iPod tunes for NZ native birds
11 Aug 2009
The ubiquitous iPod might be a familiar site on the street these days, but in New Zealand the digital music players are going in remote native forests to train rare birds.
North Island kōkako - one of the New Zealand’s rarest birds - are taking iPods with them as they settle in new homes, deep in native forest, away from warm-blooded predators.
Familiar dialects
The unusual step, known as acoustic anchoring, has come about because the birds respond to the dialects of their kōkako friends and neighbours but not to those spoken outside their home area.
To ensure the birds stay where it's safe, Waikato University PhD student David Bradley has recorded kōkako bird song from original habitats which will play over loudspeakers in the new homes at dawn.
"The idea is that the birds being released should be familiar with these songs, as they've been recorded very close to where they came from. So that encourages them to hang around instead of fleeing," Bradley said.
Better breeding grounds
Conservationists hope the kōkako will breed better in older established native bush, where mammals that could prey on them have been eradicated.
Twenty kōkako from the Urewera National Park in the North Island will be moved to the nearby Whirinaki Forest Park near Murupara, and 10 birds each from native forests east of Te Kuiti and Te Awamutu in the Waikato will be re-homed in West Auckland's Waitakere Ranges.
Different dialects
Each location will receive birds from two different 'dialect groups'.
Kōkako song from their original populations will be played to help break the ice and, hopefully, encourage the birds to share songs with their new neighbours.
The re-homed birds will be fitted with tiny radio transmitters so researchers can track their movements.
Background: North Island kōkako
- Kōkako belong to the endemic New Zealand wattlebird (Callaeidae) family, which includes North and South Island saddleback and the extinct huia.
- The kōkako is the only member of its family still surviving on the mainland.
- The dark bluish-grey bird has a long tail, short wings, and a pair of large bright blue, fleshy wattles.
- Not particularly good at flying, the kōkako prefers to use its powerful legs to leap and run through the forest.
- The South Island kōkako has been declared officially extinct.
More information:
Endangered kōkako returning to forest
Bird conservation in New Zealand
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