Fiordland crested penguin/tawaki
The Fiordland crested penguin, or tawaki, is one of the rarest of New Zealand’s mainland penguins. Adults stand about 60 centimetres and weigh up to four kilograms. Their upper parts are coloured dark bluish grey with slightly darker feathers on the head. The sides of the face, chin and throat are dark slate-grey with a broad yellow eyebrow stripe, which splays out and droops down the neck. Juvenile birds have a thinner eyebrow stripe and a white chin and throat. Most birds have between three and six grey/white cheek stripes. They have an orange bill, which is slightly larger in adult males.Facts about Fiordland crested penguin/tawaki
Fiordland crested penguin pair
Where are they found?
The tawaki is one of three penguin species that breed on the New Zealand mainland. Its breeding range extends along coastlines south of Bruce Bay in South Westland, to Fiordland and the islands of Foveaux Strait and Stewart Island. Immature Fiordland crested penguins that moult in summer and early autumn sometimes straggle around the east coast of the South Island, where the species was once common. Some non-breeding birds and juveniles have also been recorded in the Chatham Islands, the subantarctic islands and the Australian coast from New South Wales to Western Australia.
The current population is between 2500 and 3000 breeding pairs and has been in decline since the 1950s. A slight warming of sea temperatures in the past 50 years is thought to have had an effect on the distribution of food species and a subsequent impact on several penguin species.
Where can you see tawaki?
The most accessible place to see tawaki is at Munro Beach, near Lake Moeraki 30 kilometres south of Haast. A walking track leads from Lake Moeraki to the beach, and guided tours are conducted from the Lake Moeraki Wilderness Lodge. Tawaki can also be seen in Milford Sound and at Jackson Bay.
The best time of year to see tawaki is during the breeding season from July to November. They may also occasionally be seen during the moulting season from mid-January to early March.
Tawaki are very timid, so do not approach birds, nests or areas of beach where penguin tracks are common. Do not bring dogs close to penguin nesting areas.
Tawaki facts
Fiordland crested penguin
- During the nesting season in South Westland and Fiordland, the tawaki’s main diet is juvenile squid, octopus, krill and small fish.
- Tawaki are monogamous and often mate for life. Although the pairs separate when not breeding, females return each year to the same beach in search of their mate from the previous season.
- Tawaki reach breeding maturity at about five or six years. They nest individually or in small, loose colonies between July and December. Nest sites are close to the coast in caves, under overhangs, at the base of trees or in dense vegetation.
- Females lay two white eggs by the end of August. The first egg is generally smaller than the second, and both are incubated for 30–35 days. Most first eggs fail to hatch, or the chicks die of starvation within ten days of hatching. Tawaki cannot raise more than one chick per season, and the first egg is thought to be an insurance policy in case the second egg does not survive.
- Chicks are brooded by the male, who goes without food for the first three weeks. The chicks then form creches and are fed by both parents until they become independent and leave the colony in late November or early December.
- Like other birds, penguins do not have teeth. Tawaki and other penguins instead have fleshy, backwards pointing spines on their tongue to hold slippery prey, which is swallowed whole without chewing.
Threats to Fiordland crested penguin/tawaki
Fiordland crested penguin
Stoats and dogs pose a serious risk to tawaki colonies. Stoats prey on both chicks and sick or injured adults, while a single dog has the potential to wipe out an entire colony. Tawaki are highly susceptible to human disturbance when nesting and there is a concern that increased nature tourism in South Westland and Fiordland may disturb breeding birds and cause nests to fail.
Haast tokoeka
Haast tokoeka have been living in South Westland long before human inhabitation of New Zealand. They were a significant food source for the Maori people and early European explorers until the early 1900s when numbers started to decline. Today the Haast tokoeka is ranked by DOC as nationally critical.Facts about Haast tokoeka
A kiwi ranger holding Haast tokoeka
chick Kahu
- They have a brown/grey plumage with a reddish tinge. Loose hair like feathers and long whiskers.
- All birds have external nostrils – kiwi are unique (and have a good
sense of smell) because their nostrils are placed near the tip of the
bill, rather than at the base. The female’s bill is longer than the
male’s.
- They are nocturnal and have small eyes but good vision in the day and night.
- They also have well developed hearing.
- Adults weigh in at around 3 kg for female and 2.3 kg for the male. The chicks are a miniature version of the adult.
Threats to Haast tokoeka
A dead Haast tokoeka chick
There is an estimated population of around 300 Haast tokoeka birds that are fighting for survival due to introduced predators such as stoats. The young chicks are vulnerable to stoats until they reach 1 kg in weight at which time they can usually defend themselves. Dogs and ferrets are also a major threat to both chicks and adult kiwi.
Hutton's shearwater/tītī
Facts about Hutton's shearwater/tītī
Recovering Hutton's shearwater chicks
from burrows high up in the Seaward
Kaikoura mountains for translocation
to the Kaikoura Peninsula
Hutton’s shearwater/tītī were first described in 1912 but it was not until 1965 that their Seaward Kaikoura mountain breeding grounds were re-discovered by Geoff Harrow, an amateur Christchurch ornithologist.
The adult population of Hutton’s shearwater is around 460,000, but the species is classified as ‘nationally endangered’ because of its rapid rate of decline.
About the size of a common red-billed seagull, Hutton’s shearwater are thought to live for about 30 years.
Where they are found
Hutton’s shearwater spend the winter in Australian waters, returning each August to the Kaikoura Ranges to breed.
They breed in steep and rugged locations in the Seaward Kaikouras, 1000-1600 metres above sea level. One colony is in the Uerau Nature Reserve in the Kowhai River catchment, the other is on private land at the head of the Puhi Puhi Valley.
Historical records suggest the species once bred from at least eight sites in the Inland and Seaward Kaikoura Ranges. Most of these colonies have since disappeared, probably due to wild pig predation.
During spring and summer, large flocks can often be spotted just offshore from the Kaikoura coastline flying low over the sea or rafted up in large groups on the water.
Breeding
Hutton's shearwater spend most days
at sea feeding on small fish and krill
Birds arrive at their colony from Australian coastal waters in late August onwards then spend about two months competing for burrows and mates. The male and female take turns to incubate the single egg, laid in a burrow up to three metres long between late October and late November. Incubation takes about 50 days.
Each day adult birds travel approximately 20 kilometres to the sea, to eat fish and krill which are later fed to their young. On their downhill flight they travel at up to 154 km/h, reaching the ocean in as little as seven minutes. The return trip takes around 38 minutes, with 1200 metres or more in altitude to be gained with a bellyful of fish.
When the young fledge in March and April, they migrate with other Hutton’s shearwater to fish-rich waters off the Australian coast. Young birds stay there for three or four years then return to Kaikoura to breed at five to six years old.
Kākā
The kākā is a large parrot belonging to the nestorinae family, a group that includes the cheeky kea and the extinct Norfolk Island kākā.
The birds are mainly diurnal but are active at night during fine weather or a full moon. Flocks of boisterous kākā gather in the early morning and late evening to socialise - their amusing antics and raucous voice led the Maori to refer to them as chattering and gossiping.
Facts about kākā
North Island kākā, Little Barrier Island
- Kākā have a brush tongue to take nectar from flowers.
- Their strong bill can open the tough cone of the kauri to obtain seeds. They also use their bill as a “third leg” to assist them when climbing trees to reach food.
- They make extensive use of their feet to hold food and to hang from branches to reach fruit and flowers.
- Their diet includes berries of all kinds, seeds, and the nectar of kōwhai, rātā and flax. They also like grubs and are often seen digging invertebrates from rotten logs.
- Kākā play an important role in the forest by pollinating flowers.
- Eggs take three weeks to incubate with nestlings remaining in the nest for two months. Young birds leave the nest before they can fly, making them vulnerable to predators such as stoats and cats.
- Size: 45 cm; males 475g, females 425g (North Island kākā); males 575g, females 500g (South Island kākā).
Different sub-species
There are two sub-species of kākā (Nestor meridionalis): the North Island kākā (N m. septentrionalis), and the South Island kākā (N m. meridionalis). Both sub-species have brown/green feathers with brilliant flashes of orange and scarlet under their wings. The South Island kākā, however, has more vivid colouring and is larger in size.
When Europeans first arrived in New Zealand, they found kākā in abundance through out the forests of both islands, but by 1930 the birds were localised to a few areas. Today, they are still reasonably common in the Whirinaki, and Pureora forest parks, but even within these strongholds, numbers are thought to be declining. Other large forested areas are almost empty of kākā. The North Island kākā, nevertheless, can be found in good numbers on some offshore islands, especially little and Great Barrier islands and Kapiti Island. The South Island sub-species is still widespread, becoming progressively more common from Nelson (where it is relatively rare) down the West Coast to Fiordland. South Island kākā are also found around Halfmoon Bay (Stewart Island), Ulva Island, and on Codfish Island.
Threats to kākā
Remains of an incubating North Island
kākā female, preyed on while on the nest
Kākā require large tracts of forest to survive. Habitat loss from forest clearance for agriculture and logging have had a devastating effect. Browsing by introduced pests such as possums, deer and pigs has reduced the abundance of food. Possums also eat the same kind of food as kākā, most significantly, high energy food types such as endemic mistletoe and rātā Introduced wasps compete with kākā for the shimmering honeydew (excreted by scale insects) which forms on the barks of beech trees. Both the mistletoe and honeydew supply sugary food which is an important part of the bird’s diet, and may be essential for it to breed in some beech forests.
Having evolved in the absence of mammalian predators, kākā have many characteristics that make them easy prey. Kākā nest deep in hollow trees, where there is no escape if they are cornered by predators such as stoats, rats and possums (which eat chicks and eggs). Nesting females are the most vulnerable to stoat attacks, resulting in a disproportionate male/female sex ratio.
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Kākāpō
The kākāpō (night parrot) is one of New Zealand’s unique ‘treasures’ and with only 90 known surviving birds it is listed internationally as a critically endangered species.
Large, flightless and nocturnal, the kākāpō is an eccentric parrot which can live for decades. It is not closely related to other parrots and, in fact, has a combination of biological features not shared by any other species. It is the only representative of a unique sub-family, Strigops habroptilus, and the softness of its plumage is represented in the second part of that scientific name. With mottled moss-green feathers, camouflage is the bird’s main form of defence.
Rio Tinto Aluminium (New Zealand) Ltd has sponsored the kākāpō recovery programme since 1990. Scientific research and operational support have provided a stronger foundation for the recovery of kākāpō, the world's rarest parrot.Facts about kākāpō
- It is the heaviest parrot in the world. Males can weigh over two kilograms. Unique among land birds, it can store large amounts of energy as body fat.
- It is the only parrot to have a 'lek' mating system: males compete for 'calling posts' specially dug-out bowls in the earth and call ("boom") each night in summer months for a female. The male’s low-frequency mating boom travels over several kilometres. It is the only parrot to have an inflatable thoracic air sac.
- Kākāpō breed every three to four years.
- A bird can range several kilometres in one night.
- Although it cannot fly, it is good at climbing trees.
- The birds are herbivores and eat variety of foods such as roots, leaves and fruit
- Kākāpō once ranged from near sea level to high in the mountains.
- Possibly as defence against its ancient predator - the giant eagle - the kākāpō became nocturnal and learned to remain still ('freeze') at times of danger.
By the 1970s, only a few isolated birds were known to exist in Fiordland, South Island. A survey of Stewart Island in 1977 found about 200 more birds but they were rapidly declining through predation by feral cats. Following translocations of all the remaining kākāpō, they are now managed by the Department of Conservation on two offshore islands: Whenua Hou (Codfish Island) near Stewart Island, and Anchor Island in Fiordland.
Threats to kākāpō
Early Polynesian settlers hunted the bird for its plumage and meat. At the beginning of the 19th century, kākāpō were still widespread throughout New Zealand. From the 1840s, European settlers not only hunted the bird, they cleared and set fire to bush for farming, destroying its habitat.
Most devastating of all to its survival was the introduction of predators such as rats, cats and stoats. In ancient history, its only endemic predator was a giant eagle (now extinct) and it developed the habit of nesting, rearing and feeding its young on the ground. This nesting behaviour made its eggs and chicks easy prey to introduced mammalian predators, especially cats.
Kea
If you are a frequent visitor to or live in an alpine environment you will know the kea well. Raucous cries of "keeaa" often give away the presence of these highly social and inquisitive birds. However, their endearing and mischievous behaviour can cause conflict with people.
Kea (Nestor notabilis) are an endemic parrot of the South Island's high country. Although kea are seen in reasonable numbers throughout the South Island, the size of the wild population is unknown - but is estimated at between 1,000 and 5,000 birds.
Facts about kea
To survive in the harsh alpine environment kea have become inquisitive and nomadic social birds - characteristics which help kea to find and utilise new food sources. Their inquisitive natures often cause kea to congregate around novel objects and their strong beaks have enormous manipulative power.
Kea are a protected species.
Kea grow up to 50 cm long and although mostly vegetarian, also enjoy grubs and insects.
The kea is related to the forest kaka (Nestor meridionalis) and is thought to have developed its own special characteristics during the last great ice age by using its unusual powers of curiosity in its search for food in a harsh landscape.
Nests are usually found among boulders in high altitude forest where the birds lay between two and four eggs during the breeding season from July and January.
Kea is rated as one of the most intelligent birds in the world.
Threats to kea
Kea in flight
Human development in the alpine zone has reduced the sources of natural foods availalbe to kea. No wonder they find our fat-laden human foods so inviting! However, human foods encourage kea to come into closer contact with humans, often resulting in mischievous behaviour.
Feeding young kea also discourages them from looking for and learning about natural foods, and it can make them dependent on human scraps. Kea, like many other native birds, have suffered from predation by cats, stoats, ferrets and possums. Keas are particularly vulnerable to predation because they nest in holes in the ground that are easy to find and easy to get in to.
Kiwi
The kiwi is New Zealand's national icon and part of our image world-wide. New Zealanders have been "Kiwis" since the days of the First World War. It's a nickname bestowed by fellow Australian soldiers, and it stuck. Today our identity as Kiwis is based around our national bird.Facts about kiwi
It's a curious bird, the kiwi, it cannot fly, has loose, hair-like feathers and long whiskers. Largely nocturnal, it burrows in the ground, is the only bird known to have nostrils at the end of its bill and literally sniffs out food. It also has one of the largest egg-to-body weight ratios of any bird - the egg averages 15 per cent of the female's body weight (compared to two per cent for the ostrich).
The kiwi is related to the ostrich of Africa, the emu of Australia and the now-extinct moa of New Zealand. Females are larger than males and with brown kiwi, the male does most of the egg incubating. Kiwis live in pairs and mate for life, sometimes as long as 30 years.
Threats to kiwi
Northland brown kiwi mauled by a dog,
Taemaro Bay, Northland
Surveys through the 1990's show numbers throughout mainland New Zealand dropping by an alarming 5.8 per cent a year. There are now about 75,000 kiwis left. If the present rate of decline continues numbers will be down to 50,000 by the year 2006 and many of these will be on protected off-shore islands.
The brown kiwi is still widespread in the central and northern North Island, but the little spotted kiwi survives only on off-shore islands. Around 1000 of them live on Kapiti Island, with transferred little spotted kiwi now well-established on Hen Island and Red Mercury Island in the Hauraki Gulf, Long Island in the Marlborough Sounds, and recently on Tiritiri Matangi in the Hauraki Gulf.
Introduced predators are the biggest threat. Stoats and cats kill 95 per cent of kiwi chicks before they are six months old. Adult kiwi are often killed by ferrets and dogs.
Kōkako
The kōkako belongs to the endemic New Zealand wattlebirds (Callaeidae), an ancient family of birds which includes the North and South Island saddleback and the extinct huia.
The kōkako is the only member of its family still surviving on the mainland. A dark bluish-grey bird with a long tail and short wings, it has a pair of brightly coloured, fleshy "wattles" extending from either side of its gape to meet below the neck.
The North Island kōkako has blue wattles, while the South Island kōkako has orange or yellow wattles. The bird is not particularly good at flying and prefers to use its powerful legs to leap and run through the forest.
Facts about kōkako
North Island kōkako
There are two sub-species of kōkako, the North Island kōkako (Callaeas cinerea wilsoni) and the South Island kōkako (C. c. cinerea).
The North Island kōkako is found mainly in mature podocarp-hardwood forests. There are fewer than 400 pairs that occur in several isolated populations in the central and northern North Island. In the last 20 years, there has been a marked decline in numbers of North Island kōkako, although management is reversing that trend in many areas now.
South Island kōkako are currently assumed to be extinct, although it is possible they may survive in low numbers in remote parts of the South Island and Stewart Island.
Kōkako are renowned for the clarity and volume of their song which carries far across the forest. In the early morning, a pair may sing a duet for up to half an hour with other kōkako joining in to form a "bush choir".
Male and female are similar in colour and size (weighing about 230 grams).
They protect large territories (eight hectares) by singing and chasing away invaders.
They eat leaves, fern-fronds, flowers, fruit and invertebrates.
In
Maori myth, it was the kōkako that gave Maui water as he fought the
sun. The kōkako filled its wattles with water and brought it to Maui.
His thirst quenched, Maui rewarded the kōkako by making its legs long
and slender, enabling the bird to bound through the forest with ease in
search of food.
North Island robin/toutouwai
The North Island robin, also known as toutouwai, is a friendly and trusting bird, often coming to within a couple of metres to people, and occasionally standing on a person’s boot.
It is found in both native and exotic forests. North Island robins measure 18 cm from beak tip to tail tip, and weigh about 35 grams, and so are slightly larger than a house sparrow. They have long, thin legs and an upright stance.
Facts about North Island robin
North Island robin
There are three forms of the New Zealand robin, each found on one of the main islands; the North Island robin (Petroica longipes), South Island robin (Petroica australis australis), and Stewart Island robin (Petroica australis rakiura). The first two forms are not threatened, but the Stewart Island robin is ‘nationally vulnerable’ because of the impacts of introduced predators.
What does it look like?
North Island robins are dark slaty-grey with a pale greyish-white lower breast and belly. The upper dark feathers have pale shafts and so the birds appear faintly streaked. Exact colouration depends on age and sex. Males older than three years of age are almost black over the upper parts, while females and most males less than two years old are mainly pale to dark grey above.
Both sexes have a small patch of white feathers at the base of the beak which is kept covered much of the time, occasionally being flashed when interacting with robins and other small forest birds.
Where is it found?
The North Island robin is found in native and exotic forests, mainly in the central North Island from Taranaki through to the Bay of Plenty. In addition, populations occur on Little Barrier and Kapiti Islands.
Since 1991, populations have been established on several predator-free islands (Mokoia, Tiritiri Matangi, Tuhua, Matiu/Somes, Mana, Moturoa) and several mainland sites which are encircled by predator-proof fences (Karori Sanctuary, Bushy Park Reserve) or where mammalian predators (rats, stoats, possums) have been controlled to very low levels (Trounson Kauri Park, Pangareoa Mainland Island, Kakepuku Mountain, Hunua Ranges, Boundary Stream Mainland Island, Wenderholm Regional Park, Kotuku Peninsula and Windy Hill Catchment of Great Barrier Island, Mangaokewa Reserve, Barnett Reserve, Stephenson Covenant, Tawharanui Open Sanctuary, Ocean Beach Wildlife Preserve).
Male robins are renowned songsters of the forest. From August to December, males spend much time loudly singing from high perches in the canopy, especially in the early morning. Bachelor males also spend much time through the day giving full song in an attempt to attract a mate. Full song consists of a variety of simple notes strung together and sustained for up to 30 minutes with regular brief pauses.
What does it eat?
The robin’s diet consists mainly of invertebrates, including species from the size of aphids to those as large as an adult tree weta, stick insect, or earthworm. Items too large to swallow whole are taken to the ground and flung from side to side against the ground or log until broken into pieces.
Although robins are unable to eat such large prey items all at once, the excess is not wasted. Uneaten portions are stored in crevices, holes or depressions on trunks and branches of trees near where the item was found, to be retrieved and eaten later in the day or the next day. In late summer-autumn, when conditions are dry and there is little invertebrate prey available, robins supplement their diet with small berries and fruit.
When does it breed and nest?
Although the oldest robin known lived to at least 16 years of age, most have a much shorter lifespan. Both sexes start breeding when one year old. The breeding season of the North Island robin starts in September and extends to February. At sites where food is readily available, pairs rear two, and occasionally three, broods in a season.
The nest, commonly built in a trunk or branch-trunk fork, consists of an outer layer of twigs, fibers and moss bound together with cobwebs. The inner layer consists of moss, fine grasses, and/or tree fern scales.
As well as building the nest on her own, the female incubates her clutch of 2-3, unusually 4, eggs on her own. However, during both of these phases of the nesting cycle, her mate brings her food about 3 times an hour through the day. Incubation lasts about 18 days, chick-rearing about 21 days. The male assists with chick-rearing, and once the chicks have left the nest, each parent looks after particular fledglings.
Threats to North Island robin
North Island robin
During European settlement, and the clearance of much native forest for pasture, the range of the North Island robin declined markedly. But, in the past 30 years there has been little change in its distribution.
Predators
However, not all is well for this robin. Introduced predators, particular ships rats, possums, stoats and feral cats continue to impact robin populations, taking many eggs, nestlings and recent fledglings. In addition, because females carry out all incubation and chick-brooding duties, a significant proportion are killed at night by introduced predators.
What this means
Some males are unable to find mates, and spend much of the breeding season singing to attract one. As well as there being more males than females in many areas, much suitable habitat is occupied by fewer robins than would be expected because of the high incidence of predation. It is only on predator-free islands, in predator-free fenced sanctuaries, or sites where introduced predators are controlled to low numbers that healthy populations of robins exist.
