New Zealand Plover
| New Zealand Plover | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Charadriidae |
| Genus: | Charadrius |
| Species: | C. obscurus |
| Binomial name | |
| Charadrius obscurus Gmelin, 1789 |
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The New Zealand Plover, Red-breasted Plover, or New Zealand Dotterel (Charadrius obscurus) is an endangered species found only in certain areas of New Zealand. Its Māori names include Tūturiwhatu, Pukunui, and Kūkuruatu. It is related to the Eurasian dotterel.
New Zealand Plovers are shorebirds and are usually found on sandy beaches and sandspits or feeding on tidal estuaries.
They are nearing extinction with about 1300 northern dotterels, and approximately 75 or so southern dotterels.
[edit] Breeding
Parents lay eggs in the spring and summer. They nest on beaches above the high tide mark, and the nest is just a shallow hole dug in the ground, not made of twigs like a nest in a tree. The chicks hatch about 28 days after the eggs have been laid. Because the nests are on the ground, chicks can walk the day they hatch and can usually fly within 6-8 weeks.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2006). Charadrius obscurus. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a range map and justification for why this species is endangered
[edit] External links
Media related to Charadrius obscurus at Wikimedia Commons
- BirdLife Species Factsheet.
- Department of Conservation
- J.E. Dowding; A.M. Davis (2007). "New Zealand dotterel (Charadrius obscurus) recovery plan, 2004–14. (Threatened Species Recovery Plan 58)". Department of Conservation, Wellington, New Zealand. http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents/science-and-technical/tsrp58.pdf. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
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