As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Wednesday 28 November 2018

Large colony of endangered gulls nesting on Canterbury's Ashley River



Emma Dangerfield19:39, Nov 22 2018
Critically endangered black-billed gulls on Ashley River
The arrival of the largest colony of black-billed gulls seen on North Canterbury's Ashley River in almost 20 years has prompted calls for river users to take extreme care.
Black-billed gulls are endemic to New Zealand and are the most threatened gull species in the world. The Department of Conservation estimates there are about 60,000 breeding adults left, and the population is expected to decline by up to 70 per cent over 10 years or three generations.
The new colony, located just below the State Highway 1 bridge, is likely to have grown in number because of recent weather patterns, Ashley-Rakahuri Rivercare Group member Grant Davey said.
"We normally attract one colony every year. This one would be the largest since we started bird management 18 years ago, and has probably been swelled by birds arriving from the Waimakariri River, which was swept clear of all nests by the major flood of a couple of weeks back."

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