Delight as rare saddlebacks multiply

 By Peter de Graaf

A conservation group is "ecstatic" after discovering rare saddlebacks have been breeding in the Bay of Islands for the first time in more than a century.

Project Island Song - a community-driven project to return native wildlife to the eastern Bay of Islands - released 40 of the distinctive orange-and-black birds, also known as tieke, on Moturua and Urupukapuka islands last May.

The group's volunteers had been nervously awaiting the results of the birds' first breeding season but have now spotted several family groups with young fledglings.

Birds hatched on the island are easily recognised because, unlike the adults released last winter, they have no leg bands.

Project Island Song coordinator Richard Robbins said describing the volunteers as excited would be a massive understatement.

"We're ecstatic. They're the first tieke to breed on the island in more than 100 years, and they're the northernmost population in New Zealand."

Mr Robbins said the wet summer meant there was plenty of food for the birds, helping to ensure a good breeding season.

Tieke liked to eat small invertebrates but would also feed on nectar and berries.

The group had yet to carry out a bird count - that would take place later this month - but there had been plenty of sightings and people were hearing the tieke's distinctive call all over Urupukapuka.

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Rare birds released on island

ALASTAIR PAULIN

Last updated 13:06 08/09/2014

Twenty-eight South Island saddlebacks (tieke) - among the world's rarest birds - have been released onto Adele Island in Abel Tasman National Park.

The saddleback came close to extinction in the 1960s and today there are about 650, all on island sanctuaries. The bird belongs to an ancient group that includes the endangered kokako and the extinct huia.

The release marked a major milestone for the Abel Tasman Birdsong Trust, which has been working with the Department of Conservation (DOC) to make the island a predator-free sanctuary since the trust's formation in 2007.

In 2009 South Island robins were introduced onto the island and they have been thriving, with some migrating to adjacent Fisherman's Island.

Before the 50 guests at Friday's release set foot onto the island, DOC's Martin Rodd asked everyone on board the Abel Tasman Sea Shuttle boat Crusader to be quiet so they could hear the songs of the birds on the islands. He said the saddlebacks would be adding their song to the chorus.

The birds had been captured over the last four days from a population of about 300 on Motuara Island in the Marlborough Sounds by a team of six. They used mist nets and recorded birdsong to trap the birds, who were then flown to Adele Island by helicopter.

When their boxes were opened, the birds - which resemble tui with a distinctive orange "saddle" on their backs - immediately flew into the bush canopy and their piercing call could soon be heard.

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