Colin Miskelly

Colin Miskelly
Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa

Doctor of Philosophy

About

205
Publications
52,577
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
3,204
Citations
Additional affiliations
February 1991 - May 2010
New Zealand Department of Conservation
Position
  • Conservancy Advisory Scientist, Technical Support Manager, Conservation Analyst

Publications

Publications (205)
Article
Full-text available
Buller's albatross Thalassarche bulleri is generally considered to comprise two subspecies: T. b. bulleri, which breeds on islands south of the South Island, New Zealand; and T. b. platei, which nests on the Three Kings Islands, off the northern tip of of the North Island, and on outlying islets of the Chatham Islands east of New Zealand. Although...
Article
The ability of viruses to emerge in new species is influenced by aspects of host biology and ecology, with some taxa harbouring a high diversity and abundance of viruses. However, how these factors shape virus diversity at the ecosystem scale is often unclear. To better understand the pattern and determinants of viral diversity within an ecosystem,...
Article
Full-text available
Since the publication of the fifth edition of the Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand in 2022, 3 new vagrant species (2 terns and a storm petrel) have been accepted as occurring in New Zealand as at 31 December 2023, and 11 species that became extinct more than c. 1 million years ago have been described. These comprised 3 waterfowl, 1 owlet-night...
Technical Report
Full-text available
The New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) provides a tool for assessing the extinction risk for taxa based on the estimated sizes of and forecasted changes to their populations. This revision of the 2008 system includes removal of the conservation status At Risk – Relict; the modification of At Risk – Naturally Uncommon to include all ta...
Article
Full-text available
Small songbird preying on lizard
Article
Full-text available
Gadfly petrels Pterodroma spp. are among the most threatened bird taxa. Conservation interventions have been successfully developed and applied for some gadfly petrel species, but a substantial gap remains in conservation science for this group in the tropical Pacific Ocean. The Vanuatu Petrel Pterodroma [cervicalis] occulta is an ideal exemplar to...
Article
Full-text available
Prions ( Pachyptila ) are small seabirds with a Southern Hemisphere breeding distribution. Antarctic prion ( Pachyptila desolata ) and Salvin’s prion ( P. salvini ) are two species that are regularly recorded in New Zealand as beach-wrecks but they are difficult to distinguish morphologically. Salvin’s prion is restricted to breeding on the Prince...
Article
Full-text available
Buller's albatross Thalassarche bulleri is generally considered to comprise two subspecies: T. b. bulleri, which breeds on islands south of the South Island, New Zealand; and T. b. platei, which nests on the Three Kings Islands, off the northern tip of of the North Island, and on outlying islets of the Chatham Islands east of New Zealand. Although...
Article
Full-text available
We here report the first known record of a Chatham Island snipe (C. pusilla) on the main Chatham Island (Rēkohu / Wharekauri), other than the presence of subfossil bones there. This recent record likely resulted from a bird flying across Pitt Strait, with a minimum water-crossing distance of 23.5 km
Article
Full-text available
Rifleman (tītitipounamu, Acanthisitta chloris) is one of two surviving species in the family Acanthisittidae (New Zealand wrens), and is considered to be almost entirely insectivorous. The few observations of food items other than invertebrates consumed by riflemen include birds in South Westland feeding on fruit of Raukaua edgerleyi (raukawa) and...
Article
Full-text available
Virus transmission between host species underpins disease emergence. Both host phylogenetic relatedness and aspects of their ecology, such as species interactions and predator–prey relationships, may govern rates and patterns of cross-species virus transmission and hence zoonotic risk. To address the impact of host phylogeny and ecology on virus di...
Article
Full-text available
We report Records Appraisal Committee (RAC) decisions regarding Unusual Bird Reports received between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2022. Among the 160 submissions accepted by the RAC were the first New Zealand records of black tern (Chlidonias niger), black-naped tern (Sterna sumatrana), and Matsudaira's storm petrel (Hydrobates matsudairae). We...
Article
The global loss of biodiversity has inspired actions to restore nature across the planet. Translocation and social attraction actions deliberately move or lure a target species to a restoration site to reintroduce or augment populations and enhance biodiversity and ecosystem resilience. Given limited conservation funding and rapidly accelerating ex...
Article
Full-text available
Additional paired images of Mana Island landscapes (June 1972 & June 2022).
Article
Full-text available
Ecological surveys of Mana Island, Wellington, in 1972 and 1975 confirmed that house mice ( Mus musculus ) were the only pest mammals present, and resulted in nationally significant populations of Cook Strait giant weta ( Deinacrida rugosa ) and of two threatened lizard species being confirmed or discovered. Photographs taken in June 1972 were re-t...
Article
Full-text available
The longest-lived individual was a male that was translocated as a chick from North Brother Island on 27 November 1998, and which fledged from Mana Island on the night of 16 December 1998. He was last recorded at the colony on 21 October 2020 (at 22 years old), when his final breeding attempt failed at the egg stage.
Chapter
Seabirds face many threats, both on land and at sea. The pelagic distributions and extensive migrations of many species expose them to complex threats and also to numerous (and in some cases limited) jurisdictions. Ensuring the survival of seabirds, or achieving population recoveries of endangered species, may require management actions and policy...
Article
Full-text available
House mice (Mus musculus) have proven to be the most difficult introduced mammal to eradicate from (and keep out of) New Zealand reserves and sanctuaries. Partly as a consequence of this, little is known about how bird communities respond to mouse eradication. Mice were successfully eradicated from 217 ha Mana Island Scientific Reserve, near Wellin...
Article
Full-text available
Before 2021, there had been only two reports of Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) reaching New Zealand shores (Kennington 1963; Cossee & Mills 1993). We here report three additional records from late 2021, bringing the total number of New Zealand records of Adelie penguins to five.
Preprint
Full-text available
Viral transmission between host species underpins disease emergence. Both host phylogenetic relatedness and aspects of their ecology, such as species interactions and predator-prey relationships, may govern cross-species virus transmission and zoonotic risk, although their relative impact is unknown. By characterising the virome of a relatively iso...
Article
Full-text available
Prions are small petrels that are abundant around the Southern Ocean. Here we use mitochondrial DNA (COI and cytochrome b) and nuclear reduced representation sequencing (ddRADseq) to examine the relationships within and between fairy (Pachyptila turtur) and fulmar (P. crassirostris) prions from across their distributions. We found that neither spec...
Article
Full-text available
Niche theory predicts that to reduce competition for the same resource, sympatric ecologically similar species should exploit divergent niches and segregate in one or more dimensions. Seasonal variations in environmental conditions and energy requirements can influence the mechanisms and the degree of niche segregation. However, studies have overlo...
Book
Full-text available
The fifth edition (2022) of the Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand no longer includes birds from Norfolk Island, Macquarie Island, or the Ross Dependency, Antarctica, unless those species also occur in or have reached New Zealand. Since the publication of the 2010 Checklist of the Birds New Zealand, one previously unknown living taxon (a snipe)...
Article
Seabirds are central place foragers, relying on prey that is patchily distributed and of variable predictability. Species travelling at a high energetic cost are more strongly dependent on spatially predictable prey. This is the case for diving petrels Pelecanoides spp., which are small Procellariiformes that feed by pursuit diving and travel by fl...
Article
Full-text available
New Zealand falcons (Falco novaeseelandiae) routinely feed on burrow-nesting seabirds (petrels: Procellariiformes) at several sites. As petrels are rarely present on the colony surface during daylight, and falcons are considered to be diurnal hunters, there has been much speculation about how falcons are able to capture petrels. We present evidence...
Article
Full-text available
The New Zealand huia (Heteralocha acutirostris) had the most extreme bill sexual dimorphism among modern birds. Given the quick extinction of the species, the cause of the dimorphism could only be hypothesised to reflect different trophic niches and reduce male/female competition. We tested that hypothesis by combining museum specimens, geometric m...
Article
Full-text available
Interspecific introgression can occur between species that evolve rapidly within an adaptive radiation. Pachyptila petrels differ in bill size and are characterised by incomplete reproductive isolation, leading to interspecific gene flow. Salvin’s prion ( Pachyptila salvini ), whose bill width is intermediate between broad-billed ( P. vittata ) and...
Article
Full-text available
Understanding the movements of animals that spend much of their life at sea is difficult but important for effective conservation. Determining the at-sea distributions of Macaroni (Eudyptes chrysolophus) and Royal (Eudyptes schlegeli) Penguins poses particular challenges, including their occurrence in remote locations and difficulties in species id...
Article
Full-text available
We report Records Appraisal Committee (RAC) decisions regarding Unusual Bird Reports received between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2020. Among the 149 submissions accepted by the RAC were the first New Zealand records of collared petrel (Pterodroma brevipes), South Polar skua (Catharacta maccormicki), and rose-crowned fruit dove (Ptilinopus regin...
Preprint
Full-text available
Niche theory predicts that to reduce competition for the same resource, sympatric ecologically similar species should exploit divergent niches and segregate in one or more dimensions. Seasonal variations in environmental conditions and energy requirements can influence the mechanisms and the degree of niche segregation. However, studies have overlo...
Article
Full-text available
Thirty breeding colonies of three petrel species were found on 23 of 41 islands and one of three headlands surveyed between Milford Sound/Piopiotahi and Dagg Sound/Te Rā in Fiordland National Park, New Zealand, in November 2020. Sooty shearwater (Ardenna grisea) was the most widespread and abundant species, with an estimated 7,300 burrows on 20 isl...
Article
Diving petrels (genus Pelecanoides) are a group of small Southern Ocean seabirds whose taxonomy has remained problematic due to a lack of morphological diversity between species and limited availability of genetic data. Here we examine the phylogenetic relationships of the Pelecanoides diving petrels with analyses of the mitochondrial cytochrome b...
Article
Full-text available
Recent advances in the control of mammalian predators have begun to reveal interspecific competition as a key driver in the structure of New Zealand forest bird communities once predation pressure is reduced. We present evidence that, when at high densities, South Island robins (Petroica australis) may be responsible for declines in a suite of smal...
Article
Full-text available
The non-breeding period plays a major role in seabird survival and population dynamics. However, our understanding of the migratory behaviour, moulting and feeding strategies of non-breeding seabirds is still very limited, especially for small-sized species. The present study investigated the post-breeding behaviour of three distant populations (Ke...
Article
Full-text available
Twenty-four breeding colonies of three petrel species were found on 18 of 26 islands surveyed in Breaksea Sound/Te Puaitaha, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand, in November 2017 and December 2019. All vegetated islands within Breaksea Sound were surveyed, along with 20 islands in Dusky Sound/Tamatea that were not included in an initial survey in...
Article
Full-text available
Long-term studies are essential to determine demographic parameters and population trends in seabirds. However, studies to date have focused mainly on the larger and accessible species. While small seabirds (< 200 g) play a major role in marine ecosystems, their nesting habitat, which is typically fragile convoluted burrows, largely preclude long-t...
Article
The Auckland Islands comprise the largest and most researched island group in the New Zealand subantarctic region, and have the largest number of endemic bird taxa. Paradoxically, they are the only one of the five island groups that has not yet been the subject of a comprehensive avifaunal review. We summarise the history of ornithological explorat...
Data
Auckland Islands bird and land mammal records used in six chapters/research papers in the book 'Lost Gold - ornithology of the subantarctic Auckland Islands' (special issue of the journal Notornis, volume 67 (part 1), March 2020.
Article
Full-text available
The Auckland Islands are the largest island group in the New Zealand subantarctic region, and have the most diverse avifauna, including eight endemic taxa. We present the first comprehensive review of the avifauna of the Auckland Islands, based on a database of 23,028 unique bird records made between 1807 and 2019. At least 45 species breed (or bre...
Article
Full-text available
Since the European discovery of the Auckland Islands, at least ten species of land mammals have been introduced there. Most arrived in the first half of the ninteenth century during periods of exploitation by sealers and whalers, followed by short-lived Māori and European settlements at Port Ross. Several species required multiple introductions bef...
Article
Adams Island (9,693 ha) is the second-largest island in the Auckland Islands group, and the largest island in New Zealand on which introduced mammals have never become established. Adams Island is forested on the northern sheltered parts of its coastline, and has shrubland, grassland, and fellfield at higher altitudes, and herb-field in fertile ope...
Article
Full-text available
Auckland Island snipe (Coenocorypha aucklandica aucklandica) are presumed to have occurred throughout the Auckland Island archipelago but became restricted to a subset of the islands following mammal introductions. Snipe were known to have survived on Adams Island, Ewing Island, and Disappointment Island. However, it is uncertain whether snipe were...
Article
Enderby Island is a much-visited small island in the New Zealand subantarctic, and is an important area for birdlife. However, despite this, the bird community of Enderby Island has never been systematically described. We summarise bird records on Enderby Island from 1840 to 2018. Using these data we describe the bird community with an emphasis on...
Article
Climate shifts are key drivers of ecosystem change. Despite the critical importance of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean for global climate, the extent of climate-driven ecological change in this region remains controversial. In particular, the biological effects of changing sea ice conditions are poorly understood. We hypothesize that rapid postgl...
Article
Full-text available
We report Records Appraisal Committee (RAC) decisions regarding Unusual Bird Reports received between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2018. Among the 160 submissions accepted by the RAC were the first New Zealand records of Macquarie Island shag (Leucocarbo purpurascens) and Cox's sandpiper (Calidris x paramelanotus), and the first accepted at-sea s...
Article
Full-text available
Callaeidae (wattlebirds) and Notiomystidae (stitchbirds) are New Zealand-endemic sister-taxa; while widespread before human settlement, they subsequently became critically endangered or extinct. Aside from presently managed populations, information about them is scarce and actual specimens even scarcer. Herein, we provide a snapshot of these famili...
Article
Full-text available
New Zealand is a global centre of diversity for gadfly petrels (family Procellariidae, genus Pterodroma). The 11 extant breeding species include six endemic species (grey-faced petrel Pt. gouldi, Chatham Island täiko/Magenta petrel Pt. magentae, mottled petrel Pt. inexpectata, Chatham petrel Pt. axillaris, Cook's petrel Pt. cookii and Pycroft's pet...
Article
Full-text available
Determining the effects of oil spills on wildlife can be difficult. The collection and publication of data on wildlife impacts and mortalities from oil spills are vital steps to help understand overall effects. However, the way wildlife are collected and processed affects the results and how information can be used. Information for threatened and e...
Article
Full-text available
Forty breeding colonies of three petrel species were found on 35 of 71 islands surveyed in southern Fiordland, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand, in November and December 2017. Almost all islands in Chalky Inlet, Preservation Inlet, Cunaris Sound, Long Sound, and Isthmus Sound were surveyed. Sooty shearwater (Ardenna grisea) was the most widespr...
Article
Breeding in most species is timed to coincide with the greatest availability of food resources to support the increased energetic needs of reproduction. Correspondingly, the majority (76%) of seabird species in temperate and polar regions breed in spring/summer, matching the peak in ocean productivity. The Fiordland penguin Eudyptes pachyrhynchus i...
Article
Full-text available
Avian diversification has been influenced by global climate change, plate tectonic movements, and mass extinction events. However, the impact of these factors on the diversification of the hyperdiverse perching birds (passerines) is unclear because family level relationships are unresolved and the timing of splitting events among lineages is uncert...
Article
Human impacts have substantially reduced avian biodiversity in many parts of the world, particularly on isolated islands of the Pacific Ocean. The New Zealand archipelago, including its five subantarctic island groups, holds breeding grounds for a third of the world's penguin species, including several representatives of the diverse crested penguin...
Poster
Full-text available
In New Zealand (NZ), the flax weevil, Anagotus fairburni, was introduced to Mana Island in 2004 and 2006 from nearby Maud Island as part of a environmental restoration project. The weevil is considered ‘at risk’ and is protected under the NZ Wildlife Act. The adult and larval weevils eat both leaves and roots, respectively, of harakeke (Phormium te...
Article
Full-text available
ABSTRACT: The flax weevil Anagotus fairburni (Brookes, 1932) and knobbled weevil Hadramphus stilbocarpae Kuschel, 1971 were among the first New Zealand insects to be granted legal protection. Both are large flightless species with narrow host–plant requirements. Their disjunct distributions are probably the result of predation by introduced rodents...
Article
Full-text available
Unresolved taxonomy of threatened species is problematic for conservation as the field relies on species being distinct taxonomic units. Differences in breeding habitat and results from a preliminary molecular analysis indicated that the New Zealand population of the South Georgian Diving Petrel (Pelecanoides georgicus) was a distinct, yet undescri...
Data
Abstract in the Māori language/Te Reo Māori. (PDF)
Data
Video illustrating the exact biometric measuring techniques employed in this study. Accessible through https://youtu.be/gyJnRYW0NKY. (MP4)
Data
Lateral view of the holotype of P. whenuahouensis (NMNZ OR.21058) (Johannes H. Fischer). (TIF)
Article
Full-text available
Zealandia (Karori Sanctuary) is a forest sanctuary which is surrounded by a predator-exclusion fence, and is situated in the Wellington city town belt, New Zealand. Following eradication of introduced mammals from within the fence in 1999, 10 species of endemic forest birds were reintroduced between 2000 and 2011, and 2 other species recolonised na...
Article
Full-text available
The establishment of the New Zealand Institute in 1867 was instrumental in New Zealand ornithology changing from a discipline undertaken by museum curators in Europe, to field-based observations carried out by New Zealand residents. Publication of the Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute (TPNZI) from 1869 provided the first rea...
Presentation
Full-text available
Procellariiforms (e.g petrels, shearwaters, albatross…) are among the most studied seabirds for long-term demographic surveys, as they are long-lived organisms with strong site fidelity. However, because most petrels species nest in burrows, capture-mark-recapture and breeding success studies remain partly precluded by the limited accessibility of...