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Procellaria Westlandica
The Westland petrel (''Procellaria westlandica''), (), also known as the Westland black petrel, is a moderately large seabird in the petrel family Procellariidae, that is endemic to New Zealand. Described by Robert Falla in 1946, it is a stocky bird weighing approximately , and is one of the largest of the burrowing petrels. It is a dark blackish-brown colour with black legs and feet. It has a pale yellow with a dark tip. This species spends most of its life at sea but returns to land to breed. When at sea, it ranges across areas of the Pacific and Tasman seas around the subtropical convergence and migrates east to South American waters during the non-breeding season. They feed on fish, squid and crustaceans. This species is also known to be an opportunistic feeder, scavenging fish waste discarded by hoki fishers. The only known breeding colonies of the Westland petrel are in New Zealand, in a small area of forest-covered coastal foothills between Barrytown and Punakaiki on th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Falla
Sir Robert Alexander Falla (21 July 1901 – 23 February 1979) was a New Zealand museum administrator and ornithologist. Early life Falla was born in Palmerston North in 1901 to George Falla and his wife, Elizabeth Kirk. As his father was working for the railways, the family shifted frequently, and he lived in Hāwera, Masterton Masterton () is a large town in the Wellington Region, Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand that operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa ..., and Invercargill. At his primary school in Invercargill, he developed an interest in natural history due to the influence of Alfred Philpott. Falla gained a junior national scholarship and studied at Auckland Grammar School, from where he graduated in 1918. He pursued his dream of going to sea for a few years in various jobs, but then started to follow his interest in ornithology, first through part-time ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sooty Shearwater
The sooty shearwater (''Ardenna grisea'') is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. In New Zealand, it is also known by its Māori language, Māori name , and is harvested by Māori people for muttonbirding, muttonbird, like its relatives the wedge-tailed shearwater (''A. pacificus'') and the Australian short-tailed shearwater (''A. tenuirostris''). Taxonomy The sooty shearwater was species description, formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin under the binomial name ''Procellaria grisea''. The shearwater had been briefly described in 1777 by James Cook in the account of his Second voyage of James Cook, second voyage to the Pacific, but without a valid scientific name; and also in 1785 the English ornithologist John Latham (ornithologist), John Latham had described a museum specimen, again without giving it a scientific name. The sooty shearwater is now placed in the genus ''Ardenna'', that was described in 1853 by Ludwig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiordland
Fiordland (, "The Pit of Tattooing", and also translated as "the Shadowlands"), is a non-administrative geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western third of Southland. Most of Fiordland is dominated by the steep sides of the snow-capped Southern Alps, deep lakes, and its steep, glacier-carved and now ocean-flooded western valleys. The name "Fiordland" derives from the New Zealand English spelling of the Scandinavian word for steep glacial valleys, "fjord". The geographic area of Fiordland is dominated by, and roughly coterminous with, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand's largest national park. Due to the often steep terrain and high amount of rainfall supporting dense vegetation, the interior of the Fiordland region is largely inaccessible. As a result, Fiordland was never subjected to notable logging operations, and even attempts at whaling, seal hunting, and mining were on a small scale and short-lived, p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Egmont
Cape Egmont, splitting Northern and Southern Taranaki Bights, is the westernmost point of Taranaki, on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island. It is located close to the volcanic cone of Mount Taranaki or Mount Egmont. It was named ''Kaap Pieter Boreel'' by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1642, but renamed ''Cape Egmont'' by British explorer James Cook in 1769. (Note: Tasman did not sight Mount Taranaki, due to bad visibility, but Cook did, and after naming the mountain Mount Egmont, bestowed the same name on the promontory, which became the enduring name). Ironically, the cape retained a Dutch name, as Cook named the mountain and cape after the Earl of Egmont, who claimed descent of the Dutch House of Egmond. In July 1862, Kapoaiaia near Cape Egmont was the site of a hui between 600 members of Taranaki, Ngāti Ruanui Ngāti Ruanui is a Māori people, Māori iwi traditionally based in the Taranaki Region, Taranaki region of New Zealand. In the 2006 census, 7,035 pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stuff (website)
Stuff is a New Zealand news media website owned by newspaper conglomerate Stuff Ltd (formerly called Fairfax). As of early 2024, it is the most popular news website in New Zealand, with a monthly unique audience of more than 2 million. Stuff was founded in 2000, and publishes breaking news, weather, sport, politics, video, entertainment, business and life and style content from Stuff Ltd's newspapers, which include New Zealand's second- and third-highest circulation daily newspapers, ''The Post'' and '' The Press'', and the highest circulation weekly, '' Sunday Star-Times'', as well as international news wire services. Stuff has won numerous awards at the Newspaper Publishers' Association awards including 'Best News Website or App' in 2014 and 2019, and 'Website of the Year' in 2013 and 2018, 'Best News Website in 2019', and 'Digital News Provider of the Year' in 2024 and 2025. History Independent Newspapers Ltd, 2000–2003 The former New Zealand media company Independ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forest And Bird
Forest & Bird (), also known by its formal name as the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, is an environmental organisation specialising in the protection and conservation biology, conservation of New Zealand's indigenous Flora of New Zealand, flora and Fauna of New Zealand, fauna and unique wild places and natural ecosystems. Forest & Bird consists of 47 branches located in urban and rural centres throughout New Zealand. Branches are actively engaged in conservation projects and advocacy on a community, regional and national basis. Forest & Bird has offices and staff located in Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington, Nelson, New Zealand, Nelson and Dunedin. Forest & Bird publishes a quarterly magazine ''Forest & Bird'', one of New Zealand's definitive natural history and conservation publications. Forest & Bird has published a comprehensive commentary book on environmental law in New Zealand. Forest & Bird are also actively engaged in advocating and lobbying fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paparoa National Park
Paparoa National Park is on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand. The park was established in 1987 and encompasses . The park ranges from or near the coastline to the peaks of the Paparoa Range. A separate section of the park lies to the north and is centred at Ananui Creek. The park protects a limestone karst area. The park contains several caves, of which Metro Cave / Te Ananui Cave is a commercial tourist attraction. The majority of the park is forested with a wide variety of vegetation. The park was the site of the 1995 Cave Creek disaster where fourteen people died as a result of the collapse of a scenic viewing platform. The Paparoa Track, one of New Zealand Great Walks, New Zealand's Great Walks, runs through the park. The small settlement of Punakaiki, adjacent to the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes tourist attraction, lies on the edge of the park. The park is also located near the towns of Westport, New Zealand, Westport, Greymouth and Barrytown. History Pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Westland Petrel In Flight
Westland or Westlands may refer to: Places *Westlands, Nairobi, an affluent neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi, Kenya * Westlands, Staffordshire, a suburban area and ward in Newcastle-under-Lyme *Westland, a peninsula of the Shetland Mainland near Vaila, Scotland Netherlands *Westland (municipality), Netherlands *Westland (region), Netherlands New Zealand *Westland District, a political subdivision on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island *Westland Tai Poutini National Park, a national park **Informally, the name often used for the entire West Coast region, of which the Westland District is a part **Westland (New Zealand electorate) a former parliamentary electorate in the above area **Westland Province, a province of New Zealand from 1873–76 United States * Westland, Indiana *Westland, Michigan * Westland, Oregon; see McKay Reservoir * Westland, Pennsylvania * Westland, Virginia *Westland Mall (Hialeah), a shopping mall in Hialeah, Florida *Westland Mansion, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moulting
In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is a process by which an animal casts off parts of its body to serve some beneficial purpose, either at specific times of the year, or at specific points in its life cycle. In medieval times, it was also known as "mewing" (from the French verb "muer", to moult), a term that lives on in the name of Britain's Royal Mews where the King's hawks used to be kept during moulting time before becoming horse stables after Tudor times. Moulting can involve shedding the Epidermis (skin), epidermis (skin), pelage (hair, feathers, fur, wool), or other external layer. In some groups, other body parts may be shed, for example, the entire exoskeleton in arthropods, including the wings in some insects. Examples In birds In birds, moulting is the periodic replacement of feathers by shedding old feathers while producing new ones. Feathers are dead struct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Westland Petrels • Jase Blair • MRD 2
Westland or Westlands may refer to: Places *Westlands, Nairobi, an affluent neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi, Kenya * Westlands, Staffordshire, a suburban area and ward in Newcastle-under-Lyme *Westland, a peninsula of the Shetland Mainland near Vaila, Scotland Netherlands *Westland (municipality), Netherlands * Westland (region), Netherlands New Zealand *Westland District, a political subdivision on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island *Westland Tai Poutini National Park, a national park **Informally, the name often used for the entire West Coast region, of which the Westland District is a part ** Westland (New Zealand electorate) a former parliamentary electorate in the above area **Westland Province, a province of New Zealand from 1873–76 United States * Westland, Indiana *Westland, Michigan * Westland, Oregon; see McKay Reservoir * Westland, Pennsylvania * Westland, Virginia *Westland Mall (Hialeah), a shopping mall in Hialeah, Florida *Westland Mansio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Petrel
The black petrel (''Procellaria parkinsoni''), (, or ) also called Parkinson's petrel, is a medium-sized, black-plumaged petrel, the smallest of the ''Procellaria''. The species is an endemic breeder of New Zealand, breeding only on Great Barrier Island and Little Barrier Island, off the North Island. At sea it disperses as far as Australia and Ecuador. Taxonomy The black petrel was formally described in 1862 by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in a list of birds from New Zealand. He coined the binomial name ''Procellaria parkinsoni''. The genus name is from the Latin ''procella'' meaning "storm" or "gale". The specific epithet ''parkinsoni'' was chosen to honour the artist and collector Sydney Parkinson. The species is considered to be monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. Description The plumage of the black petrel is all black, as are its legs and bill except for pale sections on the bill. It is a medium-sized petrel: males average about , females around . It ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Māori Language
Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost member of the Austronesian language family, it is related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan language, Tuamotuan, and Tahitian language, Tahitian. The Māori Language Act 1987 gave the language recognition as one of New Zealand's official languages. There are regional dialects of the Māori language. Prior to contact with Europeans, Māori lacked a written language or script. Written Māori now uses the Latin script, which was adopted and the spelling standardised by Northern Māori in collaboration with English Protestant clergy in the 19th century. In the second half of the 19th century, European children in rural areas spoke Māori with Māori children. It was common for prominent parents of these children, such as government officials, to us ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
