11001-39902 Black swan (Cygnus atratus) pair with cygnets on lake. A widespread and abundant Australian species found throughout NZ and the Chatham Islands. But fossil bones reveal NZ and the Chathams once had their own endemic black swan, 'pouwa' (Cygnus sumnerensis) separated by a lineage of one to two million years. The now extinct NZ swan is common in archaeological deposits. It was 20-30% heavier than the modern black swan, with shorter wings and longer stronger legs. *
12001-18508 Cape Barren goose (Cereopsis novaehollandiae) a sister taxon to the flightless Cnemiornis (the extinct giant NZ goose). One third the weight of their extinct cousins, occasional stragglers from Australia or perhaps liberated birds, still turn up infrequently in the wild in NZ *
11001-40908 South Island flightless goose (Cnemiornis calcitrans) extinct. A sister taxon of Cereopsis (the Cape Barren goose) known from late Pleistocene and Holocene deposits in the eastern South Island. Compared to their 5 kg Cape Barren 'cousins', these giants weighed perhaps 18kgs. They were grassland grazers, and were probably far more common during glacial periods when grasslands would have been widespread. Skull MNZ S35266 from Chatto Creek, Alexandra *
