Long-tailed Duck

Scientific Name: Clangula hyemalis

Range / Habitat: Breeds in ponds, streams, and other wetlands in the circumpolar Arctic. Winters on open ocean or on large freshwater lakes in northern latitudes.

Field Notes: Medium-sized diving duck. Mostly black-and-white plumage, varying throughout year in a series of complicated moults. Black wings in all plumages. Male has long central tail feathers and often a pink band near tip of black bill.

Personal Notes: Seen on Lake Myvatn in Iceland. Colloquially known as Oldsquaw.

Kea

Scientific Name: Nestor Notabilis

Population Estimate: 5000

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand's South Island, kea are found from Nelson to Fiordland and in Marlborough.

Field Notes: These birds are predominantly olive-green in colour, with darker edges. The lower back and tail are reddish, whilst the underwings are orange with yellow markings. The dark, recurved upper bill is significantly larger in males than females

Personal Notes: A welcome sight at the top of Avalanche Peak. It also marked our 100th bird blog entry of 2012!

Wrybill

Scientific Name: Anarhynchus frontalis

Population Estimate: 4.5K - 5K, Vulnerable status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand, where it breeds in the braided river beds of Canterbury and Otago. Then migrates to estuaries of of the North Island, especially Firth of Thames, Manukau and Kaipara.

Field Notes: Small, stocky, pale very wader with short neck and black bill with tip curved to the right. Breeding adults with black neck band. Underparts white, legs grey.

Personal Notes: Seen at Miranda Shorebird Center, outside Auckland.

Southern Royal Albatross

Scientific Name: Diomedea epomophora

Population Estimate: 29K, Vulnerable status

Range / Habitat: Pelagic species which breeds on Campbell and Auckland Islands of New Zealand. Widespread in the southern Pacific Ocean when not breeding.

Field Notes: Huge seabird with long narrow wings. All white head and body, flesh-coloured bill with black edge to upper mandible. Wings generally black on top with some white extending from the body onto the leading edge. Wings white underneath with black wingtips. Distinguished from mollymawks by size and all white body. Northern Royal Albatross has no extension of white from body onto upper wings. Some plumages of Wandering Albatross may be similar but lack black line to mandible.

Personal Notes: Maora name Toroa. Seen in Foveaux Strait off Stewart Island. Considered one species with Northern Royal Albatross until recently.

Salvin's Albatross

Scientific Name: Thalassarche salvini

Population Estimate: 62K, Vulnerable status

Range / Habitat: Pelagic bird that breeds in the Snares Islands and Bounty Island of New Zealand as well as the Crozet Islands in the Indian Ocean. When not breeding, widespread throughout the southern Pacific Ocean.

Field Notes: Small albatross with light grey head and neck. Bill grey with faint yellow outline. Upperwings and back dark. Underwings white with clear-cut, narrow black borders and small black triangular notch at base of the leading edge. Buller's Albatross similar but with black bill outlined in bright yellow. Shy Albatross with white cap and head.

Personal Notes: Known as Salvin's Mollymawk in New Zealand. Some sources consider this bird a subspecies of Shy Albatross. Seen in the Foveaux Strait off of Stewart Island.

Bronze Shag

Scientific Name: Leucocarbo chalconotus

Population Estimate: 5,000 - 8,000, Vulnerable status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand. Found year-round near rocky costal areas of Stewart Island and the southeastern portion of the South Island of New Zealand.

Field Notes: Large cormorant, unmistakable in range. All phases with orange base to bill. Pied phase with white stripe on shoulder, which doesn't overlap in range other, near-by, similar cormorants. Bronze phase all dark. Great Cormorant has yellow at base of bill and white on face. Little Black Cormorant has no color on face.

Personal Notes: Seen on Stewart Island.

Red-crowned Parakeet

Scientific Name: Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae

Population Estimate: 21K - 25K, Vulnerable status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand where prefers forested areas. Very rare in mainland forests, but common on Stewart Island and in sanctuaries.

Field Notes: All green parakeet with red crown, red eye, and red eye stripe. Violet blue on wing coverts. Yellow-crowned Parakeet similar but with yellow crown and without red eye stripe.

Personal Notes: Maori name Kakariki. First seen at Karori Wildlife Sanctuary and then later in the wild on Stewart Island.

New Zealand Grebe

Scientific Name: Poliocephalus rufopectus

Population Estimate: 1700 - 1800 individuals, Vulnerable status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand. Found year round in sheltered parts of inland lakes and farm ponds on the North Island.

Field Notes: Small freshwater diving bird with distinctive grebe silhouette -- low to water, rounded read end, small pointy bill. This is a dark grebe with fine silver feathers on head and body, yellow eye, rusty neck and breast. Only similar bird in the range is Australasian Grebe, a rare bird in the far north, with a yellow patch of skin between eye and bill.

Personal Notes: Seen at Lake Tutira near Napier. Known as New Zealand Dabchick in New Zealand. Maori name Weweia.

Keel-billed Motmot

Scientific Name: Electron carinatum

Population Estimate: 2.5-10K, Vulnerable status

Range / Habitat: Tropical lowland and montane moist forest in a small number of localities on the Caribbean slope of south Mexico, south Belize, Guatemala, north and central Honduras, north-central Nicaragua, and north-central Costa Rica

Field Notes: Small olive-coloured motmot, rather dull for the species except for turquoise brow and tuft below bill. As with all motmots, nests in holes in the ground.

Personal Notes: Seen at Arenal Hanging Gardens.

Lappet-faced Vulture

Scientific Name: Torgos tracheliotos

Population Estimate: 8,500, Vulnerable status

Range / Habitat: Dry savannah, arid plains, deserts and open mountain slopes in areas throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

Field Notes: Large brown bird, some white mottling underneath. Naked, red head and neck. Large bill.

Personal Notes: Seen at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Grey Crowned Crane

Scientific Name: Balearica regulorum

Population Estimate: 47-59K, Vulnerable status

Range / Habitat: Year-round in parts of eastern and southern Africa, preferring grassland adjacent to wetlands.

Field Notes: Distinctive crane, as above. Black Crowned-crane similar but neck is black, not light grey.

Personal Notes: Seen at International Crane Foundation and at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Wattled Crane

Scientific Name: Grus carunculatus

Population Estimate: 6-8K, Vulnerable status

Range / Habitat: Year-round in wetlands of southern Africa and Ethiopia.

Field Notes: Large black crane with white head and neck, black cap, and distinctive red wattle over face and bill. Unmistakable in range.

Personal Notes: Seen at the International Crane Foundation in Wisconsin.

Greater Prairie Chicken

Scientific Name: Tympanuchus cupido

Population Estimate: 460K, Vulnerable status

Range / Habitat: Year-round in open grasslands of the Dakotas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Oklahoma.

Field Notes: Unmistakable in range. Chicken-sized bird known for its mating ritual on communal leks.

Personal Notes: Despite cold, rainy, windy weather, had a great time viewing these birds on Carl Flaig's farm.

Marbled Duck

Scientific Name: Marmaronetta angustirostris

Population Estimate: 14-26K, Vulnerable

Range / Habitat: Shallow and seasonally-flooded lands in the Middle East, parts of Asia, northern Africa.

Field Notes: Medium-sized duck that dabbles, upends, and dives. Intricate marbled plumage as above, dark eye patch.

Personal Notes: Initially seen at Minnesota Zoo but later seen in the wild in Spain. Also known as Marbled Teal.

Victoria Crowned Pigeon

Scientific Name: Goura victoria

Population Estimate: 2.5-10K, Vulnerable

Range / Habitat: Lowland forest in Paupa New Guinea and Indonesia

Field Notes: Unmistakable in range.

Personal Notes: Seen at the Minnesota Zoo and Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Great Curassow

Scientific Name: Crax rubra

Range / Habitat: Fragmented distribution in lowland rainforest throughout southern Mexico, Central America, and into northern South America.

Field Notes: Large, fowl-type bird, most commonly seen on the ground. Male all black. Female black and brown. Curly crown feathers in both sexes unmistakable.

Personal Notes: As is evident from the blurry photo above, we caught a fleeting glimpse of a group of these birds while leaving Tikal in Guatemala.

Rusty Blackbird

Scientific Name: Euphagus Carolinus

Population Estimate: 200K to 2M

Range / Habitat: The rusty blackbird has the most northerly breeding range of all North American blackbirds, occurring in Alaska, Canada and the north-eastern United States. It is a migratory species, spending the winter in the south-eastern and mid-western United States.

Field Notes: Medium-sized black bird with slender bill and yellow eye. All black in breeding plumage, wings tinged rust in winter. Does not have a sheen to head as common in other black birds. Common Grackle with larger bill, longer tail, and wings tinged blue or purple. Brewer's Blackbird with blue and green iridescence. No other blackbird in range with yellow eye.During the winter, the male rusty blackbird is characterised by the rusty edges to the tertials, and by its rusty brown crown, nape and back. The rest of the upperparts are black, while the cheeks, throat, breast and sides are lighter brown or buff. The male also has a tawny-coloured stripe above the eye. The female rusty blackbird is similar to the male, but with a conspicuous paler buff line above the eye.

Personal Notes:

Stitchbird

Scientific Name: Notiomystis cincta

Population Estimate: 500 - 2K individuals, Vulnerable status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand and extinct in the wild on the mainland, this bird has been gradually reintroduced to island and mainland sanctuaries with some success. Habitat preference is native forest.

Field Notes: Small birds with decurved bill and frequently cocked tail. Male with coloration as above. Female drab brown with white wingbar. Named for characteristic sound, a high-pitched and quick "stitch."

Personal Notes: Seen on Kapiti Island and Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in Wellington. Maori name Hihi.

Weka

Scientific Name: Gallirallis australis

Population Estimate: 120K-187K, Vulnerable status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand where found in Marlborough Sounds, West Coast, Fiordland, Stewart Island, Kapiti Island. Rarely in North Island. Prefers forests, scrub and open country with good cover.

Field Notes: Large, flightless bird. Brown, streaked with black. Legs and bill short and sturdy. Buff eye stripe. Much stockier than other rails and crakes in its range.

Personal Notes: Cheeky bird, will try to steal a sandwich from your hand or poke around in your bag if you leave it unattended.