Native NZ chicks get cracking for Easter
01 Apr 2010
Christchurch - and all of New Zealand - is celebrating the arrival of a real Easter chick.
Just hatched overnight, the little kiwi - nick-named 'Hot Cross' - is the last of 89 kiwi chicks hatched this breeding season at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, in Christchurch.
The latest arrival, which has been incubating at the kiwi breeding facility for the past two months, is a great spotted kiwi and originates from Paparoa national park, on the west coast of New Zealand’s South Island.
Hatching a conservation story
While the rest of the world eagerly cracks into chocolate Easter eggs, New Zealand is hatching a much bigger story with a bunch of fluffy new chicks.
The chicks are the latest additions in the long-running Kiwi conservation story that’s boosting New Zealand’s unique and precious native bird population.
Not only is the country’s iconic kiwi reproducing well, but other native species including takahe, kokako, toutouwai and toroa have all hit breeding season high-notes.
These tales of hatch, match and despatch are a source of joy for the many dedicated teams working throughout New Zealand on conservation projects.
Hot Cross kiwi chick
In reference to Easter - which starts tonight (1.04.2010) in New Zealand - the new kiwi chick was immediately dubbed ‘Hot Cross’, after the spicy raisin buns that human Kiwis consume in massive quantities over the Easter holiday break.
The kiwi has also been given the official Māori name of ‘Nikau’. The nikau is a native New Zealand palm tree which ties in with the Easter and Palm Sunday season.
This chick is the 89th successful hatching this season at the New Zealand Conservation Trust’s facility at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve - part of the BNZ Operation Nest Egg project.
Jo Moore of Willowbank says it’s been a big year on the kiwi hatch and despatch front.
"We’ve hatched 89 chicks this season so we’ve been full to bursting. There were new eggs arriving every day during the season."
The hatched chicks were now on predator-free nursery islands, and would be returned to their native habitats in the wild once they were big enough to fight off predators, she said.
Kiwi recovery
Kiwi recovery reached a milestone last month (March 2010) when eight-day-old Tohu nui became the 200th chick to be released through the efforts of Auckland Zoo and the Operation Nest Egg project.
Tohu nui was released on Motuora Island - one of the many islands in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park, near Auckland - after being raised by Auckland Zoo staff. The zoo has notched up a 95% success rate with kiwi incubation for the 2009 / 2010 breeding season.
Motuora Island has been a kiwi créche since 1996. Young birds stay about a year or until their body weight reaches 1.2kg and they are capable of fighting off predators.
Auckland Zoo, the Department of Conservation (DOC) and other wildlife facilities work together on Operation Nest Egg, and to date about 1300 kiwi have been released throughout New Zealand as part of this programme.
Fluffy chicks
New Zealand has many kiwi recovery programmes, and most are nursing a bunch of cute fluffy chicks this Easter.
Motuihe Island, near Auckland, welcomed the largest and final group of 26 endangered little spotted kiwi two weeks ago (11.03.10).
The kiwi travelled from Kapiti Island - a sanctuary off the west coast near Wellington - to join 14 birds released on Motuihe last year, taking the island population to 40 breeding adults.
Motuihe Island is a 30-minute boat trip from downtown Auckland, and now hosts the closest wild kiwi population to New Zealand’s biggest city.
Motuihe Trust chairman John Laurence reports that the birds released in 2009 are doing well. Kiwi footprints are frequently seen on the beaches and overnight campers often hear the distinctive kiwi call.
Takahe - back from the brink
Meanwhile, one shy fluffy bundle is bringing new hope that the endangered takahe species can be brought back from the brink of extinction.
The birth of the healthy chick - the first on the North Island mainland in hundreds of years - has thrilled staff at Maungatautari Ecological Island in the Hamilton-Waikato region.
Ecologist Chris Smuts-Kennedy said that everyone was "ecstatic" over the new arrival which for the moment was being secretive, hiding in dense vegetation, unlike its people-friendly parents.
With the total takahe population estimated at only 230, the birth was especially significant, according to Smuts-Kennedy.
Another 21 takahe chicks hatched this season on off-shore predator-free sanctuaries could potentially overcrowd the islands so DOC plans to transfer eight chicks to its takahe rearing unit, near Te Anau, Southland. With 20 birds in residence, the unit will have the most inmates it has ever cared for during a breeding season.
The flightless takahe is one of New Zealand's rarest birds. It was thought to be extinct till it was rediscovered in Fiordland in 1948. Since then, DOC’s breeding programme has seen numbers slowly increasing.
North Island kokako
There’s been further excitement in New Zealand’s fledgling kokako population with the first chicks to hatch in 100 years in Whirinaki forest - in the central North Island - beginning to leave the nest on their own.
Twenty distinctive blue-feathered kokako were transferred from Te Urewera National Park to Whirinaki during 2009. The final group arrived in September as a highlight of celebrations to mark 25 years of forest protection.
DOC threatened species ranger Sarah King says four kokako pairs have set up territories within the park, and three pairs are nesting.
In just a few years, protection programmes for kokako have seen the North Island population rise from 1400 to more than 1700.
A 1000ha area of Whirinaki forest has been under intensive pest control since 2003, and bird life has increased beyond expectations. New Zealand kaka, kakariki, robins, whiteheads, bellbirds and tui are all thriving.
Toroa - royal albatross
At Taiaroa Head on the Otago Peninsular, all toroa or northern royal albatross chicks have hatched without problems - the first time in 16 years that the colony has achieved a 100% success rate.
DOC say the 17 chicks still need to cope with heat, humidity and the risk of fly-strike and predators over the next month, but rangers have been checking the chicks several times a day.
The colony has had two unusual pairings this season - a female-female pair incubated an egg which has now hatched, and an inter-colony pair with one parent from Taiaroa, the other from the Chatham Islands.
The latter pair is especially important for the Taiaroa colony as it provides an opportunity to widen the genetic pool.
Toutouwai - North Island robin
Although it is only months since the release of some of New Zealand’s smaller feathered friends - toutouwai or North island robin in the northern Coromandel, there is already breeding confirmation.
"It’s brilliant - this is what it’s all about," said Lettecia Williams, of the Moehau Environment Group (MEG) which worked with local community, Māori iwi and DOC to release 60 adult birds in 2009.
The birds, which were transferred from Pureora Forest Park near Taupo, have been monitored since release and DOC staff members have recently photographed fledgling robins near one of the release sites.
Nine separate sightings of two fledglings have been verified.
Background: Unique New Zealand birdlife
A quarter of New Zealand’s birds are found nowhere else on the planet.
Along with many volunteers, and organisations such as the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society, New Zealand's Department of Conservation (DOC) has become a world leader in bird recovery science.
The true icon of New Zealand birds, and the most unusual, is the kiwi - a flightless wonder with hair-like feathers, long whiskers and nostrils at the end of its bill for sniffing out food.
Human New Zealanders carry the nickname 'Kiwi'. The bird appears on coins and lends its name to the local currency.
Background: BNZ Operation Nest Egg
Operation Nest Egg, sponsored by the Bank of New Zealand (BNZ), was started in 1994 to save the endangered kiwi species.
There are thought to be about 100,000 kiwis left in New Zealand.
Kiwi eggs are collected, incubated and hatched, and the chicks are reared in captivity until they are big enough to be released into the wild.
Birds raised this way have a 65% chance of surviving their first year of life.
Only 5% of kiwi hatched in the wild reach adulthood, and 20% survival is needed for a population to grow.
Inspite of conservation measures, the population of great spotted kiwi - believed to be around 14 - 15,000 - is declining at a rate of 2%.
More information:
New Zealand’s iconic native birds
Bird conservation in New Zealand
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