NZ petrel 'returns' from the dead

The storm petrel was thought to be extinct but a former wildlife officer believes the bird he captured off Little Barrier is one. Picture / David Stewart

Scientists are preparing to carry out a DNA comparison of a small ocean-roaming seabird which is expected to show that it is a "resurrected" species - the New Zealand storm petrel, thought to have been extinct for more than a century.

"If the DNA matches up then we've got a bird that people had believed to be extinct for over 100 years," Department of Conservation island biodiversity manager Richard Griffiths said.

"It's as significant as the rediscovery of the takahe."

DNA from the base of feathers plucked from a bird captured alive at the weekend will be compared with other petrels, and with the skins of three old specimens in European museums.

Sightings and photographs of the species were recorded two years ago, but the Ornithological Society of New Zealand was not convinced by digital photos taken of the storm petrels off Whitianga and Little Barrier and asked for more evidence before they could be officially recorded as returned from the dead.

Molecular biologist Bruce Robertson of Canterbury University has already collected DNA samples from skins at the National Natural History Museum in Paris and the British Natural History Museum, to compare with the cells at the base of the feathers.

Dr Robertson had been waiting for a DNA sample to be taken from the re-discovered birds. A group of conservation workers has a permit to capture birds and take blood samples as part of efforts to locate the breeding colony and assess the size of the population.

But they were beaten to it by a former Government wildlife officer, Geordie Murman - now a professional fisherman - who was sitting down to a lasagne dinner on Friday when one of the "extinct" birds flew inside his boat anchored off Little Barrier Island.

Mr Murman snatched a cardboard box and captured the bird so that it could be photographed and a sample of DNA taken.

Mr Griffiths said he and ornithologist Karen Baird of Kiwi Wildlife Tours had identified the petrel on Saturday as the species believed to have been extinct.

The New Zealand storm petrel was first re-sighted by New Zealanders Brent Stephenson and Sav Saville off Whitianga in January 2003.

Later that year two British ornithologists saw a small flock of the petrels off Little Barrier.

Since then bird watchers and DoC staff have made a number of trips aboard the vessel Assassin, but though further sightings have indicated the extinct bird is alive and well in some numbers, its "recovery" has still not been officially confirmed by the Ornithological Society's rare birds committee, the governing body for such cases.

Mr Griffiths said he was grateful the petrel had landed on a boat skippered by Mr Murman, who was one of the few people able to recognise it because of his knowledge of seabirds.

"We now think it is likely to be nesting on the Mokohinau Islands or another pest-free island in the outer Hauraki Gulf," Mr Griffiths said.

It was important to find the site so the bird could be protected from rodents and humans.

New Zealand storm petrel

* Length: About 20cm.

* Colouring: Black and white, with black streaks on the belly.

* Behaviour: Feeds at sea at night and returns to land only to breed.

* History: Last confirmed sighting in 1850 and long thought to be extinct.

* Current status: Birds reportedly photographed in 2003 and captured last weekend. Identification subject to DNA analysis of feathers.

- NZPA