2021

NEW ZEALAND THREAT CLASSIFICATION SERIES 36

Conservation status of birds in
Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021
Hugh A. Robertson, Karen A. Baird, Graeme P. Elliott, Rodney A. Hitchmough,Nikki J. McArthur, Troy D. Makan, Colin M. Miskelly, Colin F. J. O’Donnell, Paul M. Sagar,
R. Paul Scofield, Graeme A. Taylor and Pascale MichelCover: Tara iti / New Zealand fairy tern (Sternula nereis davisae): Threatened – Nationally Critical. Photo: Darren Markin.
New Zealand Threat Classification Series is a scientific monograph series presenting publications related to the New Zealand Threat
Classification System (NZTCS). Most will be lists providing NZTCS status of members of a plant or animal group (e.g. algae, birds, spiders).
There are currently 23 groups, each assessed once every 5 years. From time to time the manual that defines the categories, criteria and process
for the NZTCS will be reviewed. Publications in this series are considered part of the formal international scientific literature.
This report is available from the departmental website in pdf form. Titles are listed in our catalogue on the website, referwww.doc.govt.nz under Publications.
© Copyright December 2021, New Zealand Department of Conservation
ISSN
ISBN

2324–1713 (web PDF)
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CONTENTS
1.

2.

3.

Background2

1.1

Assessment process2

1.2This assessment

3

Summary4

2.1

Additional taxa

4

2.2

Removed taxa

5

2.3

Changed taxon names

5

2.4

Trends		
2.4.1
Improved status
2.4.2
Worsened status
2.4.3
Data Deficient

7
10
13
15

2.5

Use of qualifiers
2.5.1
CD (Conservation Dependent)
2.5.2
CI (Climate Impact)
2.5.3
CR (Conservation Research Needed)
2.5.4
De (Designated)
2.5.5
DP (Data Poor)

15
15
16
16
16
16

Conservation status of all known birds in Aotearoa New Zealand

18

3.1

Assessments

18

3.2

NZTCS categories, criteria and qualifiers used in this assessment
3.2.1
Qualifiers
3.2.2
Categories and criteria

37
37
37

4.

Acknowledgements

40

5.

References

41

		Conservation status of birds in
Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021
		Hugh A. Robertson1,*, Karen A. Baird2, Graeme P. Elliott3, Rodney A. Hitchmough1,
Nikki J. McArthur4, Troy D. Makan5, Colin M. Miskelly6, Colin F. J. O’Donnell7,
Paul M. Sagar8, R. Paul Scofield9, Graeme A. Taylor1 and Pascale Michel1
1	Biodiversity Group, Department of Conservation, PO Box 10420, Wellington 6143,

New Zealand2

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, PO Box 240, Apia, Samoa

3

Biodiversity Group, Department of Conservation, Private Bag 5, Nelson 7042, New Zealand

4

17A Ida Street, Redwoodtown, Blenheim 7201, New Zealand5

Biodiversity Group, Department of Conservation, PO Box 1146, Rotorua 3040, New Zealand

6

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, PO Box 467, Wellington 6140, New Zealand7	Biodiversity Group, Department of Conservation, Private Bag 4715, Christchurch Mail

Centre, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
8418 Pleasant Valley Road, RD21, Geraldine 7991, New Zealand

9

Canterbury Museum, Rolleston Avenue, Christchurch 8001, New Zealand* Corresponding author; email: hrobertson@doc.govt.nz

		Abstract
The conservation status of 491 taxa of birds recorded in Aotearoa New Zealand since firsthuman contact was assessed using the New Zealand Threat Classification System criteria.
Since the last assessment in 2016, eight taxa have been added to the list – five as a result of
new distribution records and three as newly described extinct species. Four taxa were removed
from the assessment process due to one taxonomic revision and reassessment of the validityof records of three vagrant or introduced species. In total, 80 taxa were assessed as being
Threatened, 98 as At Risk, 37 as Not Threatened, and 212 as Non-resident, Coloniser,or Introduced and Naturalised. Two taxa remain as Data Deficient, although both are probably
functionally extinct, with no accepted sightings in the past 5 years. Since 2016, the status of
25 taxa has improved, often because of conservation management, while the status of
22 taxa has deteriorated. Of note, 5 of 23 taxa that were regarded as Threatened – Nationally
Critical are now considered less threatened and no taxa have moved into this category. Much
conservation work is still required because 137 taxa are identified as being dependent on
conservation management and climate change is known or predicted to have a negative impact
on 69 taxa. Although birds are better known than many other taxonomic groups, 80 taxa were
flagged as requiring more conservation research and 52 taxa were given one or more Data Poor
qualifiers to indicate a paucity of knowledge about their taxonomy and / or their population
sizes and trends.
Keywords: Aotearoa New Zealand, birds, conservation status, threat classification© Copyright December 2021, Department of Conservation. This paper may be cited as: Robertson, H.A.; Baird, K.A.;
Elliott, G.P.; Hitchmough, R.A.; McArthur, N.J.; Makan, T.D.; Miskelly, C.M.; O’Donnell, C.F.J.; Sagar, P.M.; Scofield,
R.P.; Taylor, G.A.; Michel, P. 2021: Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021 . New Zealand Threat
Classification Series 36. Department of Conservation, Wellington. 43 p.

New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36

1

1. BackgroundIn 2001, the Department of Conservation (DOC) and external conservation scientists produced
the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS; Molloy et al. 2002) to complement theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN’s) Red List system. The categories andcriteria within the NZTCS were defined to reflect the recent period of human contact during
which populations of many native species have declined in range and / or numbers, taking into
account Aotearoa New Zealand’s small size, many islands and mountainous geography, whichhave led to a large number of taxa having naturally restricted ranges and small population
sizes (Molloy et al. 2002).
The NZTCS methodology was refined in 2007 to ensure that all possible combinations of status
and trend were covered within the different categories, and the resulting manual (Townsend
et al. 2008) was used to assess the conservation status of birds within Aotearoa New Zealandand its 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in 2008 (Miskelly et al. 2008), 2012
(Robertson et al. 2013), 2016 (Robertson et al. 2017) and 2021 (this report). Some minor changes
to the categories, criteria, and qualifiers proposed by Rolfe et al. (2021) and Michel (2021) wereincorporated into this latest assessment, as follows:• The status At Risk – Recovering A for increasing populations consisting of 1000–5000
mature individuals was shifted to the Threatened category and renamed Threatened –Nationally Increasing, with no change of the criteria. This was done to address the factthat when the growth of a population assessed as Recovering A stabilised, the taxon
moved to the category Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable, despite there being no
deterioration in the taxon’s population. The term Nationally Increasing does not imply
that the population is increasing consistently across its entire geographical range but
rather that the total population of the taxon in Aotearoa New Zealand is predicted toincrease at > 10% in three generations.
• The qualifier Climate Impact (CI) was added to reflect new pressures from changing
environments and to acknowledge taxa that are or will be adversely affected by long-termclimate trends and / or extreme events.
• The new qualifier Conservation Research Needed (CR) indicates a need for research tobetter understand the cause of decline and / or solution for recovery.
• The qualifier Data Poor (DP) has been split into three new qualifiers that identify theknowledge gaps that cause the qualifiers to be used: Data Poor Recognition (DPR)
to indicate the difficulty in identifying the taxon in the field, Data Poor Size (DPS) to
indicate a lack of data on population size and Data Poor Trend (DPT) to indicate a lackof data on population trend.
• The new qualifier Population Fragmentation (PF), which covers some taxa that previously
triggered the qualifier Sparse indicates that gene flow between subpopulations ishampered as a direct or indirect result of human activity.

1.1

Assessment process
NZTCS assessments are reviewed approximately every 5 years by panels of individuals fromwithin and outside DOC. Each assessment panel comprises experts in the field of taxonomy,conservation biology and ecology who have deep knowledge on a specific taxonomic groupand / or are recognised by their peers as active experts in the field, as well as people with agood technical knowledge of the NZTCS process to ensure consistent approaches acrossthe various assessment panels. Assessment criteria and categories are interpreted in thecontext of scientific evidence (e.g. population monitoring) and expert understanding of the2

Robertson et al. 2021 – Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021

ecology of each taxon / order (e.g. natural population fluctuations), and the manual requiresthat a precautionary approach is applied where a taxon is on the border of two possible threat
categories, resulting in the higher threat category being chosen.
An information-gathering process complements the knowledge provided by members of theexpert panel and is open to anyone wishing to provide scientific information to assist thereview of the assessment. A call for submissions is made on DOC’s Have your say webpage,on the NZTCS website and through expert networks. A questionnaire assists the gathering of
relevant scientific evidence, for example from local surveys and monitoring.
The expert panel uses the previously published assessment as the starting point for the
new assessment and then evaluates any new information available, both published andunpublished. Taxa are assessed according to the reported population size and recent trends,
and the panel predicts future changes over the next 10 years or three generations, whicheveris the longer. Taxa are assigned to the Data Deficient category when insufficient data are
available to assess the conservation status or are given one of the three Data Poor qualifiers
when assessments are made but with low confidence due to limited data being available.

1.2

This assessment
The panel that made this assessment consisted of 10 experts (with an even split from within
and external to DOC) plus 2 administration / support staff.
A call for submissions was advertised through the September 2020 issue of Birds New Zealand,
the quarterly magazine of Birds New Zealand / Ornithological Society of New Zealand (BNZ
/ OSNZ); on DOC’s Have your say webpage (www.doc.govt.nz/get-involved/have-your-say/);on the NZTCS website (https://nztcs.org.nz/); and through expert networks. A total of 16
submissions were received from ornithologists, providing data on 42 taxa.
Many scientific papers and technical reports have been published in the past 5 years, including
two special issues of Notornis – a compilation of papers on birds of the Auckland Islands(Miskelly & Symes 2020) and a collection of papers on waders (Woodley & Symes 2020). Thesepublications have improved our confidence in estimating current and future population trends
for many of Aotearoa New Zealand’s bird species. A key data source was the New Zealand eBird
database (https://ebird.org/newzealand), which is jointly administered by BNZ / OSNZ and theCornell Lab of Ornithology, and especially those recent bird records collected as part of the
5-year BNZ / OSNZ’s eBird Atlas Scheme (https://ebird.org/atlasnz/home).
Bird et al. (2020) modelled estimates of the generation lengths of all bird species in theworld based on published life-history and trait data from well-studied species. The criticalparameters used in these models were age at first breeding, maximum longevity and annual
adult survival. However, while annual survival rates of Aotearoa New Zealand birds are often
well known from banding or radio-tracking studies, relatively few taxa have been banded
long enough, or recovered in sufficient numbers, to provide robust estimates of longevity,
and therefore underestimated generation lengths for many endemic species. Furthermore, theassessment panel found that while the general methodology of Bird et al. (2020) was sound,they often overlooked relevant published data and frequently underestimated generation
lengths for Aotearoa New Zealand species. For example, Bird et al. (2020) estimated the annual
survival and longevity of rowi (Apteryx rowi) to be 0.888 and 24.25 years, respectively, giving ageneration length of 10 years, whereas the observed survival of 0.979 (Robertson & de Monchy2012) combined with the current longevity record of 34.8 years since banding of the species
began in the 1990s (NZ Bird Banding Scheme, unpubl. data) gives an estimated generation
length of 51 years.

New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36

3

Data on the longevity of Aotearoa New Zealand birds were therefore extracted from FALCON(https://app.birdbanding.doc.govt.nz/), the New Zealand National Bird Banding Scheme(NZNBBS) database (Imogen Foote, NZNBBS, pers. comm.), and generation length estimates
were re-calculated for the 35 taxa already with substantially higher longevity values than thosemodelled by Bird et al. (2020) using the formulae they used.
The generation length values used in this assessment and the full meeting notes can be found on
the assessment page for many taxa on the NZTCS website (https://nztcs.org.nz/reports/1076).

2. Summary
This report presents the conservation status of all 491 bird taxa that have been known to
inhabit or visit Aotearoa New Zealand and its EEZ since first human contact approximately
750 years ago (Wilmshurst et al. 2008), excluding failed introductions. The geographicalcoverage excludes birds in the Ross Dependency of Antarctica. This is the latest in a series ofassessments (Hitchmough 2002; Hitchmough et al. 2007; Miskelly et al. 2008; Robertson et al.
2013, 2017), the most recent three of which have used the same criteria (Townsend et al. 2008).
In 2016, Robertson et al. (2017) assessed the conservation status of 487 Aotearoa New Zealandbird taxa. This new assessment of 491 taxa includes eight taxa that are being assessed for the
first time and excludes four of the taxa that were assessed in 2016.
The nomenclature used in this assessment follows the most recently published Checklist of
New Zealand Birds (Gill et al. 2010) except where explicitly stated in this report or one of its
predecessors following the assessment of new taxonomic information or the acceptance of new
distribution records by the BNZ / OSNZ Records Appraisal Committee. The other exception isthat we use tohutō/macrons, where appropriate, for names in te reo Māori, including those thathave English descriptors, e.g. South Island kākā and, for consistency, we also include accentmarks in foreign words used in names in English (e.g. Adélie penguin).

2.1

Additional taxa
Eight taxa were assessed for the first time in 2021 (Table 1).
Five of these taxa – collared petrel (Pterodroma brevipes), eastern Pacific red-footed booby(Sula sula websteri), Macquarie Island shag (Leucocarbo purpurascens), laughing gull (Larus
atricilla) and rose-crowned fruit-dove (Ptilinopus regina) – have been added to the Aotearoa
New Zealand list since 2016 by the BNZ / OSNZ Records Appraisal Committee (Miskelly et al.
2017, 2019, 2021; Miskelly 2020; Miskelly & Cooper 2020).
The remaining three taxa – Chatham Island crested penguin (Eudyptes warhami), Richdale’s
penguin (Megadyptes antipodes richdalei) and kōhatu shag (Leucocarbo septentrionalis) –became extinct after human settlement in Aotearoa New Zealand approximately 750 years
ago and have been added to the Aotearoa New Zealand list following their description basedon genetic, osteological, morphological and palaeoecological data from Holocene dune andcoastal midden remains (Rawlence et al. 2017; Cole et al. 2019).

4

Robertson et al. 2021 – Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021

2.2

Removed taxa
Four taxa from the previous assessment have not been included in the 2021 list (Table 2).
Blue shag (Stictocarbo punctatus oliveri) was assessed by Robertson et al. (2017) as At Risk –Naturally Uncommon but removed from this assessment following genetic and morphologicalanalysis that revealed no discernible separation from spotted shag (Stictocarbo punctatus
punctatus) (Rawlence et al. 2019). Instead, both forms are treated as spotted shag
(Stictocarbo punctatus).
Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) was excluded from the 2021 list because its
occurrence in Aotearoa New Zealand is regarded as a failed introduction rather than as avagrant (Gill et al. 2010). This species should not have been assessed as a vagrant after 2010.
Feral chicken (Gallus gallus gallus) was assessed as Introduced and Naturalised by Robertson
et al. (2017) but removed from the 2021 list because, while it is known to breed in the wild in
Aotearoa New Zealand, no viable wild populations have been established and most enclaves
are supplemented by ongoing releases and / or supplementary feeding (Heather & Robertson2015). The species was included in the current New Zealand checklist (Gill et al. 2010) only
on the basis that feral populations have established on Norfolk Island, which is outside thegeographical scope of this assessment.
Crimson rosella (Platycercus elegans) was also assessed as Introduced and Naturalised byRobertson et al. (2017). However, a breeding population of this species in Dunedin died out
in the 1950s, the small breeding population in Wellington city appears to have died out in theearly 2000s, and the few birds that have been seen elsewhere in the country are probably recent
cage escapees (Heather & Robertson 2015). The panel assessed that the species is no longer
naturalised in Aotearoa New Zealand and so removed it from the 2021 list.

2.3

Changed taxon names
Although the panel was aware that many changes to the genus and some species names
applied to bird taxa occurring in Aotearoa New Zealand have been mooted and many of these
are now widely accepted in the ornithological literature, it has generally used the scientificnames given in the latest edition of the New Zealand checklist (Gill et al. 2010) or previous
assessments. This is to avoid replicating the work of the BNZ / OSNZ’s Checklist Committee,
which is working towards producing a new online edition of the checklist in 2022. However,
the taxonomically indeterminate / determinate status of some taxa has changed since the lastassessment (Robertson et al. 2017) (see Table 3).
Genetic and morphological analysis combined with a review of movements of sealers at thetime the type specimen of tokoeka (Apteryx australis) was described have shown that thisspecimen was from Stewart Island / Rakiura rather than Tamatea / Dusky Sound as previously
believed (Scofield et al. 2021). The Rakiura tokoeka now takes the name A. a. australis, while
the tokoeka in southern Fiordland is now considered to be a taxonomically unresolved
subspecies, A. australis “southern Fiordland”.
In 2018, Whenua Hou diving petrel (Pelecanoides whenuahouensis) was described as beinga unique species from the South Georgian diving petrel (Pelecanoides georgicus) based onmorphological and plumage characteristics (Fischer et al. 2018). More recent genetic researchsuggests that this taxon may only be differentiated at the subspecific level (Grosser et al. 2021)
but here we follow Fischer et al. (2018) and treat it as a unique species.

New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36

5

The origin of the type specimens of rock wren (Xenicus gilviventris) has been traced tothe headwaters of the Rakaia River (Verry et al. 2019), which is to the north of the contact
zone between southern and northern forms of this species (Weston & Robertson 2015).
The subspecies name X. g. rineyi (coined by Falla 1953) is available for the southern form
(see Verry et al. 2019). We here use the name X. g. gilviventris for the northern rock wren
and X. g. rineyi for the southern rock wren.
Table 1. Bird taxa assessed for the first time in this report.
ASSESSMENT NAME
AND AUTHORITY

COMMON NAMEFAMILYSTATUS

Eudyptes warhami Cole,
Tennyson, Ksepka &Thomas, 2019

Chatham Island
crested penguin

Spheniscidae

Extinct

Larus atricilla Linnaeus,
1758

laughing gull

LaridaeNon-resident Native – Vagrant

Leucocarbo purpurascens(Brandt, 1837)

Macquarie Island shag

Phalacrocoracidae

Non-resident Native – Vagrant

Leucocarbo septentrionalis
Rawlence et al. 2017

kōhatu shag

Phalacrocoracidae

Extinct

Megadyptes antipodes
richdalei Cole, Tennyson,
Ksepka & Thomas 2019

Richdale’s penguin

Spheniscidae

Extinct

Pterodroma brevipes(Peale, 1848)

collared petrel

Procellariidae

Non-resident Native – VagrantPtilinopus regina
Swainson, 1825

rose-crowned
fruit-doveColumbidae

Non-resident Native – Vagrant

Sula sula websteri
Rothschild, 1898

eastern Pacificred-footed booby

SulidaeNon-resident Native – Vagrant

Table 2. Taxa that were assessed by Robertson et al. (2017) but are not assessed in this report.
NAME AND AUTHORITY

COMMON NAMEFAMILYREASON FOR DELETION

Gallus gallus gallus(Linnaeus, 1758)

feral chicken

Phasianidae

No viable wild populations in
Aotearoa New Zealand

Platycercus elegans(Gmelin, 1788)

crimson rosella

Psittacidae

No viable wild populations in
Aotearoa New ZealandSpheniscus magellanicus(Forster, 1781)

Magellanic penguin

Spheniscidae

Failed introduction to
Aotearoa New Zealand

Stictocarbo punctatus oliveri
Mathews, 1931

blue shag

Phalacrocoracidae

Conspecific with Stictocarbo
punctatus Sparrman, 1786

Table 3. Name changes affecting Aotearoa New Zealand bird taxa between the publication of Robertson et al. (2017) andthis report.

6

NAME AND AUTHORITY
IN ROBERTSON ET AL.
2017

NAME ANDAUTHORITY IN THISREPORT

COMMON NAMEFAMILY

Apteryx australis australis
Shaw, 1813

Apteryx australis“southern Fiordland”

southern Fiordland
tokoeka

Apterygidae

Apteryx australis lawryi
Rothschild, 1893

Apteryx australis australis
Shaw, 1813

Rakiura tokoeka

Apterygidae

Pelecanoides georgicus“Codfish Island” Murphy &Harper, 1916

Pelecanoides
whenuahouensis Fischer
et al., 2018

Whenua Hou diving petrel

Pelecanoididae

Stictocarbo punctatus
punctatus (Sparrman, 1786)

Stictocarbo punctatus(Sparrman, 1786)

spotted shag

Phalacrocoracidae

Xenicus aff. gilviventris“southern”

Xenicus gilviventris rineyi
Falla, 1953

southern rock wren

Acanthisittidae

Robertson et al. 2021 – Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021

2.4

TrendsOf the 491 taxa assessed in this report, 80 (16.3%) are Threatened, 98 (20.0%) are At Risk and37 (7.5%) are Not Threatened resident native taxa (Table 4). Of the remaining taxa, 2 (0.4%)
remain classified as Data Deficient, although both of these are likely to be functionally extinct;
10 (2.0%) are recent colonisers; 62 (12.6%) have become extinct since first human contact
c. 750 years ago; and 202 (41.1%) are Non-resident or Introduced and Naturalised.
The number of taxa assessed as being Threatened – Nationally Critical has decreased from
25 taxa in 2012 to 23 in 2016 and 18 in 2021, while the numbers of taxa in the other Threatened
categories have fluctuated between assessments with no clear trends (Table 4). Furthermore,while the number of taxa assessed as At Risk – Recovering has increased from 4 in 2008 to
9 in this assessment, the number of At Risk – Declining taxa has also increased from 18 in 2008
to 27 in 2021. These 27 taxa may require special research and management attention to prevent
them from moving into one of the Threatened categories in the future.
Table 4. Comparison of the status of Aotearoa New Zealand bird taxa assessed in 2008
(Miskelly et al. 2008), 2012 (Robertson et al. 2013), 2016 (Robertson et al. 2017) and 2021
(this report).
CATEGORY

2008

2012

2016

2021

57

56

59

62

Extinct*
Data Deficient

1

2

2

2

Threatened – Nationally Critical

24

25

23

18

Threatened – Nationally Endangered

15

18

15

14

Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable

38

34

33

37

Threatened – Nationally Increasing†

6

8

13

11

At Risk – Declining

18

17

22

27

At Risk – Recovering

4

5

10

9

At Risk – Relict

17

17

15

25

At Risk – Naturally Uncommon

48

45

47

37

Not Threatened resident native

36

38

38

37

Non-resident Native – Migrant

27

24

24

24

Non-resident Native – Vagrant

130

138

141

143

Non-resident Native – Coloniser

8

9

8

10

Introduced and Naturalised

36

37

37

35

Total

465

473

487

491

*

Miskelly et al. (2008) listed 20 species that became extinct since 1880 but noted that 41
additional taxa became extinct between human arrival and 1800; however, this has been reduced
to 37 taxa following a revision of moa taxonomy.

†

Threatened – Nationally Increasing is a new name and category for the former At Risk –Recovering A category.

The conservation status of 47 taxa has changed since the previous assessment in 2016
(Robertson et al. 2017) (see Tables 5 & 6), with 25 having improved and 22 having worsened,
although 6 of the latter were more or less neutral changes from a classification of At Risk –Naturally Uncommon to At Risk – Relict. While most changes were identified as actual changes
in population levels or trends, some were driven by improved knowledge, occasionally from thereinterpretation of existing data (Table 6).

New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36

7

Table 5. Summary of status changes of bird taxa between 2016 (rows, Robertson et al. 2017) and 2021
(columns, this report). Numbers on the diagonal (shaded black) represent those taxa that have not changed
status between 2016 and 2021. Numbers shaded in light green above the diagonal represent taxa withimproved status (e.g. one taxon has moved from Threatened – Nationally Critical in 2016 to At Risk – Declining
in 2021). Numbers shaded in dark red below the diagonal represent taxa with poorer status. Numbers without
shading represent either taxa that have moved into or out of Data Deficient, taxa that are Non-resident Native or
Introduced and Naturalised, newly added taxa, or taxa deleted from this assessment.
CONSERVATION STATUS 2021
EXT DD

NC

NE

NV

NI †

DEC REC REL NUNT

VAG MIG COL IN

495*

62

18

14

37

11

28

37

143

Extinct (Ext)59

59

Data Deficient (DD)2

Threatened – Nationally
Critical (NC)23

Threatened – NationallyEndangered (NE)

15

12

1

Threatened – Nationally
Vulnerable (NV)

33

2

23

2

Threatened – Nationally
Increasing (NI)†

13

1

9

At Risk – Declining (Dec)22

1

At Risk – Recovering (Rec)10

At Risk – Relict (Rel)15

At Risk – Naturally
Uncommon (NU)

47

6

2

6

Not Threatened (NT)

38

1

1

1

Non-resident Native –Vagrant (Vag)141

Non-resident Native –Migrant (Mig)24

Non-resident Native –Coloniser (Col)8Introduced andNaturalised (IN)37

Additions

8

CONSERVATION STATUS 2016

TOTAL

2

9

25

36

24

35

4

2
18

4

1
2
4

1
2

1

1

19
1

2
7

1

1

15
32

1
35
138

2

1

24
8
35
3

5

*

The total in this table includes the four deleted taxa that were not assessed.

†

Threatened – Nationally Increasing (NI) is a new name and category for the former At Risk – Recovering A category.

‡

Del = Deletions from this assessment – these include blue shag (Stictocarbo punctatus oliveri), which is no longer considered to
be a distinct subspecies within spotted shag (Stictocarbo punctatus); Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus), which is
now considered to be a failed introduction; and feral chicken (Gallus gallus) and crimson rosella (Platycercus elegans), which are
no longer considered to be naturalised.

8

10

DEL ‡

Robertson et al. 2021 – Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021

2

Table 6. Summary of changes to the number of taxa assigned to each conservation status between 2016 (Robertson etal. 2017) and 2021 (this report).
DIRECTION OF
CHANGEREASON FOR
CHANGECONSERVATION STATUS IN 2021

NO. TAXA

Improved

Actual improvement

Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable

2

Threatened – Nationally Increasing*2

At Risk – Recovering

2

At Risk – Relict

2

At Risk – Naturally Uncommon

3

Not Threatened2More knowledge

Reinterpretation of data

Worsened

Actual decline

More knowledge

Reinterpretation of data

Greater uncertainty

No change

New listings

Coloniser

2

Total

15

Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable

3

At Risk – Declining

4

At Risk – Naturally Uncommon

2

Total

9

At Risk – Relict

1

Total

1

TOTAL IMPROVED

25

Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable

4

At Risk – Declining

4

Total

8

Threatened – Nationally Endangered1

Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable

1

At Risk – Relict

1

Total

3

Threatened – Nationally Endangered1

Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable

3

At Risk – Relict

6

Total

10

Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable

1

Total

1

TOTAL WORSENED

22

Extinct

59

Data Deficient2

Threatened – Nationally Critical

18

Threatened – Nationally Endangered

12

Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable

23

Threatened – Nationally Increasing*

9

At Risk – Declining

19

At Risk – Recovering

7

At Risk – Relict

15

At Risk – Naturally Uncommon

32

At Risk – Not Threatened35

Non-resident Native – Migrant24

Non-resident Native – Vagrant138

Coloniser

8

Introduced and Naturalised

35

TOTAL NO CHANGE

436

Extinct

3
Continued on next page

New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36

9

Table 6 continued
DIRECTION OF
CHANGEREASON FOR
CHANGECONSERVATION STATUS IN 2021

NO. TAXA

Non-resident Native – Vagrant

Deletions

5

TOTAL NEW LISTINGS

8

At Risk – Naturally Uncommon

1

Non-resident Native – Vagrant

1

Introduced and Naturalised

2

TOTAL DELETIONS

4TOTAL TAXA ASSESSED491* Threatened – Nationally Increasing is a new name and category for the former At Risk – Recovering A category.

2.4.1

Improved status
The conservation status of 25 taxa has improved since the last assessment (Robertson etal. 2017; Table 6). This includes 15 taxa that have shown actual improvement (including twoformerly vagrant species that have bred successfully in Aotearoa New Zealand since 2016 tobecome Coloniser), 10 taxa that have improved due to better knowledge about the states of
their populations, and one taxon that has improved following the reinterpretation of data.

Moved out of Threatened – Nationally Critical
Five taxa that were formerly classified as Threatened – Nationally Critical have been assessed
to be in less threatened categories.
The placement of pārera / grey duck (Anas superciliosa) in the national threat classification is
problematic because of ongoing extensive hybridisation with mallards (Anas platyrhynchos)(Gillespie 1985; Rhymer et al. 1994) and the consequent difficulties field observers experiencein distinguishing pure birds from hybrids (Williams 2017, 2019). The new qualifier Data Poor
– Recognition is particularly applicable in this case, and this flows on to also using the Data
Poor qualifiers for both population size and trend. There is a lack of nuclear DNA analysis todetermine the number of pure pārera / grey ducks in Aotearoa New Zealand rather than hybrids
towards the far end of the pārera / grey duck – mallard spectrum (Williams 2019), and there
could also be some ongoing gene flow from Australia, as evidenced by the recovery in Otago
of a black duck (the Australian common name for pārera / grey duck) that had been banded in
New South Wales, Australia (Heather & Robertson 2015). In 2016, the panel decided that purepārera / grey ducks were Threatened – Nationally Critical with a population of less than 1000
mature individuals and a predicted decline of 50–70% in three generations (c. 15 years) basedon the assumption that the continuing introgression of mallard genes across the populationmust mean that pure pārera / grey ducks were continuing to become rarer. However, thisassumed that there was more or less free gene flow across the spectrum from mallards, throughhybrids to pārera / grey ducks, with no strong assortative mating. Based on the many recent
encounters by members of the 2021 panel with birds, especially pairs, that had the phenotypicfeatures of pārera / grey ducks in remote and largely unmodified habitats (e.g. inland Bay ofPlenty, Canterbury high country, Fiordland, Chatham Islands), the panel considered that thenational population of pārera / grey ducks was somewhat protected by assortative mating and/ or differences in habitat use and so were more likely to be in the range of 1000–5000 matureindividuals and declining by 10–50% over three generations, placing the species in
the Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable category. Hybrids between pārera / grey duck andmallard, or ‘grallards/greylards’ (Williams 2019), encompassing the continuum of phenotypicfeatures between the two species, continue to be assessed as Not Threatened.

10

Robertson et al. 2021 – Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021

Black-billed gull (Larus bulleri) was assessed as Threatened – Nationally Critical in 2016
(Robertson et al. 2017). Aerial surveys followed by counting samples of nests on the groundin 2014 / 15 to 2016 / 17 (Mischler 2018) revealed more black-billed gulls than expected(i.e. 60 256 nests in the most comprehensive survey in 2016 / 17), indicating that historical data
overestimated the magnitude of population decline. Mischler (2018) felt it was likely thatblack-billed gull numbers were stable but urged a further census in 10 years to confirm this.
The panel took a precautionary approach and assessed the species as At Risk – Declining
rather than moving it straight from Threatened – Nationally Critical to Not Threatened ina single step, especially given the residual uncertainty about the population trend and thesignificant known and anticipated threats to the breeding productivity of these birds.
Chatham Island shag (Leucocarbo onslowi) and Pitt Island shag (Stictocarbo featherstoni)
were both placed in the Threatened – Nationally Critical category in 2012 (Robertson etal. 2013) following counts of nesting birds in 2003 / 04 (Bester & Charteris 2005) and 2011
(Debski et al. 2012) that were much lower than counts conducted in 1997 / 98 (Bell & Bell 2000).
However, more recent counts of 582 apparently occupied Chatham Island shag nests and 793
Pitt Island shag nests (Bell 2021) were similar to counts made in 1997 / 98, and Bell (2021)
considered that the populations of both species appear to have been essentially stable over the
past 25 years, although the distributions of nesting birds have changed in this time. The panel
assessed both species as Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable, with each having 1000–5000
mature individuals and an approximately stable overall population.
The extensive trapping of predators and use of aerial 1080 poison operations over the core
6000-ha area of South Westland that is occupied by Haast tokoeka (Apteryx australis “Haast”),
and ex situ management through Operation Nest Egg (ONE) and the establishment of small
populations on Coal, Pomona, and Rarotoka islands and at Orokonui Ecosanctuary, resulted in
the population growing to c. 450 mature individuals by 2018 (Germano et al. 2018). Since then,a small satellite population of c. 12 pairs has been discovered at Junction Hill, 15 km west of thepreviously known range, and breeding has been confirmed on Coal and Pomona islands and at
Orokonui Ecosanctuary (Heath Sinclair, DOC, pers. comm), further supporting the shift of thistaxon to Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable.

Moved out of Threatened – Nationally Endangered
Three taxa that were previously assessed as being Threatened – Nationally Endangered havean improved status.
Chatham Island tui (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae chathamensis) is increasing in both its
range and numbers following the successful translocation of individuals to Chatham Islandand improved habitat on the island following widespread possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)control (Graeme Taylor, DOC, pers. obs.), and so is now considered to be Threatened –Nationally Vulnerable.
Research has shown that Rakiura tokoeka (Apteryx australis australis – see Table 3 and Scofield
et al. (2021)) is not as threatened as previously believed because the serious decline observed
at a Mason Bay study site that triggered its past conservation status was likely localised andcaused by habitat loss as the site reverts from rough farmland to scrub and flax communities,
whereas the vast majority of the taxon’s population is likely to be stable (Hugh Robertson& Rogan Colbourne, DOC, unpubl. data). The taxon is now placed in the At Risk – Naturally
Uncommon category pending assessment of whether the total population is above or below
20 000 mature individuals.
The population of Antipodes Island snipe (Coenocorypha aucklandica meinertzhagenae) has
increased as a direct result of the eradication of mice (Mus musculus) from the Antipodes
Islands in 2016 through the ‘Million Dollar Mouse’ project and has since reached a new, buthigher, equilibrium (Graeme Elliott, DOC, pers. obs.).

New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36

11Moved out of Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable
The conservation status of eight former Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable taxa has improved.
The population of Campbell Island teal (Anas nesiotis) has increased following the extinctionof cats (Felis catus) and the eradication of Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) from Campbell
Island / Motu Ihupuku; and the wrybill (Anarhynchus frontalis) population increased by 33%
between nationwide counts undertaken in 1983–1994 and 2005–2019, probably as a result of
improved predator control and the restoration of braided riverbed habitat at some South Island
breeding sites (Riegen & Sagar 2020). Consequently, both species have been moved to therenamed Threatened – Nationally Increasing category.
Antipodes Island pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae steindachneri) increased rapidly following theeradication of mice from the Antipodes Islands in 2016 (Graeme Elliott, DOC, pers. obs.) and is
now considered to be At Risk – Naturally Uncommon.
Recent surveys have found more tawaki / Fiordland crested penguins (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus)than expected (Long 2017; Mattern & Long 2017), and the current population is estimated to bec. 5000 pairs (Thomas Mattern, University of Otago, pers. comm.), so the rate of decline of thisspecies is now assessed at less than 30% in three generations, placing it in At Risk – Declining.
Flesh-footed shearwater (Puffinus carneipes) also appears to have benefited from theeradication of rodents from several islands used for breeding and from changes in fisheries
practices that have reduced bycatch mortality (Graeme Taylor, DOC, pers. obs.), and so is now
assessed to be At Risk – Relict.
National wader counts undertaken between 1983 and 2019 (Riegen & Sagar 2020) showedthat the rates of decline of lesser knot (Calidris canutus) and banded dotterel (Charadrius
bicinctus) were slower than previously feared (Studds et al. 2017; O’Donnell & Monks 2020).
Both species have been assessed as At Risk – Declining.
Lastly, Campbell Island mollymawk (Thalassarche impavida) has ceased to decline and the
population has been stable over the past 25 years, possibly due to reduced bycatch mortality asa result of improved fisheries practices in the Aotearoa New Zealand EEZ. Consequently, it has
been assessed as At Risk – Naturally Uncommon.

Moved between At Risk categories
Two taxa, variable oystercatcher (Haematopus unicolor) and tīeke / South Island saddleback(Philesturnus carunculatus), which were previously assessed as At Risk – Recovering
A (now renamed Threatened – Nationally Increasing), were judged to have surpassed the 5000
mature individuals threshold and so have been moved into the At Risk – Recovering category.
The gains made have been largely due to conservation management programmes such as nest
protection and/or translocations to or the maintenance of predator-free islands.
Additionally, North Island weka (Gallirallus australis greyi) was judged to now have> 20 000 mature individuals; however, because this taxon occupies < 10% of its former range,
it is classified as At Risk – Relict rather than Not Threatened.
Most of these six taxa have benefited from targeted predator control at breeding sites and / ortranslocations to sites where predators are absent or managed.

Moved into Not Threatened
Two taxa that were previously classified as At Risk – Declining have been re-assessed as
Not Threatened. However, both remain conservation dependent (qualifier CD).
The population of North Island brown kiwi (Apteryx mantelli) has > 20 000 mature individuals
and is now predicted to increase by > 10% over three generations due to the intensive

12

Robertson et al. 2021 – Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021

in situ control of predators by many community groups and government agencies, ex situ
management through ONE, and translocations to secure sites (Germano et al. 2018).
Whitehead (Mohoua albicilla) was in decline due to habitat loss when large areas of central
North Island pine forest were being converted to dairy farms, but its population has now
stabilised and expanded following successful translocations to secure sites and extensive aerial
1080 operations to control bovine tuberculosis and to improve forest health. The Ministry forPrimary Industries’ One Billion Trees Programme, which aims to plant forests on marginal
farmland for carbon capture and erosion control, is expected to benefit this species.

Other minor improvements
Two taxa that were assessed as Vagrant in 2016 have been moved to Coloniser in thisassessment. After breeding successfully in Southland in the late 1970s, hoary-headed grebe(Poliocephalus poliocephalus) failed to establish and so returned to being considered a
Vagrant. However, these birds have again bred successfully, this time at Lake Elterwater in
Marlborough, at least in 2019 / 20. Similarly, a pair of gull-billed terns (Gelochelidon nilotica)bred successfully near Invercargill in 2020 / 21.

2.4.2

Worsened status
The conservation status of 22 taxa has worsened since the 2016 assessment (Robertson etal. 2017). Among these, 8 taxa showed an actual decline, 3 changes were the result of new
knowledge, and 11 changes followed the reinterpretation of data placing the taxa in different
At Risk categories.

Moved into Threatened – Nationally Critical
No bird taxon has moved into the Threatened – Nationally Critical category since the 2016assessments.

Moved into Threatened – Nationally Endangered
The conservation status of two taxa has worsened to Threatened – Nationally Endangered.
An intensive ex situ ONE programme saw the population of rowi (Apteryx rowi) increase fromc. 160 birds in 1995 (Heather & Robertson 1996) to c. 600 birds in 2018 (Germano et al. 2018).
The panel predicted that the population will stabilise at around current levels because of alack of suitable predator-free islands or other safe release sites under management, and a lackof an effective prescription for in situ predator control on the mainland. Previous attempts at
extensive trapping and aerial 1080 operations have been largely ineffective at growing the
population (Robertson & de Monchy 2012; Hugh Robertson & Troy Makan, DOC, pers. obs.).
This species was therefore shifted from Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable to Threatened –Nationally Endangered.
Based on recent experience and eBird records, the panel considered that the previous
assessment of the southern falcon (Falco novaeseelandiae “southern”) population as being over1000 mature individuals was likely to have been an overestimate, so the shift from Threatened– Nationally Vulnerable to Threatened – Nationally Endangered reflects this. Taxonomic
research is needed urgently to define this taxon, its range and population size.

Moved into Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable
The conservation status of nine taxa has worsened to Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable.
In the 2016 assessment, eastern falcon (Falco novaeseelandiae novaeseelandiae) was
considered At Risk – Recovering (now called Threatened – Nationally Increasing) because its
population had 1000–5000 mature individuals and was increasing at > 10%. However, this taxon

New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36

13

is now assessed as Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable because the panel believed that the
population is likely to be stable rather than increasing.
Light-mantled sooty albatross (Phoebetria palpebrata) nests are difficult to count on cliffs andother steep terrain on remote subantarctic islands, but recent evidence shows a serious longterm reduction in chick counts in two southern cliff areas on Adams Island in the Auckland
Islands (Rexer-Huber et al. 2020). Although the sample was small and from a single island, thepanel considered that the conservation status warranted a shift from At Risk – Declining toThreatened – Nationally Vulnerable pending further population trend data.
Six taxa have been moved from At Risk – Naturally Uncommon to Threatened – Nationally
Vulnerable. Three of these taxa (white-capped noddy (Anous minutus), brown skua (Catharacta
antarctica lonnbergi) and lesser fulmar prion (Pachyptila crassirostris flemingi)) have changed
status through recognition that their low population sizes in Aotearoa New Zealand are due
to unnatural causes such as predation by introduced mammals or interactions with people.
Observed declines in populations of southern royal albatross (Diomedea epomophora),
northern royal albatross (Diomedea sanfordi) and long-tailed cuckoo (Eudynamys taitensis)
led to a worsened conservation status for each. In the case of both albatross species, fisheries
bycatch, which now mainly occurs outside Aotearoa New Zealand’s EEZ following improved
national fisheries management within the EEZ, and storm events and / or droughts associatedwith climate change appear to have contributed to the observed declines. For long-tailed
cuckoo, call count data (Colin O’Donnell, DOC, pers. obs.) from southern South Island forests(especially the Eglinton and Landsborough valleys and Waitutu) show significant reductions in
numbers, so this species requires more research to determine the likely threats throughout its
range and whether this decline is more widespread in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Perhaps the most significant deterioration in conservation status recorded in the 2021
assessment process was for spotted shag (Stictocarbo punctatus), which has been shiftedfrom Not Threatened to Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable. This change was based on a verysignificant and ongoing decline in the number of breeding pairs on Banks Peninsula, a siteused by c. 30–50% of the entire species (Andrew Crossland, Christchurch City Council, pers.
comm.). Breeding habitat was lost during the devastating Canterbury earthquakes of
2010–2011, and the population has failed to recover since then. Despite annual variations inbreeding effort and the timing of breeding in many coastal shags, ongoing monitoring of
smaller populations of spotted shags around the northern North Island and in Wellington
Harbour / Port Nicholson have also recorded marked declines in recent decades, so the overall
population trend is of concern.

Moved into or between At Risk categories
The conservation status of four taxa has worsened to the point that they are now assessed as
At Risk – Declining, while one taxon has been moved into At Risk – Relict from Not Threatened.
Although mohua / yellowhead (Mohoua ochrocephala) surveys (Colin O’Donnell, DOC, pers.
obs.) have shown some gains in managed sites on the mainland, overall there has been agreater decline on the mainland (50% of the global population) than previously thought, andthese losses are no longer being offset by increases in translocated populations on many pestfree islands, so it is now assessed as At Risk – Declining rather than At Risk – Recovering (B).
Kākāriki / yellow-crowned parakeet (Cyanoramphus auriceps) is also becoming increasingly
scarce on the mainland, although numbers fluctuate widely through beech-masting cycles,
especially in the South Island, so its assessment has changed from Not Threatened to
At Risk – Declining.
Buller’s shearwaters (Puffinus bulleri) breed only on the Poor Knights Islands, where a totalof 250 000 pairs was estimated to be breeding on Tawhiti Rahi Island in 1943 (Medway 2001).

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Robertson et al. 2021 – Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021

Furthermore, while only a handful of pairs were nesting on Aorangi Island at that time,
which was shortly after the removal of pigs (Sus scrofa) in 1936 (Medway 2001), subsequent
population growth on Aorangi was spectacular, with estimates of 100 000 burrows in1964 (Bartle 1968) and then 200 000 pairs in 1981 (Harper 1983). Recent surveys (Friesen etal. 2021), however, have estimated only 78 645 (95% confidence interval = 67 176–89 178) active
burrows across the whole of the Poor Knights Islands, suggesting that there has been a hugedecline and / or a significant overestimation of numbers in the past. Since the islands remainpredator free, any decline is likely to have been driven by changes in the marine environment.
Consequently, the status of this species has changed from At Risk – Naturally Uncommon to
At Risk – Declining.
The number of pairs of southern Buller’s mollymawk (Thalassarche bulleri bulleri) breedingon Snares Islands / Tini Heke increased during the period 1969–2002 but then stabilised(Thompson & Sagar 2020). Of particular concern, the annual survivorship of adults has
decreased from > 0.95 in most years from 1993 to 2004 to < 0.94 in most years since 2006 anddropped as low as 0.889 in 2019 (Thompson & Sagar 2020). This taxon has therefore beenassessed as At Risk – Declining rather than At Risk – Naturally Uncommon.
Lastly, the panel assessed little shag (Phalacrocorax melanoleucos brevirostris) as At Risk –Relict rather than Not Threatened following a marked decline in the numbers recorded insurveys of the Rotorua lakes, one of their breeding strongholds. Although this decline has
been offset to an unknown extent by increased numbers recorded in recent decades inthe southern North Island and in the South Island, the panel noted a lack of good overall
population trend data.

2.4.3

Data Deficient
Both South Island brown teal (Anas chlorotis “South Island”) and South Island kokako(Callaeas cinerea) were assessed as Data Deficient. The panel considered that there was avery high likelihood that both taxa are at least functionally extinct, but it is difficult to declarethem extinct due to the remote habitats they formerly used. South Island brown teal was lastrecorded in the wild in 1999 (Heather & Robertson 2015), while the last record accepted by
the Records Appraisal Committee of BNZ / OSNZ for South Island kokako was in 2007
(Miskelly et al. 2013).

2.5

Use of qualifiers
Almost all native taxa were given one or more assessment process, biological attribute,pressure, population state or population trend qualifiers to help define their assessment andfacilitate the process of conservation prioritisation (Rolfe et al. 2021). Some of the qualifiers
used are discussed below.

2.5.1

CD (Conservation Dependent)
A total of 137 taxa, including 7 that were assessed as Not Threatened, have been given thequalifier CD. This indicates that they are dependent on ongoing conservation management tomaintain or improve their current populations and to prevent them from slipping into morethreatened categories. Relevant conservation management may include indirect biosecurity
measures to maintain the pest-free status at key breeding sites on islands or in fenced
sanctuaries, or active management such as controlling predators on stepping-stone islands,
head-starting programmes and integrated pest control to maintain mainland populations.
A total of 63 taxa, mainly from the Kermadec and subantarctic islands, have been flagged
as being only dependent on good biosecurity measures, with the assumption that if a pest
incursion is detected, a response plan is implemented. The remaining 74 taxa require direct

New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36

15

intervention to maintain or improve their current status. DOC uses the CD qualifier to identify
taxa to be prioritised for management; however, conservation management is by no means
confined to central or regional government, with much of the work now being undertaken on
private land by landowners, iwi and community groups.

2.5.2

CI (Climate Impact)
The panel assessed that 69 taxa are known or predicted to be adversely affected by long-termclimate trends and / or extreme climatic events. The main taxa impacted are marine taxa whose
food supplies and feeding areas are likely to change with changing currents and upwellings,
taxa confined to islands subject to an increasing frequency and severity of droughts,
riverbed specialists that will be subject to greater fluctuations of river flow, wave-platform
specialists and shoreline nesters that will be impacted by rising sea levels, alpine specialists
that will be subject to changes in habitat and predator guilds, and forest birds that will be
subject to greater predation by rodents and mustelids as a result of an increased frequency
and magnitude of beech masting events. Interestingly, 23 (85%) of the 27 taxa assessed as
At Risk – Declining have been given the CI qualifier – a far higher percentage than in any
other Threatened or At Risk category.

2.5.3

CR (Conservation Research Needed)
Before cost-effective management can be undertaken, the causes of decline at different life
stages or in different parts of Aotearoa New Zealand need to be understood. The panel flaggedthat new or ongoing conservation research is required to best manage 80 taxa whose pressuresand / or cost-effective management methods are poorly understood. All 18 Threatened –Nationally Critical taxa were given this qualifier, indicating the need for new or ongoing research
to be carried out alongside their management to move them into a lower threat category.

2.5.4

De (Designated)
The panel designated seven seabird taxa, including tākapu / Australasian gannet (Morusserrator), as Not Threatened because they have multiple and widely scattered colonies that are
unlikely to be affected simultaneously by a particular pressure. These taxa would otherwise
have fitted the Threatened or At Risk definitions based on the small area of occupancy of theirbreeding colonies.

2.5.5

DP (Data Poor)
Survey, monitoring and / or conservation research are urgently needed to more confidently
assess the status of taxa with DP qualifiers. The new qualifiers regarding identification,
population size, population trend or a combination of these indicate the type of data that aresought. The 52 taxa with DP qualifiers are shown in Table 7 in the hope that this will stimulate
projects to address the paucity of data.
The panel was particularly challenged by a lack of knowledge on the overall population
trends of New Zealand pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae novaeseelandiae) across a wide rangeof habitats on mainland Aotearoa New Zealand and by the difficulties of recognising thedifferences between eastern and southern forms of New Zealand falcon (Falco novaeseelandiae
novaeseelandiae and F. novaeseelandiae “southern”, respectively) in the field and hence
determining their distributions and population sizes and trends. Concern was raised that thesetaxa may be undergoing greater declines than currently estimated.

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Robertson et al. 2021 – Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021

Table 7. Taxa with one or more Data Poor qualifiers. For some taxa, very little is known about their population sizes and / or trends, while forothers the panel was unsure whether the taxon was above or below a particular numerical threshold for population size or decline rate thatwould affect its conservation status. DPR = Data Poor Recognition, DPS = Data Poor Size, DPT = Data Poor Trend.
SCIENTIFIC NAMECOMMON NAMECATEGORY

DPR

Acanthisitta chloris granti

North Island rifleman

Declining

Anas superciliosa

pārera / grey duck

Vulnerable

Botaurus poiciloptilus

Australasian bittern

CriticalBowdleria punctata punctata

South Island fernbird

DecliningX

Bowdleria punctata stewartiana

Stewart Island fernbird

Vulnerable

X

Bowdleria punctata vealeae

North Island fernbird

DecliningX

Charadrius bicinctus bicinctus

banded dotterel

DecliningX

Charadrius bicinctus exilis

Auckland Island banded dotterel

RelictX

X

Charadrius obscurus obscurussouthern New Zealand dotterel

Coenocorypha aucklandica perseverance

Campbell Island snipe

Vulnerable

X

X

Cyanoramphus auriceps

kākāriki / yellow-crowned parakeet

Declining

X

X

Daption capense australe

Snares cape petrel

Diomedea epomophorasouthern royal albatross

Diomedea sanfordi
Egretta sacra sacra

X

DPS

DPT

X

X

X

X
X

CriticalX

X

X

Naturally uncommon

X

VulnerableXnorthern royal albatross

VulnerableX

reef heron

EndangeredX

Eudynamys taitensis

long-tailed cuckoo

Vulnerable

X

Eudyptes filholi

eastern rockhopper penguin

Vulnerable

X

Eudyptula minor chathamensis

Chatham Island blue penguin

Eudyptula minor iredalei

northern blue penguin

Eudyptula minor minor
Falco novaeseelandiae novaeseelandiae

RelictX

Declining

X

X

southern blue penguin

DecliningX

X

eastern falcon

Vulnerable

X

X

Falco novaeseelandiae “southern”

southern falcon

Endangered

X

X

Fregetta grallaria grallaria

white-bellied storm petrel

Endangered

X

X

X

Fregetta tropica

black-bellied storm petrel

Not threatened

X

X

Gallirallus australis scotti

Stewart Island weka

Vulnerable

X

X

Gallirallus philippensis assimilis

banded rail

Declining

X

X

Hemiphaga chathamensis

parea / Chatham Island pigeon

Vulnerable

X

Leucocarbo campbelli

Campbell Island shag

Naturally uncommon

X

X

Leucocarbo stewarti

Foveaux shag

Vulnerable

X

X

Megadyptes antipodes

hoiho / yellow-eyed penguin

Endangered

X

X

Nycticorax caledonicus australasiae

nankeen night heron

Coloniser

Pachyptila crassirostris flemingi

lesser fulmar prion

Vulnerable

X

X

Pachyptila crassirostris pyramidalis

Chatham fulmar prion

Naturally uncommon

X

X

Pachyptila desolata

Antarctic prion

RelictX

X

Pelagodroma albiclunis

Kermadec storm petrel

CriticalX

X

Petroica australis australis

kakaruai / South Island robin

Declining

Phalacrocorax carbo novaehollandiae

black shag

RelictPhalacrocorax melanoleucos brevirostris

little shag

RelictPhoebetria palpebratalight-mantled sooty albatross

Vulnerable

Podiceps cristatus cristatus

Australasian crested grebe

Vulnerable

Porzana pusilla affinis

marsh crake

Declining

X

X

Porzana tabuensis tabuensis

spotless crake

Declining

X

X

Procellaria cinerea

grey petrel

Procelsterna cerulea albivitta

grey noddy

Pterodroma mollis

soft-plumaged petrel

Pterodroma neglecta neglecta

Kermadec petrel “summer”

Endangered

Puffinus bulleri

Buller’s shearwater

Declining

X

X
X

X
X

X
X

RelictRelictX

X
X

Naturally uncommon

X
X

X

X
X

Continued on next page

New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36

17

Table 7 continued
SCIENTIFIC NAMECOMMON NAME

Puffinus elegans

subantarctic little shearwater

Naturally uncommon

CATEGORY

DPR

DPS

DPT

Sterna striata aucklandornasouthern white-fronted tern

Vulnerable

Sterna striata striata

white-fronted tern

Declining

Xenicus gilviventris gilviventris

northern rock wren

Critical

X

X

Xenicus gilviventris rineyi

southern rock wren

Endangered

X

X

X
X

X
X

3. Conservation status of all known birds in
Aotearoa New Zealand
3.1

Assessments
The conservation status of Aotearoa New Zealand’s bird taxa was assessed according to thecriteria of Townsend et al. (2008), incorporating the technical modification to the former
At Risk – Recovering A category introduced by Michel (2021). Brief descriptions of the NZTCS
categories and criteria are provided below in section 3.2. All 491 taxa are listed in Table 8,
where they are grouped by conservation status and then alphabetically by scientific name.
Categories for native birds are ordered by degree of loss, with Extinct at the top of the list and
Not Threatened as the penultimate category, above Introduced and Naturalised. The Data
Deficient list is inserted between Extinct and Threatened, although the true status of Data
Deficient taxa can span the entire range of available categories. The two bird taxa listed as
Data Deficient are probably extinct (or at least functionally extinct if a few isolated individuals
survive) but do not yet meet the criteria to be declared Extinct.
For non-endemic species that are threatened internationally, the IUCN Red List category forthe entire species (IUCN 2021) is given along with the Threatened Overseas (TO) qualifier.
Where a native subspecies is known to be threatened overseas but the species as a whole isclassified by IUCN (2021) as Near Threatened or Least Concern, the qualifier TO refers to thepanel’s understanding of the status of that subspecies rather than that of the entire species.
Supporting data for the assessments listed in Table 8 can be viewed and downloaded athttps://nztcs.org.nz/reports/1076.

18

Robertson et al. 2021 – Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021

New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36

19

New Zealand owlet-nightjar
Chatham Island duck
little bush moa
Chatham Island bellbird
South Island adzebill
North Island adzebill
Haast’s eagle
New Zealand musk duck
Chatham Island fernbird
Chatham Island rail
snipe-rail
Finsch’s duckEyles’ harrierSouth Island goose
North Island goose
North Island snipe
Forbes’ snipe
South Island snipe
North Island raven
Chatham Island raven
South Island raven
New Zealand quaillong-billed wren
Hawkins’ rail
North Island giant moa
South Island giant moa
eastern moa

Anas chathamica

Anomalopteryx didiformis

Anthornis melanocephala

Aptornis defossor

Aptornis otidiformis

Aquila moorei

Biziura delautouri

Bowdleria rufescens

Cabalus modestus

Capellirallus karamu

Chenonetta finschi

Circus teauteensis

Cnemiornis calcitransCnemiornis gracilis

Coenocorypha barrierensis

Coenocorypha chathamica

Coenocorypha iredalei

Corvus moriorum antipodum

Corvus moriorum moriorum

Corvus moriorum pycrafti

Coturnix novaezelandiae

Dendroscansor decurvirostris

Diaphorapteryx hawkinsi

Dinornis novaezealandiae

Dinornis robustus

Emeus crassus

COMMON NAME

Aegotheles novaezealandiae

Taxonomically determinate (62)

EXTINCT (62)SCIENTIFIC NAME

Emeidae

Dinornithidae

Dinornithidae

RallidaeAcanthisittidae

Phasianidae

CorvidaeCorvidaeCorvidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

AnatidaeAnatidaeAccipitridae

Anatidae

Rallidae

Rallidae

Megaluridae

AnatidaeAccipitridae

Aptornithidae

Aptornithidae

Meliphagidae

EmeidaeAnatidaeAegothelidae

FAMILYCRITERIAQUALIFIERS

Continued on next page

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

STATUS CHANGE

Table 8. Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand. A key to the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) categories, criteria and qualifiers is provided in section 3.2 below. The only
difference introduced in this report is to highlight the importance of good biosecurity measures for a suite of island-dwelling taxa whose current conservation status depends only on their islands remaining free ofpredators – this is shown as the qualifier CDB. Other taxa with the CD qualifier may also require good biosecurity along with other active management.

20

Robertson et al. 2021 – Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021
New Zealand coot
Hodgens’ waterhen
Dieffenbach’s rail
huia
New Zealand little bittern
kōhatu shag
Scarlett’s duck
Richdale’s penguin
Waitaha penguin
upland moa
New Zealand merganser
Chatham Island merganser
Chatham Island kaka
New Zealand blue-billed duckcrested moa
heavy-footed moa
Mantell’s moa
North Island stout-legged wren
South Island stout-legged wren
moho / North Island takahe
Imber’s petrel
Scarlett’s shearwater
South Island laughing owl
North Island laughing owl
Stephens Island wren
South Island piopio
Stephens Island piopio
North Island piopio

Gallinula hodgenorum

Gallirallus dieffenbachii

Heteralocha acutirostris

Ixobrychus novaezelandiae

Leucocarbo septentrionalis

Malacorhynchus scarletti

Megadyptes antipodes richdalei

Megadyptes waitaha

Megalapteryx didinus

Mergus australis

Mergus millineri

Nestor chathamensis

Oxyura vantetsi

Pachyornis australis

Pachyornis elephantopus

Pachyornis geranoides

Pachyplichas jagmi

Pachyplichas yaldwyni

Porphyrio mantelli

Pterodroma imberi

Puffinus spelaeus

Sceloglaux albifacies albifacies

Sceloglaux albifacies rufifacies

Traversia lyalli

Turnagra capensis capensis

Turnagra capensis minor

Turnagra tanagra

South Island coastal moa

Euryapteryx curtus gravis

Fulica prisca

North Island coastal moa

Euryapteryx curtus curtus

Chatham Island coot

Chatham Island crested penguin

Eudyptes warhami

Fulica chathamensis

COMMON NAMESCIENTIFIC NAME

Table 8 continued

Turnagridae

Turnagridae

Turnagridae

Acanthisittidae

Strigidae

Strigidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

RallidaeAcanthisittidae

Acanthisittidae

Emeidae

Emeidae

EmeidaeAnatidae

Strigopidae

AnatidaeAnatidae

EmeidaeSpheniscidae

Spheniscidae

AnatidaePhalacrocoracidae

ArdeidaeCallaeidae

Rallidae

Rallidae

Rallidae

Rallidae

Emeidae

EmeidaeSpheniscidae

FAMILYCRITERIAQUALIFIERS

Continued on next page

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

New listing

No change

New listing

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

New listing

STATUS CHANGE

New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36

21

North Island bush wren
Stead’s bush wren

Xenicus longipes stokesii

Xenicus longipes variabilis

southern New Zealand dotterelkākāriki karaka / orange-fronted parakeet
Antipodean wandering albatross
Gibson’s wandering albatross
Pacific white tern
Chatham Island oystercatcher
kakī / black stilt
Kermadec storm petrel
Whenua Hou diving petrel
black robintāiko / Chatham Island tāikotara iti / New Zealand fairy ternkākāpō
Salvin’s mollymawk
shore plover
northern rock wren

Charadrius obscurus obscurus

Cyanoramphus malherbi

Diomedea antipodensis antipodensis

Diomedea antipodensis gibsoni

Gygis alba candida

Haematopus chathamensis

Himantopus novaezelandiae

Pelagodroma albiclunis

Pelecanoides whenuahouensis

Petroica traversi

Pterodroma magentae

Sternula nereis davisae

Strigops habroptilus

Thalassarche salvini

Thinornis novaeseelandiae

Xenicus gilviventris gilviventris

Acanthisittidae

Charadriidae

Diomedeidae

Strigopidae

Sternidae

Procellariidae

Petroicidae

Pelecanoididae

Hydrobatidae

Recurvirostridae

Haematopodidae

Sternidae

Diomedeidae

Diomedeidae

Psittacidae

Charadriidae

Ardeidae

Australasian bittern

Botaurus poiciloptilus(IUCN: Endangered C1, ver 3.1, 2018)

ArdeidaeAnatidaekōtuku / white heron

South Island brown teal

Callaeidae

Acanthisittidae

Acanthisittidae

Acanthisittidae

FAMILY

Ardea modesta

Taxonomically determinate (18)

NATIONALLY CRITICAL (18)

THREATENED (77)

Anas chlorotis “South Island”

Taxonomically unresolved (1)Callaeas cinerea

Taxonomically determinate (1)South Island kokako

South Island bush wren

Xenicus longipes longipes

DATA DEFICIENT (2)COMMON NAMESCIENTIFIC NAME

Table 8 continued

B(1)

A(1)

C

A(1)

A(1)

A(1)

A(1)

A(1)

A(1)

A(1)

A(1)

A(1)

C

C

A(1)

A(1)

B(1)

A(1)

CRITERIA

No change

CD, CI, CR, DPS, DPT, RR, Sp

CD, CI, CR, Inc, RR, Sp

CD, CI, CR, RR

CD, CR, Inc, RR

CD, CI, CR, RF, RR

CD, CR, IE, Inc, OL

CD, CR, IE, RR

CD, CI, CR, IE, OL

Continued on next page

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change
No change

CD, CR, RR
CDB, CR, DPS, DPT, IE, RR

No change

CDB, CR, OL, SO
CD, CI, CR, IE, RR, St

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

STATUS CHANGE

CD, CI, CR, IE, OL

CD, CI, CR, IE, RR

CD, CI, CR, EF, RR

CD, CR, DPS, DPT, EF, OL

CR, DPT, RF, Sp, TO

CR, OL, SO, St

QUALIFIERS

22

Robertson et al. 2021 – Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021
Acanthisittidae

southern rock wren

southern falconpārera / grey duck
black noddy
roroa / great spotted kiwi
Stewart Island fernbird
brown skua
Campbell Island snipe
Chatham Island snipe
southern royal albatross
northern royal albatross
long-tailed cuckoo
eastern rockhopper penguin
eastern falcon

Anas superciliosa

Anous minutus

Apteryx haastii

Bowdleria punctata stewartiana

Catharacta antarctica lonnbergi

Coenocorypha aucklandica perseverance

Coenocorypha pusilla

Diomedea epomophora epomophora

Diomedea sanfordi

Eudynamys taitensis

Eudyptes filholi

Falco novaeseelandiae novaeseelandiae

Auckland Island tealAnas aucklandica

Taxonomically determinate (35)

NATIONALLY VULNERABLE (37)southern Fiordland tokoeka

Apteryx australis “southern Fiordland”

Falco novaeseelandiae “southern”

Taxonomically unresolved (2)Xenicus gilviventris rineyi

Sulidaemasked booby

Falconidae

Spheniscidae

Cuculidae

Diomedeidae

Diomedeidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Stercorariidae

Megaluridae

Apterygidae

Sternidae

AnatidaeAnatidae

Falconidae

Apterygidae

Procellariidae

Eopsaltriidae

Strigopidae

Spheniscidae

Sula dactylatra tasmanikea

Nestor notabilis
Chatham Island tomtit

hoiho / yellow-eyed penguin

Megadyptes antipodes

Phalacrocoracidae

Hydrobatidae

Kermadec petrel “summer”

king shag

Leucocarbo carunculatus

Petroica macrocephala chathamensis

white-bellied storm petrel

Fregetta grallaria grallaria

Ardeidae

Psittacidae

Sternidae

Apterygidae

FAMILY

Pterodroma neglecta neglecta

Forbes’ parakeet
reef heron

Cyanoramphus forbesi

Egretta sacra sacra

black-fronted ternrowi / Okarito brown kiwi

COMMON NAME

Chlidonias albostriatus

Apteryx rowi

Taxonomically determinate (12)NATIONALLY ENDANGERED (14)SCIENTIFIC NAME

Table 8 continued

B(1)

E(1)

D(1)

D(1)

E(1)

B(1)

A(1)

B(1)

B(1)

D(1)

B(1)

C(1)

B(1)

B(1)

C(1)

C(1)

B(1)

B(1)

B(1)

C(1)

C(1)

B(1)

B(1)

A(1)

B(1)

C(1)

B(1)

CRITERIA

CD, CR, RF

CR, DPS, DPT

Continued on next page

Worse

Worse
No change

CI, CR, DPT

Worse

CDB, CI, CR, DPT, RR, TO

CD, CI, CR, DPT, RF, RR

Worse

No change

CDB, IE, RR, St
CD, CI, CR, DPT, RR

Worse
No change

CD, SO, Sp

No change

No change

CDB, CR, DPS, DPT, IE, Inc, OL

CR, DPS, RR

CD, RF

BetterWorse

CDB, RR, SO

No changeWorse

No change

CR, DPR, DPS, DPT, SO

CDB, IE, RR, St

CR, DPR, DPS, DPT

No change

No change
No change

CDB, CI, RR, S?O, St
CD, CI, CR, DPS, DPT

No change

CD, CR, IE, RR, St

No change

No change

CDB, DPS, DPT, SO

CD, CI, CR

CD, CI, CR, DPS, DPT, EF, PD, RF

No change

No change

CDB, CR, DPS, DPT, RR, SO
CD, CI, CR, RR

No change

No change

No change

Worse

STATUS CHANGE

CI, CR, DPT, SO, Sp

CD, IE, OL

CI, CR, PD, RF, Sp

CD, OLQUALIFIERS

New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36

23

Phalacrocoracidae
Phalacrocoracidae

Auckland Island shag

Diomedeidae

hihi / stitchbird
lesser fulmar prion
light-mantled sooty albatross

Notiomystis cincta

Pachyptila crassirostris flemingi

Phoebetria palpebrata

Diomedeidae

southern white-fronted tern
Pitt Island shagspotted shaggrey-headed mollymawk

Sterna striata aucklandorna

Stictocarbo featherstoni

Stictocarbo punctatus

Thalassarche chrysostoma

Anas nesiotis

Campbell Island teal

wrybillpāteke / brown teal

Anarhynchus frontalis

Anas chlorotis

Taxonomically determinate (11)NATIONALLY INCREASING (11)Haast tokoeka
northern Fiordland tokoeka

Apteryx australis “Haast”

Apteryx australis “northern Fiordland”

Taxonomically unresolved (2)(IUCN: Endangered, A4bd, ver 3.1, 2018)

Phalacrocoracidae

Hutton’s shearwater

Puffinus huttoni

Meliphagidae

AnatidaeAnatidaeCharadriidae

Apterygidae

Apterygidae

Phalacrocoracidae

Sternidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Chatham Island tūī

Procellariidae

Rallidae

Chatham petrel

tāiko / black petrel

Procellaria parkinsoni

Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae chathamensis

takahē / South Island takahēPorphyrio hochstetteri

Podicipedidae

Notiomystidae

Strigopidae

Pterodroma axillaris

kāmana / Australasian crested grebe

Podiceps cristatus australis(IUCN: Near Threatened A4bd, ver 3.1, 2018)

Procellariidaekākā / South Island kākā

Nestor meridionalis meridionalis

Phalacrocoracidae

Chatham Island shag
Foveaux shag

Leucocarbo onslowi

Leucocarbo stewarti

Anatidaewhio / blue duck

Sternidae

Columbidae

Leucocarbo colensoi

parea / Chatham Island pigeon

Hemiphaga chathamensis

RallidaeHymenolaimus malacorhynchos

Stewart Island weka

Gallirallus australis scotti

Hydrobatidae

FAMILY

Caspian tern

New Zealand storm petrel

Fregetta maoriana

Hydroprogne caspia

COMMON NAMESCIENTIFIC NAME

Table 8 continued

D(1)

A(1)

D(1)

E(1)

B(1)

B(1)

C(3)

A(1)

A(1)

C(1)

A(1)

A(1)

D(1)

B(1)

B(1)

C(1)

B(1)

B(1)

B(1)

C(1)

B(1)

A(1)

B(1)

A(1)

CRITERIAQUALIFIERS

Worse

CI, CR

CDB, IE, Inc, RR

CD, Inc, RR

CD, CR, RR

CD, CR, PD, RF

CD, Inc, OL, RF

CD, CI, OL, TO

Continued on next page

BetterNo change

BetterNo change

BetterNo change

Worse

BetterNo change
CR, IE, RR

No change

CD, CI, OL

No change

BetterNo change

No change

No change

CDB, CR, DPS, DPT, RR

CD, Inc, RR

CD, CR, IE, RR

CD, CI, CR, RR

CD, CI, RR

DPS, Inc, SO

Worse

CDB, CR, DPS, DPT, OL, St
CD, CI, CR, DPS, DPT, RR, TO

No change

No change

No change

BetterNo change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

STATUS CHANGE

CD, CI, RR

CD, CR, PD, RF

CD, CR, DPS, DPT, PD

CR, IE, RR

CR, IE, RR

CD, CI, PD, Sp

CI, SO Sp

CD, DPS, IE, Inc

DPS, DPT

CDB, CR, Inc, OL

24Robertson et al. 2021 – Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021
red-tailed tropicbird
New Zealand dabchick
Antarctic tern

Poliocephalus rufopectus

Sterna vittata bethunei

South Island fernbird
North Island fernbird
lesser knot

Bowdleria punctata punctata

Bowdleria punctata vealeae

Calidris canutus rogersi

Haematopodidae
Laridaetawaki / Fiordland crested penguin
erect-crested penguin
white-flippered blue penguin
northern blue penguin
southern blue penguin
banded rail
South Island pied oystercatcher

Eudyptes pachyrhynchus

Eudyptes sclateri

Eudyptula minor albosignata

Eudyptula minor iredalei

Eudyptula minor minor

Gallirallus philippensis assimilis

Haematopus finschi

mohua / yellowheadkakaruai / South Island robin
toutouwai / North Island robin

Mohoua ochrocephala

Petroica australis australis

Petroica longipes

Petroicidae

Petroicidae

Pachycephalidae

Scolopacidae

eastern bar-tailed godwit

Limosa lapponica baueri(IUCN: Limosa lapponica, NT,A2abc+3bc+4bc, ver 3.1, 2016)

Laridaeblack-billed gull
red-billed gull

Larus bulleri

Larus novaehollandiae scopulinus

RallidaeSpheniscidae

Spheniscidae

Spheniscidae

Spheniscidae

Spheniscidae

Psittacidae

kākāriki / yellow-crowned parakeet

Charadriidae

banded dotterel

Cyanoramphus auriceps

Megaluridae

Charadrius bicinctus bicinctus(IUCN: Calidris canutus, NT A2abc+3bc+4abc, ver 3.1, 2018)

Megaluridae
Scolopacidae

New Zealand pipit

Anthus novaeseelandiae novaeseelandiae

Motacillidae

North Island rifleman

Acanthisittidae

Sternidae

Podicipedidae

Phaethontidae

Phalacrocoracidae

Falconidae

Charadriidae

Callaeidae

Apterygidae

FAMILY

Acanthisitta chloris granti

Taxonomically determinate (27)

DECLINING (27)

AT RISK (101)Otago shag

Phaethon rubricauda

northern New Zealand dotterel

Charadrius obscurus aquilonius

Leucocarbo chalconotus

kōkako / North Island kōkako

Callaeas wilsoni

bush falcon

little spotted kiwi

Apteryx owenii

Falco novaeseelandiae ferox

COMMON NAMESCIENTIFIC NAME

Table 8 continued

B(1)

B(1)

A(1)

B(1)

B(1)

C(1)

B(1)

A(1)

A(1)

A(1)

A(1)

C(1)

A(1)

B(1)

A(1)

B(1)

B(1)

B(1)

B(1)

B(1)

CRITERIAQUALIFIERS

CD, CI, PD

CD, CI, DPT

CD, CI, CR, PD, PF, RR

CI, TOCI

CI, CR, RF

CI

CI, CR, DPS, DPT, RR

CI, CR, DPS, DPT

CI, CR, DPS, DPT

Continued on next page

No change

No changeWorse

No change

No change

BetterNo change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

CDB, CI, CR, PD, RR
CD, CI, CR, PD, RR

BetterWorse

BetterBetterNo change

No change

No change

No change

Sp

CI, CR, DPS, DPT, EF

CD, CI, CR, DPS, PD

CI, TO

CI, CR, DPS, DPT

CI, DPS, DPT

CI, CR

CI, DPS, DPT

No change
No change

Inc

No change

CDB, CI, RR

No change

CD, CINo change

No change

No change

No change

STATUS CHANGE

CDB, CR, Inc, RR, SO

CR, Inc

CD, CI, Inc, RR

CD, Inc, PF

CD, CI, Inc, RRNew Zealand Threat Classification Series 36

25

southern Buller’s mollymawk
New Zealand white-capped mollymawk

Thalassarche cauta steadi

variable oystercatcher
northern giant petrelkākā / North Island kākāsooty ternpied shagtīeke / South Island saddleback
Pycroft’s petrel
North Island little shearwater

Haematopus unicolor

Macronectes halli

Nestor meridionalis septentrionalis

Onychoprion fuscatus serratus

Phalacrocorax varius varius

Philesturnus carunculatus

Pterodroma pycrofti

Puffinus assimilis haurakiensis

fairy prion
broad-billed prion
New Zealand white-faced storm petrel

Pachyptila turtur

Pachyptila vittata

Pelagodroma marina maoriana

southern diving petrel

Antarctic prion

Pachyptila desolata

Pelecanoides urinatrix chathamensis

grey-backed storm petrel

Garrodia nereis

Rallidae

North Island weka
buff weka

Gallirallus australis greyi

Chatham Island blue penguin

Eudyptula minor chathamensis

Gallirallus australis hectori

Spheniscidae

kākāriki / red-crowned parakeet

Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae novaezelandiae

Pelecanoididae

Hydrobatidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Hydrobatidae

Rallidae

Psittacidae

Auckland Island banded dotterel

Charadriidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Callaeidae

Phalacrocoracidae

Sternidae

Strigopidae

Procellariidae

Haematopodidae

Spheniscidae

Diomedeidae

Diomedeidae

Sternidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Rallidae

Rallidae

FAMILY

Charadrius bicinctus exilis

Taxonomically determinate (25)

RELICT (25)Australian little penguin

Eudyptula novaehollandiae

Taxonomically determinate (9)RECOVERING (9)white-fronted tern

Thalassarche bulleri bulleri

Buller’s shearwater

Puffinus bulleri

Sterna striata striata

spotless crake

Porzana tabuensis tabuensis

sooty shearwater

marsh crake

Porzana pusilla affinis

Puffinus griseus

COMMON NAMESCIENTIFIC NAME

Table 8 continued

B

B

B

B

B

B

B

B

A

B

B

C(1)

B(1)

B(1)

C(1)

C(1)

A(1)

A(1)

CRITERIAQUALIFIERS

No change

CDB, Inc, RR

CDB, RR, SO
CDB, RR

Continued on next page

No change

No change
No change

CDB, RR, SO

CDB, RRWorse
No change

CDB, CR, DPS, DPT, RR, SO

No change

CDB, RR, SO

No change

BetterWorse
CI, Inc

No change

CD, PF
CDB, CI, CR, DPS, IE, RR

Worse

No change

CDB, Inc, RR

CDB, CR, DPS, DPT, IE, RR

BetterCD, Inc, PF, RR

No change

No change
CD

No change
CDB, RR, SO

No change

BetterNo change

No changeWorse

No change

No changeWorse

No change

No change

STATUS CHANGE

CD, Inc, PD, PF

Inc, RR, SO

CI, Inc

CD, CI, SO

CD, CI, CR, EF, RR

CD, CR, RR

CI, CR, DPT

CD, CI, SO

CD, CR, DPT, OL, St

DPS, DPT, PF, SO

CI, CR, DPS, DPT, PF, RR

26

Robertson et al. 2021 – Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021
wedge-tailed shearwater

Puffinus pacificus pacificus

Snares Island snipe
Reischek’s parakeet
Chatham Island red-crowned parakeet

Coenocorypha huegeli

Cyanoramphus hochstetteri

Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae chathamensis

Snares Cape petrel

Antipodes Island snipe

Coenocorypha aucklandica meinertzhagenae

Daption capense australe

Auckland Island snipe

Coenocorypha aucklandica aucklandica

Kermadec parakeet

Codfish Island fernbird

Bowdleria punctata wilsoni

Antipodes Island parakeet

Snares Island fernbird

Bowdleria punctata caudata

Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae cyanurus

Rakiura tokoeka

Apteryx australis australis

Cyanoramphus unicolor

Antipodes Island pipit

Anthus novaeseelandiae steindachneri

Procellariidae

Psittacidae

Psittacidae

Psittacidae

Psittacidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Megaluridae

Megaluridae

Apterygidae

Motacillidae

Motacillidae

Motacillidae

Auckland Island pipit
Chatham Island pipit

Anthus novaeseelandiae aucklandicus

Poor Knights bellbird

Anthus novaeseelandiae chathamensis

Meliphagidae

Three Kings bellbird

Anthornis melanura oneho

Meliphagidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Sternidae

Procellariidae

Callaeidae

Phalacrocoracidae

Phalacrocoracidae

Petroicidae

Procellariidae

FAMILY

Anthornis melanura obscura

Taxonomically determinate (36)

NATURALLY UNCOMMON (37)fluttering shearwatermottled petrel

Pterodroma inexpectata

Puffinus gavia

Cook’s petrel

Pterodroma cookii

Kermadec little shearwater

white-naped petrel

Pterodroma cervicalis

flesh-footed shearwater

grey noddy

Procelsterna cerulea albivitta

Puffinus assimilis kermadecensis

grey petrel

Puffinus carneipes

tīeke / North Island saddleback

Procellaria cinerea

black shag

Phalacrocorax carbo novaehollandiae

Philesturnus rufusater

toutouwai / Stewart Island robin

Petroica australis rakiura

little shagnorthern diving petrel

Pelecanoides urinatrix urinatrix

Phalacrocorax melanoleucos brevirostris

COMMON NAMESCIENTIFIC NAME

Table 8 continued

B

B

B

B

B

B

B

A

A

B

A

A

A

B

CRITERIAQUALIFIERS

Continued on next page

No change

No change

CDB, IE, RR, St
CD, CI, CR, DPT, RR

No change

CDB, EF, IE, RR

No change
No change

CDB, IE, RR, St
IE, RR, St

BetterNo change

CDB, IE, PF, RR, St
CDB, IE, RR, St

No change

CDB, IE, RR
CDB, IE, St

No change
No change

CDB, IE, OL, St

BetterBetterCD, CR, OL, St

CDB, DPS, DPT, IE, RR, St

No change

CDB, Inc, RR

No change

No change

CDB, CI, IE, OL, St
IE, RR, St

No change

CDB, CI, IE, OL, St

No change

CDB, Inc, RR, SO

CDB, IE, RR

BetterNo change

CDB, Inc, RR

No change

No change

CDB, Inc, RR

CDB, RRNo change

CDB, OL

CD, Inc, RR, SO

Worse
No change

CDB, CR, DPS, DPT, RR, SO

Worse

Better

Worse

Worse

No change

No change

STATUS CHANGE

CD, CR, DPT, RR, SO

CD, Inc, RR

CR, DPT

CR, DPS, DPT, SO, Sp

CD, RR

CDB, Inc, RR, SO

New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36

27

Procellariidae

Campbell Island mollymawk

Thalassarche impavida

Australasian shoveler
grey duck × mallard hybrid
korimako / bellbird
North Island brown kiwi

Anas rhynchotis

Anas superciliosa x platyrhynchos

Anthornis melanura melanura

Apteryx mantellipāpango / New Zealand scaup

grey tealAnas gracilis

Aythya novaeseelandiae

South Island rifleman

Acanthisitta chloris chloris

Taxonomically determinate (37)

NOT THREATENED (37)

Pterodroma aff. neglecta “winter”

Kermadec petrel “winter”

Chatham Island mollymawk

Thalassarche eremita

Taxonomically unresolved (1)northern Buller’s mollymawk

Thalassarche bulleri platei

Procellariidae

subantarctic little shearwater
Chatham Island fantail

soft-plumaged petrel

Pterodroma mollis

Puffinus elegans

Westland petrel

Procellaria westlandica

Rhipidura fuliginosa penita

Procellariidae

royal spoonbill

Platalea regia

Petroicidae

Anatidae

Apterygidae

Meliphagidae

AnatidaeAnatidaeAnatidaeAcanthisittidae

Procellariidae

Diomedeidae

Diomedeidae

Diomedeidae

Rhipiduridae

Procellariidae

Threskiornithidae

Phalacrocoracidae

Auckland Island tomtit
little black shag

Petroica macrocephala marrineri

Petroicidae

RallidaePhalacrocoracidae

Phalacrocorax sulcirostris

Chatham fulmar prion
Snares Island tomtit

fulmar prion

Pachyptila crassirostris crassirostris

Pachyptila crassirostris pyramidalis

Auckland Island rail

Lewinia muelleri

Petroica macrocephala dannefaerdi

Procellariidae

Bounty Island shag

Phalacrocoracidae

Campbell Island shag

Acanthizidae

Rallidae

Leucocarbo ranfurlyi

Australian coot

Fulica atra australis

Spheniscidae

Leucocarbo campbelli

Snares crested penguin

Eudyptes robustus

Charadriidae

FAMILY

Chatham Island warbler

black-fronted dotterel

Elseyornis melanops

Gerygone albofrontata

COMMON NAMESCIENTIFIC NAME

Table 8 continued

B(1)CRITERIA

No change
No change
No change
No change

CDB, RR, St
CDB, CR, DPS, DPT, IE, RR
CDB, IE, OL, St
CDB, IE, RR

No change

CDB, CR, DPT, RR

Inc

CD, PD, RF

SO

Inc, SO

CDB, CR, T?O

CD, CI, IE, OL

CD, IE, OL

CD, CI, RR

Continued on next page

No change

BetterNo change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

BetterNo change

No change

No change

No change

EF, IE, RR

No change

CD, CR, OL, St

No change

CDB, CI, CR, DPT, Inc, OL, SO

Inc, RR, SO, Sp

No change

No change

CDB, IE, RR, St

RR, SONo change

No change

CDB, CR, DPS, DPT, IE, OL
CI, CR, IE, OL

BetterNo change

No change

No change

STATUS CHANGE

CDB, IE, RR

Inc, SO

CDB, IE, OL

SO, SpQUALIFIERS

28

Robertson et al. 2021 – Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021
Procellariidae

riroriro / grey warbler
kererū / New Zealand pigeon
poaka / pied stilt
welcome swallow
karoro / southern black-backed gullpōpokatea / whiteheadpīpipi / brown creepertākapu / Australasian gannet
ruru / morepork
subantarctic diving petrel
South Island tomtit
North Island tomtit
pūkekowhite-chinned petrel

Gerygone igata

Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae

Himantopus himantopus leucocephalus

Hirundo neoxena neoxena

Larus dominicanus dominicanus

Mohoua albicilla

Mohoua novaeseelandiae

Morus serrator

Ninox novaeseelandiae novaeseelandiae

Pelecanoides urinatrix exsul

Petroica macrocephala macrocephala

Petroica macrocephala toitoi

Porphyrio melanotus melanotus

tūī
white-headed petrel
grey-faced petrel
black-winged petrel
South Island fantail
North Island fantail
pūtangitangi / paradise shelduck
kōtare / New Zealand kingfisher
spur-winged plover
tauhou / silvereye

Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae novaeseelandiae

Pterodroma lessonii

Pterodroma macroptera gouldi

Pterodroma nigripennis

Rhipidura fuliginosa fuliginosa

Rhipidura fuliginosa placabilis

Tadorna variegata

Todiramphus sanctus vagans

Vanellus miles novaehollandiae

Zosterops lateralis lateralis(IUCN: Vulnerable A4bcde, ver 3.1, 2018)

Procellaria aequinoctialis

Rallidaewestern weka

Zosteropidae

Charadriidae

Halcyonidae

Anatidae

Rhipiduridae

Rhipiduridae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Meliphagidae

Petroicidae

Petroicidae

Pelecanoididae

Strigidae

SulidaePachycephalidae

Pachycephalidae

Laridae

Hirundinidae

Recurvirostridae

Columbidae

Acanthizidae

RallidaeHydrobatidae

black-bellied storm petrel

ArdeidaeAnatidae

Gallirallus australis australis

black swan

Cygnus atratus

Accipitridae

Fregetta tropica

kāhu / Australasian harrier

Circus approximans

Cuculidae

FAMILY

white-faced heron

pīpīwharauroa / shining cuckoo

Chrysococcyx lucidus lucidus

Egretta novaehollandiae

COMMON NAMESCIENTIFIC NAME

Table 8 continued
CRITERIA

No change

SO

SO

EF

Continued on next page

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No changeEF

No change

De*, Inc, RR

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

BetterNo change

No change

No change

No change

No change

CDB, De*, Inc, RR

CDB, De*, RR, SO

Inc

CD, De*, RR, TO

Inc, SO

CDB, De*, RR, SO

CI, De*, Inc, SO

CD, CI, PD

SO

SO, StSO

CD, Inc

No change

CDB, De*, DPS, DPT, RR
EF, Inc

No change

No change

No change

No change

STATUS CHANGE

SO

SO

SO

QUALIFIERS

New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36

29

Diomedeidae

red-necked stint
Antarctic skua
white-winged black ternpomarine skua
Cape petrel
wandering albatross

Calidris ruficollis

Catharacta maccormicki

Chlidonias leucopterus

Coprotheres pomarinus

Daption capense capense

Diomedea exulans

Procellariidae

Kerguelen petrel
southern giant petrel
Asiatic whimbrel
Wilson’s storm petrel
thin-billed prion
Salvin’s prion
Pacific golden plover
New Caledonian petrel

Lugensa brevirostris

Macronectes giganteus

Numenius phaeopus variegatus

Oceanites oceanicus exasperatus

Pachyptila belcheri

Pachyptila salvini

Pluvialis fulva

Pterodroma leucoptera caledonica

Arctic skua
Arctic ternlittle tern

Stercorarius parasiticus

Sterna paradisaea

Sternula albifrons sinensis

Acrocephalus australis

Taxonomically determinate (143)Australian reed warbler

long-tailed skua

Stercorarius longicaudus

VAGRANT (143)short-tailed shearwater

Puffinus tenuirostris(IUCN: Pterodroma leucoptera, Vulnerable B2ab(ii,v); D2, ver 3.1,
2018)

Charadriidae

blue petrel

Halobaena caerulea

Acrocephalidae

Sternidae

Sternidae

Stercorariidae

Stercorariidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Hydrobatidae

Scolopacidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Antarctic fulmar

Procellariidae

Stercorariidae

Sternidae

Stercorariidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Fulmarus glacialoides(IUCN: Vulnerable A4bd, ver 3.1, 2018)

Procellariidae

sharp-tailed sandpiper

Calidris acuminata

Scolopacidae

ruddy turnstone

Arenaria interpres

Ardeidae

FAMILYeastern cattle egret

COMMON NAME

Ardea ibis coromanda

Taxonomically determinate (24)

MIGRANT (24)

NON-RESIDENT NATIVE (176)

SCIENTIFIC NAME

Table 8 continued
CRITERIA

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

TO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

TO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

QUALIFIERS

Continued on next page

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

STATUS CHANGE

30

Robertson et al. 2021 – Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021
Scolopacidae

king penguin
fork-tailed swift
grey heron
plumed intermediate egret
white-necked heron
dusky woodswallow
masked woodswallow
white-browed woodswallow
Australian white-eyed duck
upland sandpiper
Bulwer’s petrel
fan-tailed cuckoo
sanderling
dunlinBaird’s sandpiper
curlew sandpiper
white-rumped sandpiper
stilt sandpiper
western sandpiper
pectoral sandpiper
little stint
semipalmated sandpiper
long-toed stint
great knot

Aptenodytes patagonicus

Apus pacificus pacificus

Ardea cinerea jouyi

Ardea intermedia plumifera

Ardea pacifica

Artamus cyanopterus

Artamus personatus

Artamus superciliosus

Aythya australis

Bartramia longicauda

Bulweria bulwerii

Cacomantis flabelliformis flabelliformis

Calidris alba

Calidris alpina

Calidris bairdii

Calidris ferruginea

Calidris fuscicollis

Calidris himantopus

Calidris mauri

Calidris melanotos

Calidris minuta

Calidris pusilla

Calidris subminuta

Calidris tenuirostris
Cory’s shearwater
streaked shearwater

Calonectris borealis

Calonectris leucomelas(IUCN: Endangered A2bc+3bc+4bc, ver 3.1, 2016)

Scolopacidae

emperor penguin

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Cuculidae

Procellariidae

Scolopacidae

AnatidaeArtamidae

Artamidae

Artamidae

Ardeidae

Ardeidae

Ardeidae

ApodidaeSpheniscidae

Spheniscidae

Meliphagidae

red wattlebird

Anhingidae

AnatidaeAptenodytes forsteri

northern shoveler

Anas clypeata

Anatidae

Anthochaera carunculata

chestnut tealAnas castanea

Anatidae

FAMILY

Australian darter

northern pintail

Anas acuta

Anhinga melanogaster novaehollandiae

COMMON NAMESCIENTIFIC NAME

Table 8 continued
CRITERIA

SO

SO

TO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

QUALIFIERS

Continued on next page

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

STATUS CHANGE

New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36

31

corncrakeoriental cuckoo
pallid cuckoo
plumed whistling duck
little egret
red-kneed dotterel
western rockhopper penguin

Crex crex

Cuculus optatus

Cuculus pallidus

Dendrocygna eytoni

Egretta garzetta immaculata

Erythrogonys cinctus

Eudyptes chrysocome

royal penguin
dollarbird
nankeen kestrel
lesser frigatebird
great frigatebird
northern fulmar
Japanese snipe
common moorhen
dusky moorhen
black-tailed native-hen
oriental pratincole
magpie-larkwhite-bellied sea eagle
white-throated needletail
Australian little bittern

Eudyptes schlegeli

Falco cenchroides cenchroides

Fregata ariel ariel

Fregata minor palmerstoni

Fulmarus glacialis

Gallinago hardwickii

Gallinula chloropus

Gallinula tenebrosa

Gallinula ventralis

Glareola maldivarum

Grallina cyanoleuca

Haliaeetus leucogaster

Hirundapus caudacutus caudacutus

Ixobrychus minutus dubius

Moseley’s rockhopper penguin

Eurystomus orientalis pacificus(IUCN: Endangered A2acde+3cde+4acde, ver 3.1, 2020)

Eudyptes moseleyi(IUCN: Vulnerable, A2bce+3bce+4bce, ver 3.1, 2020)

Eudyptes chrysolophus
macaroni penguin

Spheniscidae

black-faced cuckoo-shrike

Coracina novaehollandiae(IUCN: Vulnerable, A2abcde+3bcde+4abcde, ver 3.1, 2020)

Charadriidae

whiskered tern

Ardeidae

ApodidaeAccipitridae

Monarchidae

Glareolidae

Rallidae

Rallidae

Rallidae

Scolopacidae

Procellariidae

Fregatidae

Fregatidae

Falconidae

Coraciidae

Spheniscidae

Spheniscidae

Spheniscidae

ArdeidaeAnatidae

Cuculidae

Cuculidae

Rallidae

Campephagidae

Sternidae

Charadriidae

oriental dotterel

Charadriidae

Charadriidae

Chlidonias hybridus javanicus

red-capped dotterel

Charadrius ruficapillus

Charadriidae

Charadrius veredus

Mongolian dotterel

Charadrius mongolus

Charadriidae

FAMILYsemipalmated plover

large sand dotterel

Charadrius leschenaultii leschenaultii

Charadrius semipalmatus

COMMON NAMESCIENTIFIC NAME

Table 8 continued
CRITERIA

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

TO

TO

TO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

QUALIFIERS

Continued on next page

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

STATUS CHANGE

32

Robertson et al. 2021 – Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021
Scolopacidae

Asiatic dowitcher
Hudsonian godwit
Asiatic black-tailed godwit
pink-eared duck
black kite
black-faced monarch
Cape gannet
satin flycatcher
eastern curlew

Limnodromus semipalmatus

Limosa haemastica

Limosa limosa melanuroides

Malacorhynchus membranaceus

Milvus migrans

Monarcha melanopsis

Morus capensis

Myiagra cyanoleuca

Numenius madagascariensis
little whimbrel
American whimbrel
bristle-thighed curlew
Leach’s storm petrel
bridled terngrey-backed tern
Australian white-faced storm petrel
Australian pelican
fairy martin
tree martin
white-tailed tropicbird
little pied shaggrey phalarope
red-necked phalarope
Wilson’s phalarope
ruff
Laysan albatross

Numenius minutus

Numenius phaeopus hudsonicus

Numenius tahitiensis

Oceanodroma leucorhoa leucorhoa

Onychoprion anaethetus

Onychoprion lunatus

Pelagodroma marina dulciae

Pelecanus conspicillatus

Petrochelidon ariel

Petrochelidon nigricans

Phaethon lepturus dorotheae

Phalacrocorax melanoleucos melanoleucos

Phalaropus fulicarius

Phalaropus lobatus

Phalaropus tricolor

Philomachus pugnax

Phoebastria immutabilis(IUCN: Endangered A2bc+3bc+4bc, ver 3.1, 2016)

Monarchidae

eastern broad-billed sandpiper

Diomedeidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Phalacrocoracidae

Phaethontidae

Hirundinidae

Hirundinidae

Pelecanidae

Hydrobatidae

Sternidae

Sternidae

Hydrobatidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

SulidaeMonarchidae

Accipitridae

Anatidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Phalacrocoracidae

Macquarie Island shag

Laridae

Laridae

Limicola falcinellus sibirica

Pacific gull

Larus pacificus

Laridae

Leucocarbo purpurascenslaughing gull

Larus atricillaCampephagidae

FAMILY

Franklin’s gullwhite-winged triller

Lalage tricolor

Larus pipixcan

COMMON NAMESCIENTIFIC NAME

Table 8 continued
CRITERIA

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

TO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

QUALIFIERS

Continued on next page

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

New listing

No change

No change

New listing

No change

STATUS CHANGE

New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36

33

black-footed albatross
sooty albatross

Phoebastria nigripes

Phoebetria fusca

Tahiti petrel
Phoenix petrel
collared petrel

Pseudobulweria rostrata

Pterodroma alba

Pterodroma brevipes

Procellariidae

pink-footed shearwater
great shearwater
Christmas Island shearwater
Newell’s shearwater

Puffinus creatopus

Puffinus gravis

Puffinus nativitatis

Puffinus newelli
wedge-tailed shearwater
Manx shearwater
Adélie penguin
chinstrap penguin
gentoo penguin
red-necked avocet
willie wagtail
painted snipe
channel-billed cuckoo
eastern common tern

Puffinus pacificus chlororhynchus

Puffinus puffinus

Pygoscelis adeliae

Pygoscelis antarctica

Pygoscelis papua

Recurvirostra novaehollandiae

Rhipidura leucophrys

Rostratula benghalensis

Scythrops novaehollandiae

Sterna hirundo longipennis(IUCN: Critically Endangered A3bce+4bce, ver 3.1, 2019)

Procellariidae

Norfolk Island little shearwater

Sternidae

Cuculidae

Rostratulidae

Rhipiduridae

Recurvirostridae

Spheniscidae

Spheniscidae

Spheniscidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

rose-crowned fruit-dove

Puffinus assimilis assimilis

Columbidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

Procellariidae

RallidaeCharadriidae

Ptilinopus regina(IUCN: Vulnerable D2, ver 3.1, 2019)

Pterodroma solandri
providence petrel

Stejneger’s petrel(IUCN: Vulnerable D2, ver 3.1, 2019)

Herald petrel

Pterodroma heraldica

Pterodroma longirostris(IUCN: Vulnerable D2, ver 3.1, 2018)

Pterodroma externa
Juan Fernández petrel

Procellariidae

Australian crake

Porzana fluminea(IUCN: Vulnerable C2a(i), D1, ver 3.1, 2018)

Procellariidae

grey plover

Pluvialis squatarola

Charadriidae

yellow-billed spoonbill
American golden plover

Platalea flavipes

Threskiornithidae

Diomedeidae

Diomedeidae

FAMILY

Pluvialis dominicus(IUCN: Endangered A4bd, ver 3.1, 2018)

COMMON NAMESCIENTIFIC NAME

Table 8 continued
CRITERIA

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

TO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

TO

TO

SO

TO

TO

TO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

TO

SO

QUALIFIERS

Continued on next page

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

New listing

No change

No change

No change

No change

New listing

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

STATUS CHANGE

34

Robertson et al. 2021 – Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021
Antarctic petrel
Australian white ibis
straw-necked ibis
Siberian tattler
Terek sandpiper
lesser yellowlegs
common sandpiper
wandering tattler
greenshankmarsh sandpiper
buff-breasted sandpiper

Thalassoica antarctica

Threskiornis molucca strictipennis

Threskiornis spinicollis

Tringa brevipes

Tringa cinerea

Tringa flavipes

Tringa hypoleucos

Tringa incana

Tringa nebularia

Tringa stagnatilis

Tryngites subruficollis

Diomedeidae

gull-billed ternnankeen night heron
glossy ibis
hoary-headed grebe
Australasian little grebe
Indian Ocean yellow-nosed mollymawk

Gelochelidon nilotica

Nycticorax caledonicus australasiae

Plegadis falcinellus

Poliocephalus poliocephalus

Tachybaptus novaehollandiae novaehollandiae

Thalassarche carteri
black-browed mollymawk
Australian barn owl

Thalassarche melanophris

Tyto alba deliculata(IUCN: Endangered A4bde, ver 3.1, 2018)

Podicipedidae

Australian wood duck

Chenonetta jubata

Tytonidae

Diomedeidae

Podicipedidae

Threskiornithidae

ArdeidaeSternidae

Anatidaecommon noddy

Sternidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae

Threskiornithidae

Threskiornithidae

Procellariidae

Anous stolidus pileatus

Taxonomically determinate (10)COLONISER (10)greater crested tern

Thalasseus bergii cristata

Sternidae

Diomedeidae

Atlantic yellow-nosed mollymawk(IUCN: Endangered A4bd; B2ab(v), ver 3.1, 2018)

Diomedeidae

Tasmanian albatross

Anatidae

Sulidae

Thalassarche chlororhynchos

eastern Pacific red-footed booby

Sula sula websteri

Sulidae

Thalassarche cauta cauta

Indo-Pacific red-footed booby

Sula sula rubripes

Sulidae

FAMILY

chestnut-breasted shelduck

brown booby

Sula leucogaster plotus

Tadorna tadornoides

COMMON NAMESCIENTIFIC NAME

Table 8 continued
CRITERIA

OL, SOSO

OL, TOSO

OL, SO

OL, SO

DPS, DPT, OL, SO

OL, SO

OL, SO

OL, SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

TO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

QUALIFIERS

Continued on next page

No change

No change

No change

No change

BetterNo change

No change

BetterNo change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

New listing

No change

No change

STATUS CHANGE

New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36

35

mallardferal goose
little owl
Canada goosesulphur-crested cockatoo
California quail
goldfinchgreenfinchcommon redpoll
Cape Barren gooserock pigeonrookbrown quail
mute swan
laughing kookaburra
cirl bunting
yellowhammer
galah
chaffinch
Australian magpie
wild turkey
helmeted guineafowl
house sparrowpeafowlring-necked pheasanteastern rosella
dunnock

Anas platyrhynchos

Anser anser

Athene noctua

Branta canadensis

Cacatua galerita

Callipepla californica

Carduelis carduelis

Carduelis chloris

Carduelis flammea

Cereopsis novaehollandiae

Columba livia

Corvus frugilegus

Coturnix ypsilophora australis

Cygnus olor

Dacelo novaeguineae

Emberiza cirlus

Emberiza citrinella

Eolophus roseicapillus

Fringilla coelebs

Gymnorhina tibicen

Meleagris gallopavo

Numida meleagris

Passer domesticus

Pavo cristatus

Phasianus colchicus

Platycercus eximius

Prunella modularis

Malay spotted dovechukorAlectoris chukar

Streptopelia chinensis tigrina

Eurasian skylark

Indian myna

COMMON NAME

Alauda arvensis

Acridotheres tristis

Taxonomically determinate (35)

INTRODUCED AND NATURALISED (35)SCIENTIFIC NAME

Table 8 continued

Columbidae

Prunellidae

Psittacidae

Phasianidae

Phasianidae

Passeridae

Phasianidae

Phasianidae

Artamidae

Fringillidae

Cacatuidae

Emberizidae

Emberizidae

Halcyonidae

AnatidaePhasianidae

CorvidaeColumbidae

AnatidaeFringillidae

Fringillidae

Fringillidae

Phasianidae

Cacatuidae

Anatidae

Strigidae

AnatidaeAnatidaePhasianidae

Alaudidae

Sturnidae

FAMILYCRITERIA

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO, SpSO

SO

SO

RR, SOSO

SO, Sp

RR, SO

SO, SpSO

SO

SO

SO, Sp

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO, Sp

SO

SO

SO

SO

SO, SpSO

SO

QUALIFIERS

Continued on next page

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

No change

STATUS CHANGE

36

Robertson et al. 2021 – Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021

starling
blackbird

Sturnus vulgaris

Turdus merula
TurdidaeTurdidae

Sturnidae

Columbidae

FAMILYCRITERIA* Designated because the small total area occupied by colonies would otherwise have placed the taxon in a Threatened or At Risk category.

song thrush

Barbary dove

Streptopelia risoria

Turdus philomelos

COMMON NAMESCIENTIFIC NAME

Table 8 continued

SO

SO

SO

SO, SpQUALIFIERS

No change

No change

No change

No change

STATUS CHANGE

3.2

NZTCS categories, criteria and qualifiers used inthis assessment

3.2.1

Qualifiers
The qualifiers used in this assessment are abbreviated as follows:CD	Conservation Dependent (CDB indicates the need for only good biosecurity)
CI
Climate Impact
CR
Conservation Research Needed
De
Designated
DPR
Data Poor Recognition
DPS
Data Poor Size
DPT
Data Poor Trend
EF
Extreme Fluctuations
IE
Island Endemic
Inc
IncreasingOL
One Location
PD
Partial Decline
PF
Population Fragmentation
RF
Recruitment Failure
RR
Range Restricted
SO
Secure Overseas
Sp
SparseTO
Threatened Overseas
Further details about each of these can be found at https://nztcs.org.nz/content/NZTCS_QUALIFIERS.

3.2.2

Categories and criteria
Extinct
Taxa for which there is no reasonable doubt – following repeated surveys in known or expected
habitats at appropriate times (diurnal, seasonal and annual) and throughout the taxon’s historicrange – that the last individual has died.

Data Deficient
Taxa that cannot be assessed due to a lack of current information about their distribution
and abundance. It is hoped that listing such taxa will stimulate research to find out the true
category (for a fuller definition, see Townsend et al. 2008).

Threatened
Taxa that meet the criteria specified by Townsend et al. (2008) for the statuses Nationally
Critical, Nationally Endangered and Nationally Vulnerable.
Nationally CriticalA – very small population (natural or unnatural)A(1)< 250 mature individuals
A(2)≤ 2 subpopulations, ≤ 200 mature individuals in the larger subpopulation
A(3)Total area of occupancy ≤ 1 ha (0.01 km2)
B – small population with a high ongoing or forecast decline of 50–70%
B(1)250–1000 mature individuals
B(2)≤ 5 subpopulations, ≤ 300 mature individuals in the largest subpopulation
B(3)Total area of occupancy ≤ 10 ha (0.1 km2)

New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36

37

C – population (irrespective of size or number of subpopulations) with a very high ongoingor forecast decline of > 70%
C
Predicted decline > 70%
Nationally Endangered
A – small population that has a low to high ongoing or forecast decline of 10–50%
A(1)250–1000 mature individuals
A(2)≤ 5 subpopulations, ≤ 300 mature individuals in the largest subpopulation
A(3)Total area of occupancy ≤ 10 ha (0.1 km2)
B – small stable population (unnatural)B(1)250–1000 mature individuals
B2)≤ 5 subpopulations, ≤ 300 mature individuals in the largest subpopulation
B(3)Total area of occupancy ≤ 10 ha (0.1 km2)
C – moderate population and high ongoing or forecast decline of 50–70%
C(1)1000–5000 mature individuals
C(2)≤ 15 subpopulations, ≤ 500 mature individuals in the largest subpopulation
C(3)Total area of occupancy ≤ 100 ha (1 km2)
Nationally Vulnerable
A – small population (unnatural), increasing > 10%A(1)
250–1000 mature individuals
A(2)≤ 5 subpopulations, ≤ 300 mature individuals in the largest subpopulation
A(3)Total area of occupancy ≤ 10 ha (0.1 km2)
B – moderate population (unnatural), stable ± 10%
B(1)
B(2)
B(3)

1000–5000 mature individuals≤ 15 subpopulations, ≤ 500 mature individuals in the largest subpopulation
Total area of occupancy ≤ 100 ha (1 km2)

C – moderate population, with population trend that has a low to high ongoing or forecast
decline of 10–50%
C(1)1000–5000 mature individuals
C(2)≤ 15 subpopulations, ≤ 500 mature individuals in the largest subpopulation
C(3)Total area of occupancy ≤ 100 ha (1 km2)
D – moderate to large population and moderate to high ongoing or forecast decline of
30–70%
D(1)
D(2)
D(3)

5000–20 000 mature individuals≤ 15 subpopulations, ≤ 1000 mature individuals in the largest subpopulation
Total area of occupancy ≤ 1000 ha (10 km2)

E – large population and high ongoing or forecast decline of 50–70%
E(1)20 000–100 000 mature individuals
E(2)Total area of occupancy ≤ 10 000 ha (100 km2)
Nationally Increasing(This name replaces At Risk – Recovering A of Townsend et al. (2008).)
Taxa that have undergone a documented decline within the last 1000 years to a population sizeof 1000–5000 mature individuals or a total area of occupancy of ≤ 100 ha (1 km2) and now havean ongoing or predicted increase of > 10% in the total population or area of occupancy, takenover the next 10 years or three generations, whichever is longer.
Taxa that are increasing but have a population size of < 1000 mature individuals (or total areaof occupancy of < 10 ha) are listed in one of the other Threatened categories, depending on
their population size (see Townsend et al. 2008).

38

Robertson et al. 2021 – Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021

At Risk
Taxa that meet the criteria specified by Townsend et al. (2008) for Declining, Recovering,
Relict or Naturally Uncommon.
DecliningA – moderate to large population and low ongoing or forecast decline of 10–30%
A(1)5000–20 000 mature individuals
A(2)Total area of occupancy ≤ 1000 ha (10 km2)
B – large population and low to moderate ongoing or forecast decline of 10–50%
B(1)20 000–100 000 mature individuals
B(2)Total area of occupancy ≤ 10 000 ha (100 km2)
C – very large population and low to high ongoing or forecast decline of 10–70%
C(1)> 100 000 mature individuals
C(2)Total area of occupancy > 10 000 ha (100 km2)
Recovering
Taxa that have undergone a documented decline within the last 1000 years to a population sizeof 5000–20 000 mature individuals or a total area of occupancy of ≤ 1000 ha (10 km2) and now
have an ongoing or predicted increase of > 10% in the total population or area of occupancy,
taken over the next 10 years or three generations, whichever is longer.
Taxa that are increasing but have a population size of < 5000 mature individuals (or total
area of occupancy of < 100 ha) are listed in one of the Threatened categories, depending on
their population size (for more details, see the description of Nationally Increasing above andTownsend et al. (2008)).
RelictTaxa that have undergone a documented decline within the last 1000 years, now occupy< 10% of their former range and meet one of the following criteria:A
B

5000–20 000 mature individuals; population stable (± 10%)> 20 000 mature individuals; population stable (± 10%) or increasing at > 10%

The range of a relictual taxon takes into account the area currently occupied as a ratio of
its former extent. Relict can also include taxa that exist as reintroduced and self-sustaining
populations within or outside their former known range (for more details, see Townsend
et al. (2008)).
Naturally Uncommon
Taxa whose distribution is confined to a specific geographical area or which occur within
naturally small and widely scattered populations, where this distribution is not the result of
human disturbance.

Non-resident Native
Taxa whose natural presence in Aotearoa New Zealand is either discontinuous (Migrant) or
sporadic or temporary (Vagrant) or which have succeeded in recently (since 1950) establishinga resident breeding population (Coloniser).

New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3639

Migrant
Taxa that predictably and cyclically visit Aotearoa New Zealand as part of their normal life
cycle (a minimum of 15 individuals known or presumed to visit per annum) but do not breed
here. Following previous practice since 2012 (Robertson et al. 2013), the panel assessed eastern
bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponoica baueri) and lesser knot (Calidris canutus rogersi) among
the native taxa on the basis that more than half of the world’s population of these taxa visit
Aotearoa New Zealand annually and individuals of both species spend more than half of theirlives in Aotearoa New Zealand, even though they do not breed here.
Vagrant
Taxa whose occurrences, though natural, are sporadic and typically transitory, or migrants withfewer than 15 individuals visiting Aotearoa New Zealand per annum.
Coloniser
Taxa that would otherwise trigger Threatened or At Risk categories because of their small
population sizes, have arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand without help from humans and havebeen successfully reproducing in the wild only since 1950.

Not Threatened
Resident native taxa that have large, stable populations. The panel designated several
numerous seabird species that breed at more than one location (e.g. tākapu / Australasiangannet (Morus serrator)) as Not Threatened because, while the small area of occupancy ofbreeding colonies would ordinarily have triggered a higher category, the panel felt that if
breeding sites in any region were lost or adversely affected by environmental change, theoverall Aotearoa New Zealand population would not become threatened.

Introduced and Naturalised
Taxa that have become naturalised in the wild after being deliberately introduced into
Aotearoa New Zealand by humans.

4. Acknowledgements
We thank the many people and organisations who responded to electronic and publishednotifications, or our direct approaches, calling for submissions to inform this assessment.
We especially thank those who have published the results of their field research, those whoshared their unpublished data with the panel before it was formally published, and thoseexperts who responded to direct requests for data. We thank Kate Beer, Ash Murphy, Nicola
Pindur, Holly Slade and Amanda Todd for assistance with editing and laying out this report.

40

Robertson et al. 2021 – Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021

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