked with Huia. Although attempts were made to capture birds for transfer, no Huia were ever transferred.The Kapiti Island attempt is documented as being particularly poorly managed. A live pair destined to be transferred to the island in 1893 was instead appropriated by Buller, who bent the law to take them back to England as a present for Lord Rothschild, along with the last collected live pair of laughing owls.
The Duke and Duchess of York, later King George V and Queen Mary, visited New Zealand in 1901. At an official Māori welcome in Rotorua, a guide took a Huia tail feather from her hair and placed it in the band of the Duke's hat as a token of respect. Many people in England and New Zealand wanted to emulate this royal fashion and wear Huia feathers in their hats. The price of tail feathers was soon pushed to £1, making each bird worth £12, and some feathers sold for as much as £5. Female Huia beaks were also set in gold as jewellery. Shooting season notices ceased listing the Huia as a protected species in 1901,and a last-ditch attempt to reinforce government protection failed when the Solicitor General ruled that there was no law to protect feathers.
Dense forest with a waterfall
Mokau Falls in the Ureweras is close to the location of the last credible Huia sightings.
The decline of the Huia over the southern half of the North Island occurred at markedly different rates in different locations. Areas where dramatic declines were observed in the 1880s included the Puketoi Range, the Hutt Valley and Tararuas, and the Pahiatua-Dannevirke area. The species was abundant in a few places in the early 20th century between Hawke's Bay and the Wairarapa; a flock of 100–150 birds was reported at the summit of the Akatarawa-Waikane track in 1905; they were still "fairly plentiful" in the upper reaches of the Rangitikei River in 1906– and yet, the last confirmed sighting came just one year later.
The last official, confirmed Huia sighting was made on 28 December 1907 when W. W. Smith saw three birds in the forests of the Tararua Ranges.Unconfirmed, "quite credible" reports suggest that extinction for the species came a little later. A man familiar with the species reported seeing three Huia in Gollans Valley behind York Bay (between Petone and Eastbourne on Wellington Harbour), an area of mixed beech and podocarp forest well within the bird's former range, on 28 December 1922.Sightings of the Huia were also reported here in 1912 and 1913. Despite this, naturalists from the Dominion Museum in Wellington did not investigate the reports. The last credible reports of Huia come from the forests of Te Urewera National Park, with one from near Mt Urutawa in 1952 and final sightings near Lake Waikareiti in 1961 and 1963. The possibility of a small Huia population still surviving in the Urewera ranges has been proposed by some researchers, but is considered highly unlikely. No recent expeditions have been mounted to find a living specimen.
Students at Hastings Boys' High School organised a conference in 1999 to consider cloning the Huia, their school emblem. The tribe Ngāti Huia agreed in principle to support the endeavour, which would be carried out at the University of Otago, and a California-based internet start-up volunteered $100,000 of funding. However, Sandy Bartle, curator of birds at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, said that the complete Huia genome could not be derived from museum skins because of the poor state of the DNA, and cloning was therefore unlikely to succeed.