Conservation of the critically endangered New Zealand fairy tern (Sternula nereis davisae) has focused on predator control, habitat management, and intensive monitoring. However, intra-specific social dynamics at nest sites can also influence breeding success. This observational study examines aggression between adults when a female mates with more than one male or when an unpaired male persistently attends a nest. Using detailed observations from Waipū in 2015-16, supported by comparative cases from Te Ārai (2019-20) and Waipū (2020-21), we describe behaviours that escalate aggression: repeated copulation near the nest, establishment of micro-territories within the site, body-to-body fights, chick-directed pecking, and disruption of provisioning. These behaviours increased risk to chicks when pecking occurred or when feeding patterns were disrupted, and appeared to impose endurance costs on males attending nests. Understanding these interactions is important for management, as they may represent conditional

Banded rails (Hypotaenidia philippensis) were monitored using footprints before, during, and after the partial removal of 1.8 ha of mangroves (Avicennia marina) from a 2.4 ha area in the Ruakaka estuary. Mangrove removal occurred in two phases: adult trees in winter 2014 and juvenile plants and pneumatophores in winter 2015. Banded rails were only detected on the margins of mangroves during adult tree removal, and then throughout the cleared areas after seedling and pneumatophore removal. In 2016, 2018, and 2020, rails showed a similar use pattern in the uncleared and cleared areas to that used before mangrove removal. After mangrove seedling and pneumatophore removal, potential predators, including cats (Felis catus), were present most of the time, and mustelids (Mustela spp.) were present in summer.

Buller’s albatross Thalassarche bulleri is generally considered to comprise two subspecies: T. b. bulleri, which breeds on islands south of the South Island, New Zealand; and T. b. platei, which nests on the Three Kings Islands, off the northern tip of of the North Island, and on outlying islets of the Chatham Islands east of New Zealand. Although the name platei has been widely applied to the latter population, some authors have suggested that its type specimen is in fact a juvenile T. b. bulleri. As a result, those birds breeding in the Chatham and Three Kings groups have sometimes been considered to represent an unnamed subspecies, or even species, given recent evidence of their genetic differentiation. Because our own morphological examination of the specimen was inconclusive as to which population the type of platei belongs, we subjected the individual to molecular testing. From this, we can confirm that the name platei has been correctly applied to the northern population of Buller’s albatross.

Since the publication of the fifth edition of the Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand in 2022, 3 new vagrant species (2 terns and a storm petrel) have been accepted as occurring in New Zealand as at 31 December 2023, and 11 species that became extinct more than c. 1 million years ago have been described. These comprised 3 waterfowl, 1 owlet-nightjar, 1 tropicbird, 3 penguins, 1 albatross, 1 petrel, and a ‘false-colie’ (the latter is considered unrelated to any known group of birds). These 11 new fossil species were found in deposits of the following epochs: Paleocene (3), Miocene (6), and Pliocene (2). The richest areas for discovering new species were Miocene lacustrine deposits of the St Bathans region of Central Otago (5 species), and Paleocene marine deposits from the eastern South Island (3 species). Two Pliocene seabirds were from marine sediments in south Taranaki, and a Miocene albatross was found in a limestone quarry in South Canterbury. Recent publications potentially affecting the taxonomy, nomenclature, classification and arrangement of New Zealand birds are assessed, and recommendations are made that affect 56 taxa. This includes splitting Tibetan sand plover Anarhynchus atrifrons from Siberian sand plover A. mongolus, and Pyramid prion Pachyptila pyramidalis from fulmar prion P. crassirostris, thereby adding a further two species to the New Zealand bird list. The total number of bird species, including fossil species, now accepted from the New Zealand region is 502.