Endangered wildlife conservation news from the captive breeding team

Bird Staff Bits Archive

13 December 2004 - 9 December 2005

9 December 2005

After 9 years of service, one of our captive breeding rangers Rose Collen has decided to leave us. During her time at Mount Bruce, Rose has been involved in breeding some of New Zealand’s most endangered species and has made valuable contribution to our

Rose is proudly modelling her leaving presents

captive breeding programmes. Rose is moving to Invercargill and plans to continue her involvement with Doc and working with New Zealand’s native fauna. We wish Rose all the best for her future.

Both wild kiwi chicks continue to do well and are gaining weight weekly. We are currently screening both chicks every fortnight for coccidia. The second chick tested positive for this disease approx 2 weeks ago and we have started treating it with Baycox. The treatment appears to be working with the lasted screening showing reduced levels. The chicks were fitted with transmitters before being placed into an outside enclosure. The transmitters were removed last week because the chicks are easily found, usually in their roost boxes.
Rangi and Tua’s 3rd egg was removed last weekend. The egg was placed in an incubator and has started to hatch. If all goes well we should have another kiwi chick early next week. Rangi laid a 4th egg approximately 3 weeks ago. Initially Tua did not incubate this egg but has now started after the forth egg was removed.
Izzie our female hihi in aviary 8 has hatched out 2 chicks. Both chicks are doing well and should fledge next week. Riley her mate showed signs of aggression and has been moved to the cell block aviaries.
Sally our 7 year old female has also been busy. After completing her nest she laid a single egg and started incubation. Unfortuately the egg shell was damaged and the contents dried. Prior to laying this first egg she was seen soliciting to Ngatiwai. However Ngatiwai showed little interested and no copulations were observed. Riley was then introduced and mated with Sally within 5 minutes. Sally is currently busy building a second nest.
In aviary 2, Zoe and Roddy have hatched out 3 chicks. Usually we hold our hihi breeding pairs in adjacent aviaries only introducing them for mating. However no aggression has been observed between Zoe and Roddy so the birds are currently housed together. Bramble our female in aviary 6 was previously paired with Araweeny. No nesting behaviour has been observed so we have removed Araweeny and introduced Ngatiwai. Bramble bred with Ngatiwai last season so we know they are compatible. Hopefully this new pairing will start some nesting behaviour. If necessary Araweeny will be re-introduced once Bramble is ready to be mated, if Ngatiwai is not up to the task.
18 Shore Plover chicks have been artificially incubated and reared to date. We have another 3 eggs in the incubator and another 4 clutches in the aviaries.
The 3 kaka from Auckland zoo and 4 kaka from Hamilton zoo were release into the park last month. Two of our volunteers Brian Wilsden and Colin Wheeler released 2 of these birds. During the last nest check Raelene found 16 wild kaka chicks in the reserves nest boxes.
Millie and Muzz the captive kaka in aviary 3 have fledged 2 chicks. The remaining 2 chicks are expected to fledge any day now. Millie and Muzz will continue feeding the chicks until they learn to feed for themselves. The chicks will eventually be released into the Pukaha/Mount Bruce reserve.
The Campbell Island teal have started to produce eggs. We currently have 4 ducklings in the brooder room and 11 eggs in the incubators. There is one remaining clutch still in the aviaries. This clutch will be removed shortly. This year we are removing and artificially incubating all first clutches. This will encourage our pairs to re-nest and produce a second clutch.
Two new people have recently joined the biodiversity team. Oliver Knox has been appointed as our new predator man. Oliver will be checking the 600 stoat traps we have in the park and filling bait stations for rat control. Tania Beerens has been helping the captive bird staff during the last 3 week. Tania is studying veterinarian Science at Massey University.
Blossom our new male Takahe arrived from Tiri Tiri Matangi Island last week. Blossom has had an enclosure specially built for him in the main takahe enclosure. This allows him to interact with the resident pair without the risk of injury caused by fighting. In the future we hope to house all 3 takahe in the same enclosure.

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3 November 2005

The wild kiwi chick that was removed as an egg from the reserve in September has been transferred outside into the back of the Takahe enclosure. This chick hatched out at 260 grams and now weighs over 400 grams. The chick was fitted with a transmitter before being transferred outside. This will allow us to locate him if he doesn’t use the artificial roost boxes or becomes elusive. As mentioned in the last birdstaff bits, the parents of this chick have produced a 4th egg. The second candling of this egg showed it to be fertile. This egg is due to hatch early next month and may also be removed to be artificial incubated and reared. A second wild egg has been removed from the reserve. This egg hatched on the 21st October and chick is progressing nicely. The chick has quickly started to feed itself and has gained weight during the last 3 days.
Unfortuately the kiwi chick that hatched in the nocturnal house and was removed for hand rearing has died. This chick showed little interested in feeding and steadily lost weight from day one. The chick was force fed in an attempt to get it eating. The chick was also seen by Jerry our vet and started on a course of antibiotics. Initially the chick responded, showing signs of improved health and gained weight during the following 2 days. Unfortuately the chick’s health suddenly deteriorated and it was found dead the following morning. The body has been sent to Massey University for an autopsy and we are awaiting the results. Rangi and Tua’s 3rd egg was candled recently and discovered to be fertile. The egg will again be left with Tua to be incubated naturally but will be removed a couple of days before hatch. This will allow the chick to be hatched in a sterile environment and minimize the risk of disease.
We have recently had a number of new people join the team to assist us during the busy season. Jacqui Walls has been employed as our new summer contractor. Jacqui has previously worked with black stilt, robins, saddleback and the critically endangered fairy tern. Stefauie Baldauf has joined the team as a volunteer. Stefauie arrived from Germany last month and will be helping with feed rounds and the restoration project. Tom Studholme has returned for another breeding season. Tom will again be chasing kokako around the reserve and hopefully monitoring nests and chicks. Sandra Burles has joined the visitor centre team as their new interpretation ranger. Before coming to Pukaha Mount Bruce Sandra was involved with the Karori wildlife sanctuary in Wellington.
Tony and Tom have been busy out in the reserve monitoring rat numbers and filling bait stations. Tracking tunnel are used to monitor rat numbers within the reserve. Results from the 80 tracking tunnels have returned a tracking rate of 27%. Both Tony and Tom with help from 2 goat hunters from the Masterton area offices have spent the last few days filling up the 1100 bait stations with Racumin, a 1st generation rat bait. A follow up monitor of rat numbers will be undertaken in 2-3 weeks. This will allow us to determine the success of the poison operation. The aim of the poisoning operation is to return a tracking rate of 2% or under.
Izzie our female hihi in aviary 8b has been very busy in recent weeks building a nest. Riley the male hihi in Av. 8a was introduced last week and copulations were observed. Izzie started laying last weekend and has produced 4 eggs so far. If all goes well these eggs will hatch later this month. Sally has also been busy nest building. Sally is housed in the cell block aviaries with Ngatiwai. Sally is currently putting the finishing touches to her nest and will be mated with Ngatiwai shortly. Ngatiwai is the oldest hihi in captivity and has had a few health issues during his life. We are keen to see if he is still able to copulate and if any eggs are fertile. Zoe the female hihi in Av. 2 has placed a number of twigs in 2 of her nest boxes. It is hope she will choose one of these nest boxes shortly and start some serious nest building. Bramble the female in Av. 6 has shown no signs of breeding yet.
We have our first shore plover chicks for the season. The eggs that were removed from aviary 7 last month hatched 2 weeks ago. Unfortuately one of these chicks suddenly developed breathing difficulties last Friday. The chick was examined by Jerry our vet and was medicated. Unfortuately the chick didn’t make it through the night and was found dead the following morning. The second clutch of eggs that were due to be incubated from aviary 2 was discovered to be infertile. We currently have 5 pairs of shore plovers sitting on eggs. These eggs will be removed in the coming weeks to be artificially incubated and hand reared.
The four captive kaka chicks in Av. 3 are doing well. Last week we received 9 kaka from Hamilton zoo and Auckland zoo. Eight of these birds will be released into the reserve. The remaining bird is a female. She will be held at Pukaha Mount Bruce to replace our female kaka, Millie. Millie is being transferred to Staglands Wildlife Park. A new male kaka will be transferred from Otorohanga kiwi house to be paired with the new female. Muzz, Millie’s current mate will be released into the reserve.
The wild kaka have started the breeding season with 5 nests being discovered. Two clutches of eggs have already hatched producing 7 chicks. The remaining 3 nests contain 13 eggs.
There have been a number of copulations observed in the Campbell Island Teal enclosures. No nests or eggs have discovered but the signs are looking good.
The 2 tuatara eggs that were removed from our adult pair hatched 3 weeks ago. Both are currently being held at the service block in a plastic box with leaf litter and some small pieces of bark to hide under. They will eventually be transferred to the visitor centre to be on public display. Sam will be removed from the visitor centre to make room for the new arrivals. He will be transferred to the Nocturnal house to be used for public talks.
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29 September 2005

MR KIWI DOES IT!!

Its weighing time for our new kiwi

The fertile kiwi egg from the reserve was removed on the 5th September and placed in an incubator. Last Monday after 22 days of nervous anticipation the egg hatched. The chick is doing well and will spend 2 days in its hatcher before being transferred to a brooder. Wild kiwis have not bred at Pukaha Mount Bruce for over 100 years. We are all extremely happy with progress so far and hope for some more kiwi chicks in the coming months. After removing the fertile egg Tony our restoration ranger tracked the kiwi pair back to the nest burrow on a number of occasions. The nest burrow was checked last week and we were surprised to find they had chosen the same nest site for their 4th egg. The egg was candled but was too young to show any development. If fertile this egg will also be removed at approximately 60 days of age and incubated artificially.

The egg Rangi and Tua laid on the 15th July hatched out in the nocturnal house on Sunday night. We removed this chick on Monday and are hand rearing it artificially. The chick is currently in our incubation room and will be transferred to a brooder tomorrow. A third egg was discovered in Tua’s nest box on the 22nd Sept. Tua started incubating this egg soon after his chick was removed and if fertile will spend another 70-80 sitting on his nest. Both the nocturnal house chick and the chick from the wild will be released into the reserve once they reach a suitable size.
The 3 hihi that were transferred from Tiritiri Matangi Island last month have finished their quarantine period and have been transferred to their breeding aviaries. Riley and Izzie are now held in Av.8 while the remaining female, Zoe has been paired with Roddy in Av. 2. Araweeny has been paired with Bramble in Av.6 and Ngatiwai and Sally will be held in the cell block aviaries as a back-up/breeding pair. A hole has been made in the brick wall between the cell block enclosures to give the bird’s access to both enclosures and to increase their foraging area.
Michael and Aleksandra our volunteers from Holland have left to return home and Rebecca Mitchinson has accepted a job down in Te Anau working for Doc in the local visitor centre. Pete Bird has joined the team for a month as a trainee ranger. Pete will be helping out with the restoration project and the captive breeding programmes.
6 kokako were transferred from Mapara to Pukaha Mount Bruce on the 7th September. These birds were released into the reserve after receiving a Maori blessing from Jim Rimene and a good drink of jam water. All 6 quickly headed for the canopy and disappeared from sight. Transmitters have been attached to these birds and Tony and Pete are monitoring them closely. Unfortuately the transfer of 2 kokako two weeks ago was not as successful. One bird died in a holding aviary prior to being transferred to Mount Bruce and the remaining bird was found dead last Sunday by Tony having been released on the 16th September. Both birds have been sent away to Massey University for post mortem. Preliminary results for the first bird show no obvious cause of death. We are awaiting the results for the second bird. The numbers of kokako in the reserve is now close to 20.
There are currently 2 nests in the shore plover aviaries. Both nests contain 3 warm eggs. These eggs will be removed before they hatch to be incubated artificially, this will encourage the pairs to re-nest. Chicks bred this year will be released onto on island in Foveaux Strait
Our captive kakas have also been busy producing eggs. 5 eggs were discovered in Millie’s nest box on the 17th Sept. Millie’s mate, Muzz has smashed a number of eggs in the past but seems to be behaving himself so far! We have our first wild Kaka nest for the season. Raelene checked all our artificial kaka nest boxes last week and discovered an egg in one of them. We are unsure at this stage who this nest belongs to.
Sam our juvenile tuatara in the visitor centre is looking very tidy and smart, having recently shed his skin. He has also become much more visual since the weather has warmed up and is putting on a good show for the visitors

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1 September 2005

Our new female Kokako arrived 25th August from Hamilton Zoo. She is currently being held in aviary 2b next to our single male kokako P.C. The 2 birds will be introduced to each other at a later date. This pairing will increase our kokako breeding pairs from 2 to 3.
Rangi and Tua our North Island Brown kiwi pair in the Nocturnal house had their eggs re-candled on the 12th August. This time candling revealed development in one of the eggs indicating it was fertile. Incubation for kiwi eggs range from 70 to 80 days. If all goes well the egg should hatch out towards the end of September.
The 2 eggs in the wild kiwi nest were re-candled on the 17th August. The fertile egg continues to develop and is due to hatch around the 20th September. The remaining infertile egg in this clutch had been ejected from the nest by the male kiwi. Candling showed the egg had gone rotten and it was removed.
Tony found a second wild kiwi nest containing 1 egg out in the reserve on the 10th August. We candled this egg 7 days later and found it was fertile with a strong network of veins clearly visible within the egg. The nest was re-checked last Tuesday and was found to contain a second egg. This egg was candle but was too young to show any development.
1 male and 2 female hihi arrived from Tiritiri Matangi Island on the 19th August. The birds are being held in quarantine for 30 days in the cell block and Antip aviaries before they can be transferred into the breeding aviaries. The birds are adjusting to life in captivity and have settled down well after some early pacing.
We currently have 2 new volunteers helping with the restoration and captive breeding programmes. Michael Zevenhoven and Aleksandra Jedynska will be helping us for a month before travelling to Asia and then returning home to Holland.
The 33 Campbell Island Teal that are being released onto Campbell Island left yesterday for their trip of a life time! The birds travelled to Palmerston North Airport and were flown down to Invercargill to catch the boat that will take them to Campbell Island. The boat trip is expected to take 3 days and the birds will be force fed a number of times during the trip. Rose has accompanied the birds down to the island and will spend 3 weeks helping with the reintroduction.

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4 August 2005

Ranger Darren Page with a Campbell Island Teal undergoing a disease check.

The 33 Campbell Island Teal that are being released onto Campbell Island in September were disease screened yesterday. A team of 8 people were involved in the disease screening operation. The birds were screened for a number of diseases including Yersinia, Campylobacter, Chlamydia and internal parasites. All the birds were treated for worms and vaccinated against Erysipelas (Erysipelas caused the death of 3 female kakapo last year on Chalky Island). Before their release each bird will be fitted with a transmitter. This will allow Doc staff to monitor the birds post release and help provide valuable information about survival rates and dispersal.

Ngatiwai our male hihi in aviary 6 has finished his treatment for aspergillus. Ngatiwai is a wild caught bird, having been transferred from Little Barrier Island to Pukaha Mount Bruce in 1998. This means he is at least eight years old and is the oldest hihi in captivity. We plan to transfer another three hihi from Tiritiri Matangi to Pukaha Mount Bruce early this month. These birds will supplement our captive population allowing us to start the coming breeding season with three healthy pairs and one back-up pair. The new birds will be quarantined in the Cell block and Antip aviaries for 30 days before being transferred to the bush aviaries.
Sam, our four-year old tuatara has recently been moved from outside back into the Visitor Centre. Sam has become more visual since this move and seems to be enjoying the warmer temperatures inside. Sam hatched from one of thirteen eggs that were produced by our breeding pair during 2000. Wildlife staff artificially incubated these eggs for 10 months before they hatched.
The juvenile kokako from aviary 2c has been transferred to Otorohanga Wildlife Park. Pork Chop (PC) and Mihitai the breeding pair held in aviary 7 have been separated after three unsuccessful breeding seasons. PC, the male is now held in aviary 2c and Mihitai will be paired with Poutama who was transferred from Otorohanga Wildlife Park last week. Poutama is being quarantined in aviary 7b for thirty days before he can be introduced to Mihitai in 7a. A female kokako will be transferred from Hamilton Zoo in the coming weeks and will be paired with PC.
Our captive kiwi Rangi (female) and Tua (male) in the kiwi nocturnal house have produced a second egg. Rangi started showing signs of producing this egg two weeks ago when her appetite suddenly decreased and she became less visible and active. Tua, our male, is happily incubating both eggs. The second egg was candled last Monday and like the first egg it looks to be infertile. We will re-candle the second egg in another 14 days and if no development is seen we will remove both eggs. Exciting news from the kiwi’s in the bush. The clutch of eggs candled 2 weeks ago contains 3 eggs and one appears fertile. Fingers crossed for a baby kiwi later this year.

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11 July 2005

Another release of Campbell Island Teal onto Campbell Island will occur in early September. 33 birds will be transferred from Pukaha Mount Bruce and another 5 will be transferred from Peacock Springs in Christchurch. A number of teal from Codfish Island will also be making the trip. If all goes to plan at least 50 birds will be involved in the transfer. The birds will travel down to the island by boat and will spend up to 3 days in their transfer crates. Raelene has started to train our birds so they get use to these crates before they make their one way trip to Campbell Island.
Early last week we released 3 female and 3 male Shoreplover onto an offshore Island off the coast of the North Island. This release had been postponed three times, before settled weather finally allowed us to proceed. The birds were placed into a temporary aviary on the Monday and were released the following day. The introduction of Shoreplover onto this island has gone extremely well. During the trip I noticed that most of the resident pairs were already holding territories and were defending them from any intruders.

Tony Silbery demonstrating tracking kiwi using telementary equipment

Tony Silbery has joined the team, having been transferred from the Masterton area office. Tony will continue working on the Pukaha Mount Bruce restoration project. Tony has recently been busy tracking the 9 North Island brown kiwi that have been released into the reserve. The breeding season for North Island brown kiwi begins at the start of June and usually last approx 6 months. I’m sure there will be more nesting attempts during the coming months.

Still no second egg from our North Island brown kiwi pair in the nocturnal house. It looks like Rangi our female kiwi has gone on strike and is happy with her efforts so far. Tua our male is still sitting tight on the infertile egg that was laid last month. This egg will be removed at a later date.
Sally our female hihi in aviary 2b has been moved to aviary 8. A new kokako will be arriving shortly and will be placed into 2b

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21 June 2005

Rose has recently returned from the annual Kokako Recovery Group meeting. The meeting was held at Maungatautari in the Waikato. It was decided during this meeting that Pukaha Mount Bruce will increase its kokako breeding pairs from 2 to 3. The new birds are arriving before spring and will be held in aviary 2c. The birds are being transferred from Otorohanga Wildlife Park and Hamilton Zoo. Otorohanga Wildlife Park will be receiving our juvenile male we bred last season in aviary 16.
Rangi and Tua our North Island Brown Kiwi pair have produced an egg. Like all good kiwi dad’s Tua our male has started to incubate the egg and usually only leaves the nest early in the morning. During this time he can be observed foraging for food before returning to his egg to continue with his parental duties. Unfortuately this egg was candled last week and looked infertile. A number of unsuccessful copulation attempts have been observed recently so it wasn’t too much of a surprise. Often kiwi pairs will produce a second egg and Rangi’s appetite has increase recently. An increase in appetite is often a sign another egg is on the way. Just prior to laying there is usually a sudden drop in food consumption. I’ll keep you posted.
Rebecca Mitchinson has joined the team as our new volunteer. Rebecca has recently completed a Parks and Recreation degree at Lincoln University and is looking to gain some work experience within the conservation industry. Before coming to Pukaha Mount Bruce Rebecca worked for the Wellington City Council at the Kaitoke Regional Park and in the Waitakere Ranges in Auckland.
On the 27th June weather permitting; we will be releasing 6 Chatham Island Shore Plover onto an island off the coast of the North Island. This release was planned earlier this week but rough seas meant the release had to be postponed. Shore plover from Pukaha Mount Bruce have been released onto this island annually since 1998. During this time a total of 86 birds have been released. The aim of the programme was to establish a self sustaining population on this island. This has been achieved and no further birds will be required to supplement the population. In the future captive bred birds will be released onto Rarotoka Island. This island is found in Foveaux Strait and is also a privately owned island.
Ngatiwai our male Hihi-Stitchbird in aviary 6 is still receiving treatment for Aspergillus. He seems to be coping reasonably well with his drooping wings and was observed flying betweens his aviaries the other day. Ngatiwai is still paired with Bramble. We have to separate Bramble from Ngatiwai in the mornings so we can give Ngatiwai his medication in his food. Once he has eaten all his medication/food the 2 are reunited.

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23 May 2005

Raelene has been hard at work in the Campbell Island Teal breeding aviaries. Raelene has been weed eating these aviaries in preparation for the coming breeding season. She has also recently moved around a number of teal within the aviaries. These moves were to create new pairings and help solve some aggression problems.
With winter approaching our three Stephens Island tuatara are spending more time hiding in their burrows sheltering from the cold weather. To help encourage our adult breeding pair to be more visual to members of the public a heat lamp has been turned on in their enclosure. It didn’t take them long to realize this lamp was on and they are frequently observed sitting directly under it soaking up the heat.
Suzanne and Russell our two English volunteers have been studying Millie and Muzz our captive kaka pair. They have introduced a number of enrichment devices into their enclosure in an attempt to encourage foraging and increase activity. These devices include a treat ball, small wire cages containing food and a log with food hidden in it. Early observations sound promising. Suzanne and Russell report a reduction in stereotypic behaviour and an increase in foraging, activity and socialising.
Rose is preparing to place five New Zealand Shore Plover into quarantine. These birds will be released onto an offshore island next month if all goes to plan. They will be joined by two birds from Peacock Springs in Christchurch making a total of seven birds for release.

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9 May 2005

New Biodiversity Programme Manager Geoff Underwood with Darren Page at the juvenile tuatara display. Geoff has recently joined us, from the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve in ACT, Australia.

Our new programme manager Geoff Underwood started last week. Geoff will be leading restoration and captive management biodiversity projects. Geoff has been employed in the industry for over 26 years. Seventeen of these years were spent at Healsville Sanctuary in Melbourne. Here he worked with a variety of Australian mammals, birds and reptiles. Recently he spent eight years working at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve south of Canberra and worked with more Australian species including Koala, Wombats and Platypus

Our 3 Cook Strait Tuatara had their 6 monthly Health check last week. Measurements and weights were recorded and each animal was examined for signs of illness and disease. All looked good and were in excellent condition.
The 2 fertile tuatara eggs that were removed from our adult pair on the 11th April are developing nicely and gaining weight weekly. Tuatara eggs gain weight throughout the incubation period unlike bird eggs which lose weight.
The pairing up of Rangi and Tua our North Island Brown Kiwi continues to progress nicely and has exceeded expectations. The birds have been together now for approximately 4 weeks. During this time a strong pair bond has developed. Mild aggression has given way to mutual preening and a number of successful copulation attempts. Tua our male has enthusiastically started to build a nest. Fortunately he has chosen to build this nest in his nest box in front of a infrared camera. Tua is frequently observed on this carefully constructing his nest out of leaf litter and twigs. During the breeding season which usually starts mid June male kiwis in captivity have been seen cavorting around their enclosures, lying on their backs kicking their feet in the air and rolling down banks. None of these behaviours have been observed from Tua but we will be observing him closely over the coming months.
The health of Ngatiwai our male Stitchbird has deteriorated recently. Ngatiwai seem to be having problems holding up his left wing. Jerry our vet believes a mass of Aspergillus within Ngaitwai's lungs may be pressing on a nerve and causing the wing to droop. We started treating Ngatiwai with Alcobon/Diflucan late last week. He seems to be responding to this treatment.
We currently have to new volunteers from England helping us out. Russell Brown and Susan Taylor will be with us for approximately 4-5 weeks. Both are studying degrees at Chester University and are gaining work experience with NZ native species before heading down to the South Island for a holiday.

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25 April 2005

The twenty short tailed bats that were transferred from Pukaha Mount Bruce to Kapiti Island last February have been released. The bats are showing no signs of heading back to Pukaha Mount Bruce and appear to be making Kapiti Island their new home. Read more here...
Four Shore Plover in our flocking aviary suffered head injuries earlier this month. All four were transferred inside and held in brooders over night and treated by our vet. Fortunately 3 of the injuries were only superficial and these birds were released back into the aviary the next day. The injury to the remaining bird was more serious and required treating with Moxylan. The injury healed nicely and 8 days later she was also transferred back outside.
Bird team member Raelene has temporarily escaped the cold weather and has headed off to Rarotonga for 7 days. We’re sure she will be spending plenty of time lying in the sun by the pool thinking of us all?
Rangi and Tua our pair of North Island Brown kiwis in the kiwi house were introduced to each other on the 13th April. This introduction has gone extremely well. After some early aggression and some anxious moments, the birds settled down and have become inseparable. Both birds are often seen preening each other and are displaying well. This introduction has also had the desired effected on Rangi’s pacing. No pacing has been observed since the birds were placed together. The effort by volunteers to monitor the birds during the introduction process was greatly appreciated.
We had a new Shore Plover arrive from Peacock Springs on the 14th April. This bird had contracted the pox virus while at Peacock Springs and required treatment before being transferred. The bird is destined to be released onto an offshore island in the coming months.
“Ngatiwai” our male Hihi in Aviary 6 is has finished his latest course of medication and appears to be improving. He was observed today happily feeding on the many coprosma berries that are found in his aviary.

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11 April 2005

Tuatara: Ten eggs have been removed from our adult Tuatara. Unfortunately 8 had collapsed and were dead. We are currently incubating the remaining 2 eggs in our incubator room. A Tuataras sex is determined by the temperature during incubation. A temp of 18 ºC is more likely to produce females, while 22 ºC is more likely to produce males. We have chosen to incubate them at 20 ºC and will let Mother Nature decide. These eggs should hatch during spring.
Staff: Raelene has returned from Campbell Island and is relieved to be back on solid ground after spending several days battling the Southern Ocean. Raelene spent 4 weeks tracking the 50 Campbell Island Teal that were released on the island last October. 35 birds out of 50 were confirmed still alive. Penelope Trevathan has joined the team. Penelope is looking after the Hihi.
Campbell Island Teal: Eleven Teal arrived last week from Peacock Springs in Christchurch. These were incubated and hand raised. They will be held in our Teal Pens, off display until their release onto Campbell Island later this year.
Kiwi: Rangi our female North Island Brown Kiwi’s pacing in the Nocturnal House continues to be a problem. This behaviour has also been observed from Tua our male NI Kiwi. We have decided to open up the tunnel dividing their two enclosures and introduce these 2 birds. This will hopefully enrich the lives of both birds by providing them with each others company and allow them to roam over a larger area. We are hoping this will reduce the amount of pacing and there will be no aggression
Hihi-Stitchbird: “Ngatiwai” our male Hihi in Aviary 6 is still not 100%. He finished his 21 day dose of Alcobon/Diflucan last week and was showing signs of improvement. Unfortunately he developed a cough last Friday and we have started to medicate him again.

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7 March 2005

News just in from Karori Sanctuary, near Wellington, that the 3 Mount Bruce hihi juveniles released there on 17 February along with 30 juvenile hihi from Tiritiri Matangi Island are all still alive and doing well. They’re been sighted at the feed stations.
Further good news this time from Kapiti Island where staff involved in the juvenile bat transfer last week spotted “Twizzel”, the juvenile hihi, released there in January 2005.
The hihi juvenile in aviary 6 is doing well. His or her parents are still feeding it and it’s becoming very mobile. Early yesterday morning the youngster was heard telling its parents in a very loud voice that breakfast was needed in a hurry!
The Campbell Island teal ducklings are all doing well. This is the second clutch of ducklings and they are being raised by their parents. The first clutches were artificially reared in order to get the parent birds to breed again. This should result in a total of 20 ducklings being reared at Pukaha Mount Bruce this season.

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21 February 2005

Kokako; The 2 kokako juveniles in Aviary 16 have left the nest and have been seen on the ground looking around amongst the leaf litter.
Bats; On Monday 7th February, we transferred 8 of our juvenile short-tailed bats to Kapiti Island. We still have another 12 or so to go when they get a bit bigger. Then the mums will be taken back to their home in the Tararua Ranges and the juveniles will stay in their enclosure on Kapiti Island for about a month before being released onto the island where hopefully they will settle down and start up a new colony of this special sub-species. If all goes well, we intend to run the project again later this year.
Kaka; 4 juvenile North Island kaka from Auckland Zoo and Roberta, the hand-reared female, were released into Pukaha forest on 3rd February. They have all been seen since and Roberta is doing well out there. She hasn’t been coming in everyday to the kaka feed but has been seen regularly which is good because it means she’s getting out and about meeting other kaka and when she’s at the feed station she feeds happily amongst the other kaka.
Shoreplover; Rose took 6 of her New Zealand shore plover juveniles for release onto a Hawkes Bay island last week.
Volunteers; Our new volunteer, Olivia Kearns, has started with us. From Ohio, America, Olivia is to stay with us until the middle of March as part of her high school programme.
Hihi; 3 of our hihi / stitchbird juveniles went off to Karori Sanctuary last Tuesday joining the wild hihi from Tiritiri Matangi Island that were released there. You may have seen the television coverage of this event.
Tuatara; The other morning I turned on the sprinklers in the tuatara enclosure because it’s been so dry lately. Neither of the “toots” as they’re called, were out when I put the sprinklers on but when I went back ¼ hr later to turn them off, they were both sitting out in the downpour seemingly having a great time! Both of them were completely wet all over but I guess it was a warm morning and they found a shower quite refreshing!
Campbell island teal ; Smoothy’s duckling is out and about in aviary WP4. There’s also 3 ducklings in aviaries WP1 and 3 ducklings in WP2, so these are good for members of the public to see.
Plenty of comment from staff and volunteers about native Riflemen in the forest at the NWC. Pest control staff out in the forest every day are also observing increasing populations of native birds.

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7 February 2005

The New Zealand shore plovers just have 1 chick at the moment in SA7. Very hard to find as yet because it’s less than 10 days old however, I’m sure it’ll make it’s mark on the world before too long.
On Thursday, hihi / stitchbird Bramble’s chick hatched. Only 1 chick this time out of 3 eggs and it hatched 2 days early at 13 days, either that or we had our dates wrong ! I’m sure these birds know more than we do anyway. The chick seems fine and members of the public are enjoying watching it’s progress.
The Minister for Conservation came and visited the bats on Wednesday 2nd February and he announced the bat project. The minister actually got to hold a bat and experience first hand the needle-sharp teeth of the bats. He was very interested in the whole project and asked lots of questions and in his speech he stated that the project is a “bold initiative” and that this is the sort of thing that conservation in NZ needs because of the serious decline in so many of our species. You might have seen some of the media coverage especially the piece on TV 1 that evening. It was rather good. Tansy, our interpretation guide, is getting together a display on the bats for the visitors centre and information on the project will shortly go onto the Mt Bruce website.Find out more about the bat programme here...
Raelene, our Campbell Island teal and kaka ranger, is heading off to Campbell Island next week for 5 weeks. This is part of the release programme for the CIT on Campbell Island and Raelene will be monitoring the progress of the birds since their release. She will be catching them and removing their radio transmitters and looking for signs of breeding activity.

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31 January 2005

Smoothy, the Campbell Island teal, is onto her third clutch which seems like an excellent breeding attempt. However, believe it or not she’s only produced only 1 fertile egg out of the entire 3 clutches ! We know that every little bit helps but Smoothy is really making her contribution very little indeed!
Darren Page has been appointed to the summer contract. He will take over from Imogen who’s been filling in for us until a full-time person could be appointed. Darren has previously worked at Peacock Springs in Christchurch and the summer contract will now finish at the end of June 2005.
The hihi / stitchbird are still all OK. Female Bramble has only 1 fertile out of 3 eggs. The autopsy results came back on “Mack” our male hihi that died at Christmas time and we lost him to aspergillus. This is the fungal disease that strikes down so many hihi and the only way we can stop it from occurring is through careful observations every single day. The report stated that he had a head injury too but we’re not sure if this occurred before or after Mack was ill with aspergillus.

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17 January 2005

We lost “Menhir” one of the the Campbell Island Teal recently. Menhir had been ill for some time and was thought to be coming right, but unfortunately he got sick again and did not recover. He fathered some of this season’s ducklings and his offspring from last year are already down on Campbell Island.
The hihi / stitchbird chicks from Bramble and Ngatiwai have been moved to aviary 8 and will be disease screened shortly ready for release onto Kapiti Island.
We welcome Ed Walton, a volunteer from the United Kingdom. Ed will be with us for 3 weeks from today.
Raelene banded 8 kaka chicks last week. These are the wild kaka.
You may know of the Karori Sanctuary kaka that arrived here last year and was known as “Karori”. Well he disappeared for a few days then came back here last month, then he was last seen at Pukaha Mount Bruce on 23 December. Then he was spotted down at Karori Sanctuary again and it seems like he is staying down there!! Raelene is hoping that he’s just gone back there to pick up a few of his friends to bring them back to Mt Bruce. I’ll keep you posted.
Of the Campbell Island Teal, we have 10 hand-reared ducklings for the season and our first ducklings (3 of them) from the second clutch hatched last Thursday and another 4 females are currently sitting on eggs.

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12 January 2005

“Twizzel”, the hihi / stitchbird offspring of Sally and Roddy, has been taken over to Kapiti Island. He will be released into the bush in a few days time and will hopefully add his father’s genes from Tiritiri Matangi Island to increase the diversity of hihi genes in the Kapiti Island population.
Hihi / stitchbird “Araweeny” will be moved to aviary 2a early next week.
Hihi / stitchbird “Bramble” has started building another nest now that her chicks have left the nest and become independent. The chicks can now be seen in aviary 8.
The NZ shore plover season is going very well and Rose is delighted with the numbers of chicks that have been produced so far. Today there are 8 chicks and 3 pairs of adults nesting.
Very exciting news for Aviary 16 Kokako - a piece of eggshell has been found under the feedstation today so it looks as if we have a kokako chick.
kaka from aviary 4 were moved to the old kea aviary last week. This is so that the 5 kaka can learn to recognise a kaka feedstation and will interact with the wild kaka when they come in for their afternoon feed. After disease screening, the 5 kaka will be released into the Pukaha forest. Catching the 5 kaka provided much amusement and entertainment for members of the public. Parrots are very intelligent birds.

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2 January 2005

We’ve had a preliminary result back on the reason for hihi / stitchbird Mack’s death and he may have died from a skull haemorrahge behind his left eye. This may have been caused by a trauma injury although until we have the final report, we will not know for sure.
Hihi / stitchbird Bramble’s 3 chicks are ready to leave the nest any day now. They are big and strong youngsters with good feather covering and their eyes are wide open, so they are ready to leave the nest. Once hihi / stitchbird have left the nest, they don’t return.
The 6 Campbell Island teal ducklings are all putting on steady amounts of weight. They are fed twice a day with duck crumble and “Go-Cat”. Mealworms are added to their diet too.
The NZ shore plovers are busy with their chicks and many thanks to all the volunteers who’ve spent many a long hour observing the chicks and ensuring they are all accounted for.
We received lots of help from our volunteers over the difficult Christmas and New Year break. With staff members away it has been a struggle to ensure that all the birds are fed and we’ve really appreciated their support and assistance in the past few weeks. Some volunteers have worked longer hours than normal and that has been appreciated.

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27 December 2004

The bad news first and sadly the bad news is again about a hihi / stitchbird. We lost “Mack” our favourite display hihi at the weekend - Boxing Day to be precise. He’d been a bit quiet in the few days before his death and on Sunday afternoon he was found dead beside his roost box. Mack was just 3 years old and there was no sign of sickness or injury so the necropsy will give us the reason for his death. Mack was the son of Ngatiwai and Sally and he proved to be an excellent breeding bird with a zest for fast acrobatic flying and loud calls.
Hihi Bramble’s 3 chicks are sprouting away. Two are around the 45 gram mark and the smaller one (probably a female) is 37 grams.
The tours of the Campbell Island teal ducklings have begun and are being very well received so far by visitors. With 6 ducklings to view, visitors are delighted to see these fast-growing little sweeties.
Smoothy, a female Campbell Island Teal, provided 3 of the above ducklings and she busily got onto the business of laying a second clutch of eggs. Unfortunately, when the eggs were candled (examined with a strong light) all of the eggs are infertile. On a brighter note, Lily is also on her second clutch and she has 3 fertile eggs out of 5.
The plover chicks are growing very well and quickly and one of them has now left the aviary and has joined some youngsters from last season.

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21 December 2004

The 3 New Zealand shore plover chicks that have hatched so far are all doing well.
The 6 Campbell Island teal ducklings that we are handrearing are all growing well and are delighting visitors. Taking the eggs away from the parent birds means that they will lay eggs again and we can increase the number of teal produced this way.
Our birdstaff ranger, Rose, was very excited and delighted when she found out on Friday that the 9 grey-faced petrel she hand raised in Auckland in August this year are all still alive. The raising of the petrel was a trial for raising tiako, the Chatham Island petrel. If raising the grey-faced petrels is successful, then the techniques developed can be used for the endangered tiako.
“Bramble”, our female hihi / stitchbird, is busy raising her 3 chicks and we’ve been able to put the male hihi “Ngatawai” in with her to help feed the chicks. This is a bit unusual because male hihi can sometimes be aggressive towards females. So far though, everything is going well, but the birds are being closely monitored.

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13 December 2004

The sad news is that one of our hihi / stitchibrd females died recently. She left behind 4 chicks and unfortunately they were very young and small. We tried hard to hand rear them but we had no success and they all died.
On a brighter note, we have 6 Campbell Island teal chicks being hand reared at the moment. They are tiny delightful fluffballs. More chicks are expected. We are taking the first clutch of eggs from the females and hand raising them so that the females will lay a second clutch of eggs which they will raise themselves. This will increase the number of ducklings produced this season.
We have 6 New Zealand shore plover chicks so far with more to come.
On Thursday 16th December we received 9 pregnant female short tailed bats at Pukaha Mount Bruce. This exciting project will see the female bats being kept in captivity until they give birth to their young and once independent the young will be transferred to Kapiti Island to set up a new population. The females will be returned to the Tararua ranges where they came from. We can’t transfer adult bats because they have a homing instinct, so we hope that the young bats will develop a homing instinct to Kapiti Island. We record the bats’ activities each night in the aviary and play back the videos in the visitors centre each day.
The wild kaka have so far produced 7 nests of chicks. They are using the artificial nesting boxes set up in the forest and 1 pair have set up in one of the natural nesting sites. The artificial boxes are specially designed to keep out stoats and rats and each of the natural nesting trees are protected from predators too with sheet metal around the tree trunks and traps around the tree in addition to the intensive predator control programme already occurring in the forest.

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