Every summer many millions of Sooty Shearwaters arrive off the Californian coast, their huge flocks astonishing observers who often have trouble grasping that the dark swirling clouds over the water consist of seabirds. Scientists have long known that Sooty Shearwaters breed in New Zealand and Chile and migrate to feeding grounds in the Northern Hemisphere. […]
WORLD FIRST: Spoon-billed sandpiper chicks hatch in captivity
The first critically endangered Spoon-billed sandpiper to hatch in captivity in the world was always going to be a spectacular sight, but when a Heritage Expeditions boat docked in Anadyr last night not one, not two, but an incredible 17 tiny, hatched Spoon-billed sandpiper chicks emerged. The incredibly ambitious mission to collect eggs from the […]
Critically Endangered Takahe Released onto Auckland Island
One of New Zealand’s rarest native birds, the takahē, has been released on Motutapu Island in the heart of Auckland. There are only 260 takahē in the world and nine were released on Motutapu Island. Motutapu is a pest free island half an hour by ferry from downtown Auckland. Takahē were once widespread throughout New […]