Shore plover - Thinornis novaeseelandiae - A very rare and endangered bird
Image No. Plover 1
This image was taken at Plimmerton, not far from Mana Island, Wellington, North Island, New Zealand, and was captured handheld with the Sony A55 digital camera using the Sony 18-250 lens, at a focal length of 250mm, with an exposure of 1/1250 second at F/6.3 using ISO-800.
To obtain the best appreciation of the quality of the images on this site, they should be displayed at a relatively small size, because most images have been reduced in size to a maximum width of only 870 pixels. In addition, the images have been saved at a low quality setting.
Below, are further images of shore plovers:
Shore plover - Thinornis novaeseelandiae - A very rare and endangered bird
Image No. Plover 2
Shore plover - Thinornis novaeseelandiae - A very rare and endangered bird
Image No. Plover 3
Click here to see an image of several shore plover birds in flight.
Click here to see a high definition video of the shore plover birds in flight.
Click here to see another short high definition video that I recorded of the shore plover birds.
It has been reported in "Wikipedia" that "a number of captive-reared juvenile Shore Plover were moved to Mana Island, off Wellington's westcoast, between March and May 2007, as part of a Department of Conservation plan to ensure their long-term survival."
"The Shore Plover is an endangered species with a world population of around 200 birds. It once was found across the South Island in New Zealand but became extinct there, probably due to the predations of introduced cats and rats." On the day in July 2011 that we visited Plimmerton, we observed at least 30 shore plovers.
Click here to read a discussion about the shore plovers on the BirdingNZ.net "Bird Sightings and Alerts" forum.
It was reported on Page A6 of the July 4 2011 issue of the Dominion Post that, in early June 2011, about 50 shore plovers (about 20% of the world population), flew out of the Conservation Department breeding programme on Mana Island, and settled near the Plimmerton fire station. Click here to read this article.
Click here to see an article about the shore plovers on the Plimmerton community web site.
Click here to see a warning notice about the Shore Plover birds at Plimmerton.
On Saturday 30 July 2011, we found only 4 shore plovers at Plimmerton. Click here to read an article about how the shore plovers have been returning to Mana Island on their own accord.