Muttonbirding

Muttonbirding

Muttonbirding is a seasonal harvesting activity, which may be recreational or commercial, of the chicks of petrels, especially shearwater species, for food, oil and feathers. Although the hunting of petrels and other seabirds has occurred in numerous places since prehistoric times, and there is evidence that many island populations have become extinct as a result, ‘muttonbirding’ usually refers now to the more sustainable and regulated harvesting of shearwaters in Australia and New Zealand.[1] These include the Short-tailed Shearwater, also known as the Yolla or Australian Muttonbird, in Bass Strait, Tasmania, and the Sooty Shearwater, also known as the Titi or New Zealand Muttonbird, in the far south of New Zealand.

Contents

Australia

Licenced commercial harvesting of Short-tailed Shearwater chicks on the coast and islands of Tasmania began in 1903, although it had long been a traditional form of subsistence harvesting by Tasmanian Aborigines and European settlers there. However, by the late 20th century the industry was declining due to falling demand for the product and reduced interest by younger indigenous people in the main area of activity, the islands of the Furneaux Group.[2]

New Zealand

The harvesting of Sooty Shearwater chicks on 36 islands, known as the Titi or Muttonbird Islands, around Rakiura (Stewart Island), is managed entirely by Rakiura Māori. There is some evidence that this harvest has been occurring since at least the 17th century.[3]

Muttonbirds

Muttonbird may refer to various seabirds, particularly petrels in the genus Puffinus, called Shearwaters, where the young birds are harvested for food and oil by being extracted by hand from the nesting burrows before they fledge. Some species are:

See also

References

  1. ^ Anderson, Atholl. (1998). Origins of Procellariidae Hunting in the Southwest Pacific. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 6(4): 403-410.
  2. ^ Skira, I. (1996). "Aboriginal people and muttonbirding in Tasmania". In: M. Bomford & J. Caughley (eds),Sustainable use of wildlife by Aboriginal Peoples and Torres Strait Islanders, Bureau of Resource Sciences: Canberra.
  3. ^ Hawke, David; Newman, Jamie; Moller, Henrik; & Wixon, John. (2003). A possible early muttonbirder’s fire on Poutama, a Rakiura titi island, New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 33(2): 497-507.

Further reading

  • Adam-Smith, Patsy. (1965). Moonbird People. Rigby: Adelaide. (About the Furneaux group of islands in Bass Strait, the muttonbirds that inhabit them and the people who make their living from them).

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Titi Islands — Die Titi Islands oder Muttonbird Islands, offiziell Titi/Muttonbird Islands[1] ist die Bezeichnung für fünf nicht unmittelbar zusammenhängende Gruppen von Inseln nahe Stewart Island/Rakiura im extremen Süden von Neuseeland [2] [3]. Administrativ… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Sooty Shearwater — Conservation status Near Threatened (I …   Wikipedia

  • Little Green Island — is a granite island, with an area of 87 ha, in south eastern Australia. It is part of Tasmania’s Great Dog Island Group, lying in eastern Bass Strait between Flinders and Cape Barren Islands in the Furneaux Group. It is partly a conservation area …   Wikipedia

  • Bird — For other uses, see Bird (disambiguation). Aves and Avifauna redirect here. For other uses, see Aves (disambiguation) or Avifauna (disambiguation). Birds Temporal range: Late Jurassic–Recent, 150–0 Ma …   Wikipedia

  • Procellariiformes — Taxobox name = Procellariiformes fossil range = Middle Eocene – Recent image width = 250px image caption = Cape Petrel Daption capense regnum = Animalia phylum = Chordata classis = Aves infraclassis = Neognathae ordo = Procellariiformes ordo… …   Wikipedia

  • Mutton (disambiguation) — Mutton usually refers to sheepmeat. Mutton may also refer to: Goat meat, used interchangeably with mutton in some Asian and Indian cooking Mutton quad , or em quad , a space of 1 em width in typography People Guy Mutton (born 1976), an Australian …   Wikipedia

  • Seabird — This article is about the animal. For the alternative rock band of the same name, see Seabird (band). The Sooty Tern is highly aerial and marine and will spend months flying at sea, returning to land only for breeding.[1] Seabirds (also known as… …   Wikipedia

  • Flinders Island — Infobox Islands name = Flinders Island image caption = Furneaux Group from space, April 1993 locator native name = native name link = location = Tasmania coordinates= coord|40|00|S|148|07|E|type:isle region:AU TAS area = 1,333 km² (515 sq mi)… …   Wikipedia

  • Muttonbird — Muttonbird, mutton bird or mutton bird refer to seabirds – particularly certain large shearwaters – whose young are collected for food and other uses before they fledge (see also Muttonbirding). The species most frequently called muttonbirds are …   Wikipedia

  • 2006 in New Zealand — IncumbentsRegal and Vice Regal*Head of State Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand *Governor General The Hon. Dame Silvia Cartwright PCNZM, DBE, QSO, succeeded by The Hon. Anand Satyanand, PCNZM, QSO [ [http://www.gg.govt.nz/gg/former.htm] ]… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”