21 December 2004

This month’s hatching of six North Island kokako chicks at Boundary Stream Mainland Island in northern Hawke’s Bay was an exciting and significant event for people working to bring these rare birds back to the area. The chicks are the first kokako to hatch in the wild in Hawke’s Bay for over 100 years.

Department of Conservation (DOC) Ranger, Kahori Nakagawa found the first nest made of kamahi twigs with a decoration of leather-leaf fern, in November.

“Finding this nest was very exciting and a real surprise as I hadn’t expected them to begin breeding so early,” Ms Nakagawa said.

As the nest was located about seventeen metres above ground, DOC scientist and tree climbing expert, Ian Flux, was called on to assist with banding and check on the heath of the young chicks. The chicks probably hatched a day apart in early December.

Kokako rarely raise three chicks in one clutch, and if they do, one or two of the chicks sometimes do not get enough food and fail to fledge. However, this is not the case in Boundary Stream.

“All three chicks look very well fed thanks to the parents’ hard work and abundance of seasonal food items such as kamahi and rewarewa flowers,” Ms Nakagawa said.

Feather samples taken from these chicks will be sent to Massey University laboratory for sex identification. DOC staff are hoping that some of the birds will be male to improve the gender balance of kokako in the mainland island. Early in 2004, three female chicks from two kokako pairs hatched in aviaries located at Boundary Stream. The chicks and ten adult kokako that had been held in the aviaries since 2001, were released into the forest at Boundary Stream at intervals during 2004.

Two other kokako pairs are also nesting in the mainland island, and staff who checked one of the nests this week have reported the presence of another three kokako chicks. Two of the chicks have been banded and the other one, which is quite small, will be banded on Christmas Eve. The other nest will be checked in early January. There is a possibility that all pairs will re-nest later in the season. Currently there are four kokako pairs and three single females in Boundary Stream. The successful breeding of kokako this year will be a big step forward to establishing a self-sustaining population in Boundary Stream Mainland Island.

Team Leader at Boundary Stream, Tamsin Ward-Smith said today that the project had experienced highs and lows and staff are constantly learning about how best to provide the sort of conditions that will allow kokako to thrive.

“This work is experimental and we have learned so much about kokako. Support from the public for the project has been fantastic and the reward for everyone has been seeing and hearing these beautiful birds back in Hawke’s Bay forest,” Ms Ward-Smith said.

Background information
North Island kokako were once widespread throughout the North Island but numbers declined dramatically over the 19th and 20th centuries due to a combination of habitat loss and predation of eggs, chicks and adults by introduced mammals. It is believed that the current population is approximately 1400 birds.

In 2001, ten adult kokako were translocated from Otamatuna in the Northern Te Urewera Ecosystem Restoration Project to specially built aviaries in Boundary Stream Mainland Island. The transfer and subsequent care involved Tuhoe, Ngati Pahauwera, Ngati Tu and Ngati Hineuru people, Forest and Bird members, volunteers from Hawke’s Bay and local landowners. The kokako settled well into the aviaries, but needed constant monitoring and feeding, tasks that were made easier for DOC staff by a team of dedicated Hawke’s Bay volunteers

January 2004: the first two kokako chicks to be hatched in Hawke’s Bay for over 100 years were produced in the aviaries, followed shortly afterwards by another chick.

February 2004: six non-breeding kokako were released into the forest as the pairs had not bonded in the aviaries.

May 2004: Dame Malvina Major, Patron for Kokako Recovery, helped release kokako chicks from the aviary into the forest.

August 2004: the remains of an adult and a juvenile kokako were found in the forest. Four adult kokako remaining in the aviaries were released into the forest. In the three years that the kokako were housed in the aviaries, over 50 volunteers helped feed the birds. Over 200 visitors to the aviaries had the opportunity to view kokako at close range.

Boundary Stream Mainland Island is an 800 hectare Scenic Reserve managed by DOC, 60 kilometres north-west of Napier. It has been the scene of intensive predator control which resulted in the creation of a safe area of forest for the reintroduction of native species such as North Island robin, North Island brown kiwi, kokako and saddlebacks (tieke).

Northern Te Urewera Ecosystem Restoration Project is a mainland island covering an area of 50,000 hectares in Te Urewera National Park. The park contains almost the full array of North Island forest birds and more than 650 native plant species. Northern Te Urewera contains about half of New Zealand’s kokako population. Pest control in the mainland island has reversed a decline in kokako numbers (kokako numbers in one study area increased from eight pairs in 1996 to over 95 pairs in 2003) and benefited a wide range of other native species.