Paleontologists have desribed a new species of large passerine bird based the fossilized remains from the Bannockburn Formation near St Bathans in Otago, New Zealand.
Australian magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen), adult and juvenile, at Taveuni, Fiji. Image credit: Charles J. Sharp, https://www.sharpphotography.co.uk / CC BY-SA 4.0.
The newly-described bird lived in New Zealand during the Early Miocene epoch, some 19 million years ago.
Named the St Bathans currawong (Miostrepera canora), the species would have been about the same size as the Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen) found in New Zealand today but was probably all black.
“We persecute the magpie as an Australian that has no place in the New Zealand ecosystem but its close relatives lived here in the past,” said Dr. Paul Scofield, senior curator at Canterbury Museum.
“We’ve probably been without a member of the magpie’s extended family for only 5 million years.”
“New Zealand’s ecosystem has changed dramatically over millions of years and harbored diverse species across different eras,” added Dr. Trevor Worthy, a researcher at Flinders University.
“There’s an idea that we should aim to return New Zealand to a pre-European ecological state.”
“But at that point in time, New Zealand’s ecosystems had been changing continuously for millions of years.”
“Aotearoa had lost much of the floral diversity formerly present by the time humans arrived.”
“There were few fruiting tree species left and the loss of currawongs and other pigeons reflects this.”
“Other groups of plants and animals arrived from 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago.”
“Many more have arrived since humans occupied the land.”
“The pre-European ecological state of New Zealand is not necessarily any better or worse than any other time in the past.”
“Instead, the fossil record suggests there was no utopian state and that we should celebrate the diversity we currently have.”
The fossilized bones of Miostrepera canora were found at St Bathans fossil site, which was once at the bottom of a large prehistoric lake.
“The work has revealed that New Zealand’s bird population in the Miocene era had surprisingly strong similarities to that of Australia today,” Dr. Scofield said.
“During the Miocene, 20 to 5 million years ago, New Zealand was much different.”
“Walking through a New Zealand forest from that era, you would have seen numerous eucalypts, laurels and Casuarina, much like you would in an Australian forest today.”
“The major thing that shaped the New Zealand we see today was the extinction of many plants and animals that thrived in warm climates after a period of rapid cooling that began about 13 million years ago.”
“The distinctive call of the currawong would not have been the only birdsong you would hear in ancient New Zealand.”
The discovery of Miostrepera canora is reported in a paper in the the journal PalZ.
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T.H. Worthy et al. A large cracticine passerine (Aves, Artamidae, Cracticinae) from the Early Miocene, St Bathans Fauna of New Zealand. PalZ, published June 25, 2025; doi: 10.1007/s12542-025-00736-x
