MASS BIRD DIE-OFF: "Usually Large Event" - Hundreds Of Shearwater Birds Found Dead On Beaches In Waikato, New Zealand?

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: yellow;">November 06, 2013 - NEW ZEALAND </span></b>- Nearly 200 seabirds have been found dead along Waikato's west coast beaches. <br /><br />A total of 184 short-tailed shearwater, a migratory bird that typically breeds on the islands between Tasmania and Victoria, have been washed ashore between Waikorea beach and Taharoa, south of Kawhia. <br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UdlWbpIktR0/UnsaYSIm_WI/AAAAAAABNUc/Le9tDeIW2DM/s1600/shearwaterbird.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UdlWbpIktR0/UnsaYSIm_WI/AAAAAAABNUc/Le9tDeIW2DM/s1600/shearwaterbird.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The short-tailed shearwater - Source: Wikimedia Commons</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />It is not known when the birds died and were washed ashore, but numbers are said to be "unusually large" by one expert. <br /><br />Hugh Clifford, who organised the beach patrol on behalf of the Waikato branch of the Ornithological Society, said the number of short-tailed shearwater found this year was much higher than normal. <br /><br />"There would be millions of them passing down through the Tasman Sea on the southern migration. <br /><br />"Some of them were pushed closer to New Zealand and the food conditions may have been unfavourable, causing them to perish." <br /><br />Each year during the southern hemisphere winter, the short-tailed shearwater migrate about 15,000 km to the Northern Pacific, before making their way back towards southern Australia to breed around October.<br /><br />Mr Clifford said when a large number of birds are found dead along the coast, it is called a "wreck". <br /><br />The beach patrols, which took place at Waikorea, Taharoa, Ruapuke and Kawhia, found an average of seven birds for each kilometre walked. <br /><br />The number of short-tailed shearwater found this year is the highest in more than a decade and dwarfs tallies recorded in previous years. <br /><br />In 2012, the Waikato beach patrols found only eight short-tailed shearwater among 344 dead seabirds. <br /><br />Dr Graeme Taylor, a principal science advisor at the Department of Conservation, said a wreck was usually the result of strong onshore winds and poor feeding conditions. <br /><br />"Onshore winds will drive the birds towards the coast and as a result the weakened birds will fight to try to get back towards the ocean, but lose the battle." <br /><br />The exhausted birds plunged into the sea and were then washed ashore dead. <br /><br />Dr Taylor said poor feeding conditions in the North Pacific could also play a part. <br /><br />"They don't eat anything in migration. They basically fatten up in the North Pacific before they come south." <br /><br />In 2011, 29,934 seabirds were found strewn along Waikato's coast - part of the largest wreck in more than a decade. - <a href="http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/wreck-short-tailed-shearwater-birds-found-dead-5690760"><span style="color: orange;"><b>TVNZ</b></span></a>.<br /><br /><br /></div>

Birds Dead Birds Kawhia Migration New Zealand Northern Pacific Wreck Ruapuke Seabirds Shearwater Short-tailed Shearwater Taharoa Tasman Sea Tasmania Victoria Waikato Waikorea MASS BIRD DIE-OFF: "Usually Large Event" - Hundreds Of Shearwater Birds Found Dead On Beaches In Waikato, New Zealand?

November 06, 2013 - NEW ZEALAND - Nearly 200 seabirds have been found dead along Waikato's west coast beaches. A total of 184 short-tailed shearwater, a migratory bird that typically breeds on the islands between Tasmania and Victoria, have been wash…

Read more »