Birds of New Zealand Birds of New Zealand The birds of New Zealand evolved into an avifauna that included a large number of endemic species (that is, species found in no other country). As an island archipelago New Zealand accumulated bird diversity and when Captain James Cook arrived in the 1770s he noted that the bird song was deafening. The mix includes species with unusual biology such as the kakapo which is the world's only flightless, nocturnal, lek (competitive display) breeding parrot, but also many species that are similar to neighboring land areas. A process of colonization, speciation and extinction has been at play
New Guinea flightless rail New Guinea flightless rail The New Guinea flightless rail ("Megacrex inepta"), also known as the Papuan flightless rail, is a species of bird in the family Rallidae, in the monotypic genus "Megacrex". Sometimes however, it was included in "Amaurornis" or "Habroptila", but this is incorrect. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and subtropical or tropical swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss. "M. inepta" is indeed closely related to "Amaurornis", but not as close as to warrant inclusion therein. Rather, it is