Since 2008, the New Zealand's Rare Birds Apprasal Commitee has been stewing over whether or not to accept the very first sighting of a Magpie-Lark in New Zealand. It has been approved, a new species for New Zealand!
Magpie-Larks are beautiful Australian birds, very common on the west coast of that country. They are black and white, and rather lark-like in shape and habits, the two factors that determined this species common name. They are also often reffered to as Peewees, for their call is, essentially, pee-wee.
The commitee has taken a long time to reach this decision due to the absence of the species in New Zealand, and the possibility of the photo provided actually being taken in Australia. However the decision was reached that the sighting on the George River, Westland, was indeed of a New Zealand Magpie-Lark.
Such super rare sightings happen once every two years or so, the most recent being a Dusky Woodswallow, September 2014, on Stewart Island.
Other recent news was a Little Egret in Waipu Estuary. Little Egrets are fairly regular in New Zealand, though very rarely are there more than one. There was also a flock of many thousands of Fluttering Shearwaters in the Firth of Thames last week, right up by the beach. Most of these birds generally feed further out to sea, however this is not the first time this has occured.
The bird below is a Magpie-Lark photographed in Sydney, Australia.
To find out more about the Magpie-Lark click on this link: http://www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/magpie-lark