Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand abstracts

---

Moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes) nesting material from rockshelters in the semi-arid interior of South Island, New Zealand

Jamie R. Wood¹

¹Department of Geology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand. larusnz@hotmail.com

Abstract The first descriptions of plant remains from the nests of extinct moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes) are presented. The samples of desiccated nesting material were collected during excavation of Holocene sediments within five rockshelters in semi-arid regions of southern South Island, New Zealand, between 1964 and 2006. The nesting materials were attributed to moa on the basis of associated moa coprolites, feathers and eggshell fragments. The nesting material includes short, clipped twigs from a range of locally available tree, shrub and liane species. These twig clippings show a size distribution similar to those recorded from moa gizzard content samples. Other nesting material from the sites includes longer twigs and fragments of bark. The plant materials suggest general similarities between the nests of moa and those of the extant Australasian ratites, emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) and cassowary (Casuarius spp.).

Keywords Holocene; moa; nesting material; Otago; palaeovegetation; rockshelters

R08003; Received 6 March 2008; accepted 3 June 2008; Online publication date 17 July 2008

Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand
Volume 38, Number 3, September, 2008, pp 115–129

PDF file of entire paper: Print-quality (2754K) | screen-quality (562K)