Aegotheles novaezealandiae (Scarlett, 1968:254)

Owlet-nightjar, New Zealand owlet-nightjar, Ruru Hinapō (Māori)

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

Synonym/s: Megaegotheles novaezealandiae Scarlett, 1968: Notornis 15: 254 – Canaan, Takaka, Nelson.; Aeogotheles novaezealandiae (Scarlett, 1968:254); Aegotheles novazelandiae (Scarlett, 1968:254) [orth. error used by Sayol et al., 2020:SM:DFS1]

Conservation Status

Extinct

Last record: pre-Polynesian colonisation (Holdaway et al. 2002)

Distribution

New Zealand (both major islands, plus D'Urville Island)

Biology & Ecology

Hypodigm

Media

Above: New Zealand Owlet-nightjar. Aegotheles novaezealandiae. From the series: Extinct Birds of New Zealand., 2004, Masterton, by Paul Martinson. Purchased 2006. © Te Papa. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (2006-0010-1/58)

References

Original scientific description:

Scarlett, Ron J. (1968). An owlet-nightjar from New Zealand. Notornis 15(4): 254-266.

Other references:

Checklist Committee (OSNZ). (2010). Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica (4th ed.). Ornithological Society of New Zealand & Te Papa Press, Wellington. [p. 269-270]

Checklist Committee (OSNZ). (2022). Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand (5th edition). Ornithological Society of New Zealand Occasional Publication No. 1. Wellington: Ornithological Society of New Zealand. [p. 51]

Dumbacher, J. P., Pratt, T. K. and Fleischer, R. C. (2003).Phylogeny of the owlet-nightjars (Aves: Aegothelidae) based on mitochondrial DNA sequence. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 29: 540-549.

Holdaway, Richard N., Jones, Martin D. and Athfield, Nancy R. Beavan. (2002). Late Holocene extinction of the New Zealand owlet-nightjar Aegotheles novaezealandiae. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 32(4): 653-667.

Holdaway, Richard N., Worthy, Trevor H. and Tennyson, Alan J. D. (2001). A working list of breeding bird species of the New Zealand region at first human contact. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 28: 119-187.

McCulloch, Beverley A. (1994). A likely association of the New Zealand owlet-nightjar (Megaegotheles novazealandiae Scarlett) with early humans in New Zealand. Notornis 41(3): 209-210.

Medway, David G. (1971). Sub-fossil avian remains from the Awakino - Mahoenui area. Notornis 18(3): 218-219.

Murdoch, Claire. (2008). Extinct birds of New Zealand spelling errors. Notornis 55(4): 228.

Olson, S. L.; Balouet, J. C; Fisher, C. J. (1987). The owletnightjar of New Caledonia, Aegotheles savesi, with comments on the systematics of the Aegothelidae. Le Cerfaut 37: 341-352.

Paulin, C. D. (1973). Sub-fossil avian remains from two limestone caves in North Taranaki. Mauri Ora 1: 95-98.

Potts, T. H. (1882). Out in the open: a budget of scrapsof natural history, gathered in New Zealand.Christchurch, Lyttelton Times. 301 pp.

Rawlence, N. J., Wood, J. R., Scofield, R. P., Fraser, C. and Tennyson, Alan J. D. (2012). Soft-tissue specimens from pre-European extinct birds of New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand iFirst 2012: 1-28.

Rich, P.V. & Scarlett, R.J. 1977. Another look at Megaegotheles, a large owlet-nightjar from New Zealand. Emu 77: 1–8.

Robertson, H. A., Baird, K. A., Elliott, G. P., Hitchmough, R. A., McArthur, N. J., Makan, T. D., Miskelly, Colin M., O’Donnell, C. F. J., Sagar, P. M., Scofield, R. P., Taylor, G. A. and Michel, P. (2021). Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36. Department of Conservation, Wellington. 43 pp.

Hugh Robertson, John Dowding, Graeme Elliott, Rod Hitchmough, Colin Miskelly, Colin O’Donnell, Ralph Powlesland, Paul Sagar, Paul Scofield, Graeme Taylor. (2013). Conservation status of New Zealand birds, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 4. 22 pp.

Sayol, Ferran, Steinbauer, Manuel J., Blackburn, Tim M., Antonelli, Alexandre and Faurby, Søren. (2020). Anthropogenic extinctions conceal widespread evolution of flightlessness in birds. Science Advances 6(49): eabb6095. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abb6095 [Supplementary Material (Data File S1)]

Turbott, E. G. (convener). (1990). Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, 3rd ed. Ornithological Society of New Zealand & Random Century, Auckland.

Tyrberg, Tommy. (2009). Holocene avian extinctions, pp. 63-106. In: Turvey, Samuel T. (ed.). Holocene Extinctions. Oxford, UK & New York, USA: Oxford University Press. xii + 352 pp.

Vickers-Rich, Patricia and McEvey, Allan R. (1977). A new owlet-nightjar from the early to mid-Miocene of eastern New South Wales Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria 38: 247-253.

Vickers-Rich, Patricia and Scarlett, R. J. (1977). Another look at Megaegotheles, a large owlet-nightjar from New Zealand. The Emu 77(1): 1-8.

Worthy, Trevor H. (1993). Fossils of Honeycomb Hill. Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington. 56 pp.

Worthy, Trevor H. (1997). Fossil deposits in the Hodges Creek Cave System, on the northern foothills of Mt Arthur, Nelson, South Island, New Zealand. Notornis 44(2): 111-124.

Worthy, Trevor H. (1998). Quaternary fossil faunas of Otago, South Island, New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 28(3): 421-521. https://doi.org/10.1080/03014223.1998.9517573 [p. 465]

Worthy, Trevor H. (2001). A fossil vertebrate fauna accumulated by Laughing Owls (Sceloglaux albifacies) on the Gouland Downs, Northwest Nelson, South Island. Notornis 48(4): 225-233.

Worthy, Trevor H. and Holdaway, Richard N. (1993). Quaternary fossil faunas from caves in the Punakaiki area, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 23(3): 147-254.

Worthy, T. H. and Holdaway, R. N. (1994). Quaternary fossil faunas from caves in Takaka Valley and on Takaka Hill, northwest Nelson, South Island, New Zealand. Journal of The Royal Society of New Zealand 24(3): 297-391.

Worthy, Trevor H. and Holdaway, Richard N. (2000). Terrestrial fossil vertebrate faunas from inland Hawke's Bay, North Island, New Zealand. Part 1. Records of the Canterbury Museum 14: 89-154.

Worthy, Trevor H. and Holdaway, Richard N. (2002). The Lost World of the Moa: Prehistoric Life of New Zealand. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. xxxiii + 718 pp.

Worthy, Trevor H. and Zhao, J. X. (2006). A late Pleistocene predator-accumulated avifauna from Kids Cave, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand. Alcheringa Special Issue 1: 389-408.

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