I saw this bird out on the open
tops. I
wasn't sure what kind it was so I contacted Eammon who works for DOC on
the island. Here is what he had to say:
You
have a fine
photo of the uncommon endemic
Southern New Zealand Dotterel, the Maori name is tuturiwhatu,
and the Latin name is Charadrius obscurus. This
one is the southern species because it lives and breeds on Stewart
island in the open areas of the upper alpine vegetation. They
will
flock up in large groups and comes down to the coast to feed, where as
the NZ form is found throughout the country but breads only on beaches,
shell banks and river mouths.
The
rusty color indicates that it
is breading
plumage, males become a lot more rusty right down to the legs, so I
would guess this is a female.
It turns out that there are only less than a hundred of the Dotterels
that
nest in the mountains. That's only a hundred left
in
the
whole world so they truly are a Rara avis, a rare bird.
In some places the track has been seriously eroded even though there
are very few people who walk it. This sort of surface is not uncommon
on the tops. I try to be careful when I walk in in such areas for two
reasons. One is self-preservation, often the wood has sharp points on
it and to fall would be most painful. The second is so as not to damage
the trail surface. These areas are very sensitive to disturbance and
just walking through causes significant damage to the tussock. Best to
tread lightly on Mother Earth.
