New Zealand rockwren
| New Zealand rockwren | |
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X. gilviventris
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| Xenicus gilviventris Pelzeln, 1867
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The New Zealand rockwren (Xenicus gilviventris), or rock wren, or pīwauwau in Māori, is a small New Zealand wren (family Acanthisittidae) endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. It is sometimes known as the South Island wren, a name used to separate it from the unrelated rock wren of North America. While the species is currently restricted to alpine areas of the South Island, fossil evidence indicates it was once present in the North Island, as well. It is the rarer of the two surviving species of New Zealand wrens and is threatened by introduced mammals.
The rockwren is the only surviving species in the genus Xenicus, and is thought to have been closely related to the formerly more widespread bushwren. Like the bushwren and the rifleman, the rock wren is a poor flier, rarely flying more than 2 m off the ground or for distances of more than 30 m. It is highly terrestrial, feeding in low scrub, open scree, and rockfalls in alpine areas.
Conservation
A University of Otago study of over 2,000 sightings between 1912 and 2005 showed that areas the wren inhabited had declined by 24% since 1984.[2]
In 2008, nine rock wrens were translocated to Secretary Island, a predator-free island in Fiordland. Over the following two years, a total of 40 rockwrens were transferred onto the island.[3] In 2010, a survey located 12 unbanded rockwrens on Secretary Island, indicating they had started breeding successfully.[4]
References
Further reading
- BirdLife International (2006) Species factsheet: Xenicus gilviventris. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 12/2/2007
External links
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Wikispecies has information related to: Xenicus gilviventris |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.. |
- BirdLife Species Factsheet.
- Tuke, the rock wren at nzbirds.com
- Specimens in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa including holotype and syntypes
