The House Crow (Corvus splendens): A Threat to New Zealand?

Abstract

Abstract:The house crow (Corvus splendens), a native of the Indian subcontinent, has shown a rapid expansion of habitat range across Eastern Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Europe and Asia. It is an adaptable, gregarious commensal bird which is regarded globally as an important pest species due to its impacts on livestock, agricultural and horticultural crops and indigenous fauna and as a fecal contaminator of human environments and water resources. Two Maxent (v3.3.3k) models (A) with presence data in Australia and (B) with simulated entry data locations in New Zealand) and a third ArcGIS model (C) with environmental and social layers) are used to determine an overall suitability index and establish a niche-based model of the potential spatial distribution for C. splendens within New Zealand. The results show that New Zealand, particularly the northern regions of North Island, has suitable environments for the establishment of the house crow. In order of suitability Model B showed highest potential land area suitability (31.84%) followed by Model A (13.79%) and Model C (10.89%). The potential for further expansion of this bird's invasive range is high and, if New Zealand is invaded, impacts are likely to be significant.

Avian SDMs: current state, challenges, and opportunities

“…General application Examples Specific issues Examples Conservation Identification of priority areas for bird conservation Guisan et al 2013, Frick et al 2014 Seabirds and marine environments Lavers et al 2014 Identifying protected areas to meet specific targets Naoe et al 2015 Identifying no-go areas to reduce human-wildlife conflicts in wind power planning Reid et al 2015 Identifying specific habitats for certain species needs Brambilla and Saporetti 2014 Validating umbrella species to match conservation goals Fourcade et al 2017 Evaluating or forecasting the effect of environmental changes Green et al 2008 Future effectiveness of protected areas over different spatial scales Coetzee et al 2009, Hole et al 2009, Veloz et al 2013, Virkkala et al 2013, Brambilla et al 2015 Kissling 2013, Tracewski et al 2016 Including changes in demography Haché et al 2016 Including nest predation and food limitation Harris et al 2012 Including wind farm construction Bastos et al 2016 Invasive birds Predictions of invasion risk Muñoz and Real 2006, Nyári et al 2006, Real et al 2008, Strubbe and Matthysen 2009, Herrando et al 2010, Di Febbraro and Mori 2015, Fraser et al 2015 Range dynamics under climate change Huntley et al 2007, Reino et al 2009, Graham et al 2011 (Continued) …”

House Crow (Corvus splendens) Eradication Measures from eThekwini Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

“…House Crows are thus considered a major concern to human health, throughout their range, mainly due to their abundance in villages, towns and cities where they also create considerable noise pollution [24][25][26][27][28][29]. Globally, the House Crow is regarded as an important pest species with significant potential for further global invasion [11,14,23].…”

“…It is considered one of the world's most invasive bird species affecting well in access of 25 nations throughout the Indian Ocean, Arabian Peninsula and South East Asia [11]. According to Fraser et al the species is highly adaptable to varying environments, is also a gregarious commensal bird which is regarded as a pest of great concern due to its impacts on livestock, agricultural and horticultural crops, indigenous fauna as well as a faecal contaminator of human environments and water resources [14]. Whilst highly associated with human habitation, the species is greatly found around dumpsites, more especially in the areas with less hygiene [11,[14][15][16][17].…”

Molecular Identification and Phylogenetic relationship of Corvus splendens (Common House Crow) by Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene

“…The Common House Crow (Corvus Spenders) is the inborn of the subcontinent. It has shown swift extension of the habitat ranging all over the Europe, Africa, East Asia, Australia, America and most of the Arabian countries 1 . There are four subspecies namely Corvus splendens splendens, Corvus splendens insolens, Corvus splendens protegatus, Corvus splendens Zugmayeri found in native range.…”