A Supplement to the Birds of Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands to which is added those Birds of New Zealand not figured by Buller

1928

Special Collections QL693 MD667

London: H.F. & G. Witherby

Some of my students’ researches over the last 20 years have involved the genetic analysis of the world’s cormorants and shags. Most recently, we have discovered that the Stewart Island Shag is actually two distinct species: the Otago Shag (Leucocarco chalconotus) and the Foveaux Shag (L. stewarti). They have separate geographical distributions. They also differ in facial colour patterns, especially prior to the breeding season; in the timing of breeding; in their size; and crucially in their genetics. Interestingly, both black-and-white (‘pied’) and all-dark (‘bronze’) individuals occur in both species, although the bronze form is most common in the Otago Shag. In order to formalize this split into two species, we needed to know which names had been applied in the past. Mathews’ Supplement (1936) provided the answer by illustrating the bronze and pied forms of the Otago under the names Hypoleucus chalconotus and H. huttoni.
(Chosen by Professor Hamish Spencer, Department of Zoology, Otago)