From the Antipodes Islands to Timaru for endangered penguin

Matthew Littlewood 16:47, Feb 17 2020

An Antipode Islands-based penguin spotted in Timaru was most likely looking for its dinner on its rare visit, a Department of Conservation (DOC) spokesman says.

The endangered erect-crested penguin, spotted by Stuff photographer John Bisset, near Timaru port's breakwater at the weekend, could be one of a few making its way to South Canterbury shores as they begin to moult.

DOC technical advisor Bruce McKinlay said while the erect-crested penguin breeds on the remote Bounty and Antipodes Islands, it was "not uncommon to find individual birds moulting on the east coast of the South Island most summers".

"As a top predator the penguin was most likely looking for fish," McKinlay said.

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Endangered gull fledglings stoned to death at Canterbury's Waimakariri River

Emma Dangerfield10:55, Feb 18 2020

The slaughter of five threatened fledgling gulls in North Canterbury has been described as "gut-wrenching, illegal and morally abhorrent".

The five black-billed gulls were found with their heads bashed in at a popular dog-walking spot on the banks of the Waimakariri River on Monday.

Their bodies were still soft, indicating they had been killed mid-morning. They were just days away from being able to fly.

Department of Conservation senior ranger Anita Spencer said it was particularly devastating as the birds, which are the most threatened gull species in the world, had been through a rough season.

"A lot of work goes into protecting these gulls so it is extra gut-wrenching that they got to this stage for them to be killed," she said.

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Likely-extinct bird sighted in Golden Bay

6:55 pm on 10 November 2018 

A bird that is supposedly extinct has reportedly been spotted in Golden Bay near the top of the South Island.

A tramper hiking on the Heaphy Track was looking for takahē in the bush within metres of the Gouland Downs Hut about a month ago and saw what he described as a large dark blue bird with orange under its beak.

The bird flew onto a branch, hopped along a couple of branches, then flew away.

It's thought to have been a South Island kōkako, known as "the grey ghost".

South Island Kōkako Charitable Trust member Ron Nilsson said that like all the half dozen or so sightings reported annually, this one would be taken seriously.

"There's probably a few birds there but not many. You know, how do you find them? It's a lot more difficult than you might imagine.

"But, every now and again, somebody hears one, somebody sees one."

The trust is offering a $10,000 reward for definitive photographic evidence of the South Island kōkako's existence.

Readon  

Hope for ‘extinct’ bird

Sunday 17 Jun, 2018 | By Danielle Butler newsdesk@thewanakasun.co.nz

More than 100 reported sightings of the elusive South Island Kokako have given the Trust working to prove its existence hope that it is coming close.

The South Island Kokako Charitable Trust launched a search for the bird, once thought to be extinct, in January 2017, offering $10,000 to anyone who could provide credible evidence of the bird’s existence.

Potential sightings have been recorded from as nearby as Lake Hawea, although the Trust said that it was focusing its interest to the South of Reefton on the West Coast and the Granville Forest.

Trustee Ron Nilsson said, “We still need definitive evidence, a photo or video, but we really feel that we are getting closer with the help of so many people who are out walking, tramping or hunting and know what to look and listen for.

“We are very optimistic that proof will be found soon.”

Source  

Bird-spotters using technology to find Kokako

By Brooke Gardiner

Friday 3 Apr 2015 6:33 p.m.

Bird-spotters hoping to prove the elusive South Island Kokako is not extinct believe modern technology could be the key to solving a 40-year mystery.

The species was thought to be extinct, but after reported sightings near Reefton it was reclassified as 'data deficient'.

The call of the South Island Kokako is something Rhys Buckingham hopes to one day hear for himself and despite hunting for 40 years, he's not ready to give up just yet.

"We've prepared a strategic plan and what we think now, to make any headway, we've got to use state-of-the-art hi-tech technology to try and get our bird," he says.

Mr Buckingham is wasting no time, setting up near Nelson where pest trapper Don Sullivan believes he spotted a South Island Kokako.

"I saw this bird and I said 'oh' and I looked at it and it was in a nest and it didn't do anything and it just stayed there and then I said 'oh, what a lovely little bird.'"

But identifying the bird isn't easy. In the past, feathers thought to be those of the Kokako have been DNA profiled but have either been lost or identified as coming from another species.

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NZ First is calling for a moratorium on 1080 poison after a flock of endangered birds went missing following an aerial drop.

19 January 2015 

An aerial drop of 1080 poison could have killed a flock of endangered birds in a South Island national park, says NZ First.

None of the 26 rock wren monitored by Department of Conservation in the Kahurangi National Park have been seen since the aerial drops began in September as part of a $10 million operation across the country.

NZ First's outdoor recreation spokesman Richard Prosser says 1080 appears to be killing the birds it's meant to be protecting.

He's calling for an immediate moratorium on the poison which is used to kill possums, rats, stoats and other animals that threaten our native birds.

"I absolutely agree we need to eliminate predators of our native wildlife, but not at the expense of them," he said.

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'Extinct' South Island kokako could still be alive

A claimed sighting of the South Island kokako, a bird declared extinct six years ago, has fuelled hopes the species could still be alive.

Advocacy group Forest and Bird said a sighting of the bird by two people near Reefton in 2007 had recently been accepted by the Ornithological Society's Records Appraisal Committee, which monitors the status of rare and endangered birds.

Before the Reefton sighting, the last accepted sighting of a South Island kokako was in 1967.

Te Ara Encyclopaedia of New Zealand says the kokako's haunting, evocative call is unlike any other bird's.

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