Heteralocha acutirostris Gould, 1837

Huia

 

 

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

A complete synonymy taken from (Checklist Committee (OSNZ), 2022:209):

Neomorpha acutirostris Gould, 1837: Synop. Birds Australia 1: pl. 11 & text – North Island.; Heteralocha acutirostris (Gould); Buller 1872 (Apr.), History of the Birds of N.Z., 1st edition (part 1): 63.; Heteralocha auctirostris (Gould); Enys 1876, Trans. Proc. N.Z. Inst. 8: 204. Misspelling.; Neomorpha crassirostris Gould, 1837: Synop. Birds Australia 1: pl. 11 & text – North Island.; Neomorpha Gouldii G.R. Gray, 1841: List Gen. Birds (2nd edition): 15. Unnecessary nomen novum for Neomorpha acutirostris Gould, 1837.; Heteralocha Gouldi (G.R. Gray); Cabanis 1851, Mus. Heineanum 1: 218. Unjustified emendation.; Heteralocha gouldi (G.R. Gray); G.R. Gray 1862, Ibis 4: 217. Unjustified emendation.; Heteralocah acutirostris Gould, 1837 (orthological error, table S1 from Dussex et al., 2019); Heterolocha acutirostris Gould, 1837 [orth. error used by (Knox & Walters, 1994:271)]

 

Conservation Status

Extinct

Last record: 1905? (Galbreath, 2017); 1907 (Myers, 1923; Tyrberg, 2009:103; Kittelberger et al., 2024) (unconfirmed: Galbreath, 2017); 1925? (Tyrberg, 2009:103); 1961 (Higgins et al., 2006)

IUCN RedList status: Extinct

 

Distribution

North Island, New Zealand

 

Biology & Ecology

 

 

Hypodigm

Naturalis, Leiden:

RMNH 110.080 (male)

RMNH 110.081 (female)

RMNH 110.101 (male)

RMNH 110.102 (female)

RMNH 110.107 (female)

RMNH 110.108 (male)

RMNH 110.109 (female)

 

Moorhouse (1996) analysed 30 skins held in collections in New Zealand. Houston (2010) reported that he had examined 23 skins from the Natural History Museum at Tring.

 

http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/collections-research/collections/search/?pht=True&k=Huia&dept=birds%2fland+vertebrates

 

The Whanganui Regional Museum, North Island, New Zealand has at least one specimen ([url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/history/news/article.cfm?c_id=500832&objectid=12088958]source[/ur]).

 

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa:

GH005020

GH010843

GH010847

GH023755

GH003375

ME022335

ME022336

ME022341 (feathers; link includes photos)

ME022342

ME022350

ME022351

ME022352

ME022353

ME022354/1 (feather; link includes photos)

ME022355

ME022356

ME022357

ME022636

ME022637

ME022638

ME022639

ME023113

ME023837 (feather; link includes photos)

ME024123 (feather; link includes photos)

ME024124

ME024130

ME024135

OR.000064

OR.000096 (link includes photo of specimen)

OR.000152

OR.000153

OR.000177

OR.000181

OR.001327

OR.001328 (link includes photo of specimen)

OR.005514 (link includes photo of specimen)

OR.005516 (link includes photo of specimen)

OR.005526 (link includes photo of specimen)

OR.005533 (link includes photo of specimen)

OR.007640 (collected 11 October 1877; the only known egg)

OR.008514 (link includes photo of specimen)

OR.008561 (link includes photo of specimen)

OR.010868

OR.011056

OR.011063 (link includes photo of specimen)

OR.015791

OR.022790 (link includes photo of specimen)

OR.025277

OR.025278 (link includes photo of specimen)

OR.026463

OR.026535 (link includes photo of specimen)

OR.026811

OR.027624 (link includes photo of specimen)

OR.030203 (link includes photo of specimen)

 

Media

Above: Huia, Heteralocha acutirostris, collected no data, New Zealand. Acquisition history unknown. CC BY 4.0. Te Papa (OR.000064)

 

Above: Huia, Heteralocha acutirostris, collected no data, New Zealand. Acquisition history unknown. CC BY 4.0. Te Papa (OR.000064)

 

 

Above: Huia, Heteralocha acutirostris, collected no data, New Zealand. Purchased 1916. CC BY 4.0. Te Papa (OR.000152)

 

Above: Huia, Heteralocha acutirostris, collected no data, New Zealand. Purchased 1916. CC BY 4.0. Te Papa (OR.000152)

 

Above: Huia, Heteralocha acutirostris, collected 1911, no data, New Zealand. CC BY 4.0. Te Papa (OR.000177)

 

Above: Huia, Heteralocha acutirostris, collected no data, New Zealand. CC BY 4.0. Te Papa (OR.001327)

 

Above: Huia, Heteralocha acutirostris, collected no data, New Zealand. CC BY 4.0. Te Papa (OR.010868)

 

Above: Huia, Heteralocha acutirostris, collected 1899, Makara, Wellington, New Zealand. Gift of Mr L.J. Vangioni, 1942. CC BY 4.0. Te Papa (OR.011056)

 

Above: Huia, Heteralocha acutirostris, collected no data, New Zealand. CC BY 4.0. Te Papa (OR.015791)

 

Above: Huia, Heteralocha acutirostris, collected no data, New Zealand. Acquisition history unknown. CC BY 4.0. Te Papa (OR.025277)

 

Above: Huia, Heteralocha acutirostris, collected 11 October 1877, Wainuiomata, New Zealand. Gift of Sir Walter Buller, 1877. CC BY 4.0. Te Papa (OR.007640)

 

Ornamental Use:

Above: Huia beak brooch, circa 1900, New Zealand, by Samuel Henry Drew. Gift of Mrs I. Ashby, 1983. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (GH003375)

 

Above: Huia beak brooch, circa 1900, New Zealand, maker unknown. Purchased 1996 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (GH005020)

 

Above: Huia beak brooch, circa 1900, New Zealand, maker unknown. Purchased 1996 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (GH005020)

 

Above: Huia beak brooch, circa 1900, New Zealand, maker unknown. Purchased 1996 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (GH005020)

 

Above: Huia beak brooch, circa 1900, New Zealand, maker unknown. Purchased 1996 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (GH005020)

 

Above: Huia tail feathers, mounted on gold and pounamu., circa 1900, New Zealand, maker unknown. Purchased 2012. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (GH023755)

 

Above: Huia tail feathers, mounted on gold and pounamu., circa 1900, New Zealand, maker unknown. Purchased 2012. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (GH023755)

 

Above: Huia tail feathers, mounted on gold and pounamu., circa 1900, New Zealand, maker unknown. Purchased 2012. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (GH023755)

 

Above: Huia tail feathers, mounted on gold and pounamu., circa 1900, New Zealand, maker unknown. Purchased 2012. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (GH023755)

 

Sketches and paintings (pre-extinction):

Above: Huia head. (Heteralocha acutirostris), 1865 -1885, by John Buchanan. Te Papa (1992-0035-2279/52)

 

Above: Old male Huia . Young female Huia, 1865-1885, by John Buchanan. Te Papa (1992-0035-2279/64)

 

Above: Head of Huia, by John Buchanan. Te Papa (1992-0035-2279/65)

 

Above: Heteralocha acutirostris. Plate 8. From the book A history of the birds of New Zealand., 1873, by Johannes Keulemans. Te Papa (RB001176/008a)

 

Above: Three huia (Heteralocha acutirostris), circa 1900, London, by Johannes Keulemans. Purchased 1993 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. Te Papa (1993-0029-6)

 

Paintings (post-extinction):

A painting of two Huia by George Lodge (1913-1914) is in the Te Papa collection.

 

Above: Huia. Heteralocha acutirostris. From the series: Extinct Birds of New Zealand., 2005, Masterton, by Paul Martinson. Purchased 2006. © Te Papa. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (2006-0010-1/11)

 

 

References

Original scientific description:

Gould, John. (1837). A synopsis of the birds of Australia, and the adjacent islands. Vol. I. London: John Gould. 11 p1. 

 

Other references:

Anmarkrud, Jarl Andreas and Lifjeld, Jan T. (In Press, 2016). Complete mitochondrial genomes of eleven extinct or possibly extinct bird species. Molecular Ecology Resources. DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.12600 [Abstract]

BirdLife International. (2012). Heteralocha acutirostris. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.1. (http://www.iucnredlist.org). Downloaded on 14 October 2012.

BirdLife International. (2016). Heteralocha acutirostris. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22708091A94148869. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22708091A94148869.en. Accessed on 18 June 2022.

BirdLife International. (2017). Heteralocha acutirostris (amended version of 2016 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T22708091A119257859. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22708091A119257859.en. Accessed on 14 June 2022.

Boyle, Cameron. (2019). Remembering the Huia: Extinction and Nostalgia in a Bird World. Animal Studies Journal 8(1): 66-91.

Brooks, T. 2000. Extinct species. In: BirdLife International (ed.), Threatened Birds of the World, pp. 701-708. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona and Cambridge, U.K.

Buller, W. L. (1871). On the structure and habits of the Huia (Heteralocha gouldii). Trans. Proc. N. Z. Inst. 3: 24-29.

Buller, W. L. (1888). A History of the Birds of New Zealand. The author, London.

Burton, Philip J.K. (1974). Anatomy of head and neck in the Huia (Heteralocha acutirostris) with comparative notes on other Callaeidae. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Zoology 27(1): 1–48 (3-48?).

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. 283, 356]

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. 209]

Dabert, J. and Alberti, G. (2008). A new species of the genus Coraciacarus (Gabuciniidae, Pterolichoidea) from the huia Heteralocha acutirostris (Callaeatidae, Passeriformes), an extinct bird species from New Zealand. Journal of Natural History 42(43-44): 2763-2776.

Day, David. (1981). The Doomsday Book of Animals: A Natural History of Vanished Species. New York, N.Y.: The Viking Press.

Dussex, Nicolas et al. (2019). Complete genomes of two extinct New Zealand passerines show responses to climate fluctuations but no evidence for genomic erosion prior to extinction. Biology Letters 15(9): 20190491. [Abstract]

Frith, Clifford B. (1997). Huia (Heteralocha acutirostris: Callaeidae) - like sexual bill dimorphism in some  birds of paradise (Paradisaeidae) and its significance. Notornis 44(3): 177-184.

Fuller, Errol. (1988). Extinct Birds. New York: Facts on File Publications. 256 pp.

Gadow, H. (1888). In Buller, WI. A History of the Birds of New Zealand (2nd ed.), vol.  1. Author, London.  

Galbreath, Ross. (2017). The 1907 ‘last generally accepted record’ of huia (Heteralocha acutirostris) is unreliable. Notornis 64(4): 239-242.

Garrod, A. H. (1872). Notes on the anatomy of the Huia bird (Heterolocha gouldi). Proc. Zool. Soc. 1872: 643-647.

Ghiraldi, Luca and Aimassi, Giorgio. (2019). Extinct and endangered (‘E&E’) birds in the ornithological collection of the Museum of Zoology of Torino University, Italy. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 139(1): 28-45.

Gibb, Gillian C. and Shepherd, Lara D. (2022). Recent evolution of extreme sexual dimorphism in the huia (Heteralocha acutirostris; Callaeidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 175: 107575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107575

Gill, B. & Martinson, P. 1991. New Zealand’s Extinct Birds. Random Century, Auckland.

Greenway, J. C. (1967). Extinct and vanishing birds of the world. New York: Dover Publications.

Higgins P.J., Peter J.M. & Cowling S.J., eds., 2006: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 7: Boatbill to Starlings, Part A: Boatbill to Larks. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1055 pp.

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.

Holmes, Branden. (2021). What's Lost and What Remains: The Sixth Extinction in 100 Accounts (eBook). Self published.

Howes, C. A. (1969). A survey of extinct and nearly extinct birds in the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists Club 89(4): 89-92.

Houston, David C. (2010). The Maori and the Huia, pp 49-54. In: Ethno-ornithology: Birds, Indigenous Peoples, Culture and Society. Sonia Tidemann and Andrew Gosler (eds.). London and Washington: Earthscan.

del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Hume, Julian Pender and van Grouw, Hein. (2014). Colour aberrations in extinct and endangered birds. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 134(3): 168-193.

Hume Julian Pender and Walters, Michael. (2012). Extinct Birds. London: T & AD Poyser. 544 pp.

Ibbotson, Rosie. (2016). De-extinction and the Anthropocene in museological perspective: a case study of the Huia. Abstract for paper presented at Washington, DC, USA: College Art Association 104th Annual Conference, 3-6 February 2016).

Jamieson, I. G. and Spencer, H.G. (1996). The bill and foraging behaviour of the Huia (Heteralocha acutirostris): were they unique? Notornis 43: 14-18.

Jouanin, Christian. (1962). Inventaire des oiseaux éteints ou en voie d’extinction conservés au Muséum de Paris. Terre et Vie 109: 275-301.

Kittelberger, Kyle D., Tanner, Colby J., Buxton, Amy N., Prewett, Amira and Şekercioğlu, Çağan Hakkı. (2024). Correlates of avian extinction timing around the world since 1500 CE. Avian Research 15: 100213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100213 [Supplementary data (List of 216 taxa)]

Knox, Alan G. and Walters, Michael P. (1994). Extinct and endangered birds in the collections of The Natural History Museum. British Ornithologists' Club Occasional Publications 1: 1-292. [pp. 271-274]

Lambert DM, Shepherd LD, Huynen L, Beans-Picón G, Walter GH, et al. (2009). The Molecular Ecology of the Extinct New Zealand Huia. PLoS ONE 4(11): e8019. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008019.

Lubbe, Pascale et al. (2022). Mitogenomes resolve the phylogeography and divergence times within the endemic New Zealand Callaeidae (Aves: Passerida). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac060

Medway, David G. (1968). Records of the Huia, North Island Thrush and North Island Kokako from the diaries of Joseph Robert Annabell (1857–1924). Notornis 15(3): 177-192.

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

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Naish, Darren. (2015). The Huia and the Sexually Dimorphic Bill. Blog post on Tetrapod Zoology, Thursday, March 19.

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/newzealand/7846625/Most-expensive-feather-ever-fetches-4000-at-auction.html

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=11758441

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/100893980/extinct-huia-makes-briefest-of-comebacks-after-trade-me-auction-mixup

 

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