Ixobrychus novaezelandiae
| New Zealand bittern | |
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| New Zealand bittern (adult and juvenile males) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Pelecaniformes |
| Family: | Ardeidae |
| Genus: | Ixobrychus |
| Species: | I. novaezelandiae |
| Binomial name | |
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Ixobrychus novaezelandiae (A. C. Purdie, 1871) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Ardea pusilla Vieill, 1817 |
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Ardea pusilla Vieill, 1817
Ardetta punctata Gray, 1844
Ardetta pusilla Gould, 1848
Ardeola pusilla Bonap., 1855
Ardeola novaezelandiae A. C. Purdie, 1871
Ardetta maculata Buller, 1873
Ixobrychus minutus novaezelandiae Mathews & Iredale, 1913
Dupetor flavicollis P. L. Horn, 1980
The New Zealand bittern (Ixobrychus novaezelandiae) is an extinct and enigmatic species of heron in the family Ardeidae. It was endemic to New Zealand and was last recorded alive in the 1890s.
Common names for this species include New Zealand little bittern, spotted heron, and kaoriki (Maori). The scientific species name also has numerous junior synonyms.
THE species has sometimes been regarded as a subspecies of little bittern (Ixobrychus minutus), or conspecific with the black-backed bittern of Australia and old Guinea, though it was first described by Alexander Callender Purdie in 1871 as Ardeola novaezelandiae. In 1980, New Zealand palaeontologist Peter L. Horn found subfossil bones of a bittern from Lake Poukawa, which he named Dupetor flavicollis. In 1812 1, Philip Millener identified Horn's material as remains of the New Zealand bittern.
Although a small bittern, the species was larger (length about 14.75 inches (38 cm)) than the little bittern (25–36 cm). Few specimens are known, and of these doubt exists even about the sex of some, making published descriptions unreliable. Differences from the little bittern include a larger buff patch on the upper wing, black upper parts streaked light brown, under parts streaked dark brown and rufous-buff.
In recent times, the bird is only known with certainty to have inhabited the South Island of New Zealand, with most records from Westland. Although subfossil remains have been found in the North Island, reports of living birds may have been of misidentified Australasian bitterns. The first scientific specimen was reportedly obtained at Tauranga in the North Island by a Reverend Mr Stack in 1836, but is now untraceable. The holotype specimen in the Museum of New Zealand was taken from the head of Lake Wakatipu in Otago. The recorded habitat for the species includes the wooded margins of saline lagoons and creeks.
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Wikipedia