Endangered bird may be more at home in lowland environment

Thursday, 11 September 2014, 11:49 am

Press Release: University of Waikato

Endangered bird may be more at home in lowland environment

A native bird long thought to be most at home in Fiordland tussock may actually be more comfortable in wetlands and a Waikato University student has won a scholarship to find out where takahe prefer to live.

Masters student Tehani Withers has been awarded a $1500 Tertiary Achievement in Pacific Ako (TAPA) Award to research the habitat requirements of South Island takahe and is comparing open farmland scattered with few mixed gullies and small wetlands on Motutapu Island with the forest of Maungatautari. The aim of this comparative study is to create a template for takahe habitat requirements.

When takahe were rediscovered in 1948 they were found in a mountainous tussock environment and it was assumed that was their preferred habitat. However, pairs have been translocated to many pest-free, off-shore islands and this translocated population has been steadily increasing.

Takahe pairs have also been translocated to fenced mainland sites, such as Maungatautari.

There they were temporarily housed in the forested Southern Enclosure and surprisingly thrived in the environment.

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