Matt Rayner et l’Océanite de Nouvelle-Zélande, un oiseau retrouvé

There are around 10,400 species of birds worldwide, which only are 359 seabirds. They live mainly off the coasts, and they possess for that unique physiological and morphological adaptations. They can be highly mobile, and in some cases the whole population of a species can travel from one side of an ocean to another. New Zealand is the country of the seabirds, with 85 breeding species of which 36 are endemic species (42%) breeding nowhere else in the world. This richness is due to the productive oceans that surround it, the multiple breeding coastal habitats and the fact that the archipelago has been isolated from mammalian predators for millions of years prior to human arrival. Within New Zealand, the Gulf of Hauraki and surroundings is an area of high seabird diversity. There are 27 seabirds taxa known to breed there, of which 16 are New Zealand endemics. These taxa include 14 petrels and shearwaters, 1 penguin, 1 gannet, 5 cormorants (shags), 3 gulls and 3 terns.
The New Zealand storm petrel (Fregetta maoriana), which was thought to have disappeared in 1895, was rediscovered in the gulf in 2003, and the only breeding site was found on Hauturu/Little Barrier island in February 2013. Matt Rayner, curator at the Auckland War Memorial Museum and one of the discoverers of this site, answered our questions. We thank Neil Fitzgerald (website: Neilfitzgeraldphoto.co.nz) for having helped us illustrating this interview.