Dawn Chorus - tiritirimatangi.worldsecuresystems.com · Dawn Chorus Bulletin 111 ISSN 1171-8595 November 2017 Who ate all the hihi? Researcher finds out what ruru really feed their

Dawn ChorusBulletin 111

ISSN 1171-8595November 2017

Who ate all the hihi?Researcher finds out whatruru really feed their chicksTheatrical tribute to our kokakoConstitutional changes approvedDon't miss The Great Hihi Sperm Race

www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz 32 Dawn Chorus 111 November 2017

From the chair

Now we'restarting to make progress

Unanimous support for constitutional changes

Tiritiri titbits

COVER: A young ruru looks all innocence. Photo by Martin Sanders.

After a hiccup first time round, an Extraor-dinary General meeting of SoTM has over-whelmingly adopted changes to the objects laid down in the constitution to include the highly successful education programme and the plan for a maritime museum and signal mast.

When changes were first put forward at the Annual General Meeting, they were vot-ed down by 26 to 23 due to dissatisfaction at the removal of any reference to Tiritiri as an open sanctuary, not because of any objec-tion to having an education programme or preserving the Island’s cultural history.

Nigel Rankin sparked the AGM debate by saying he was very concerned at the dis-appearance of what was previously the first object of the organisation, ‘to promote and enhance the open sanctuary at Tiritiri Matangi’ and, indeed, the absence of any reference to an open sanctuary at all.

It was the fact that Tiritiri was an open sanctuary which made it so special, he said. There were many other places where rare species could be found but the general pub-lic could not go to see them. Tiritiri’s success was because it was a place where ordinary people could see for themselves why our en-dangered native birds were worth preserving.

Several other speakers agreed with his concern about the lack of any reference to an open sanctuary. Barbara Walter, for instance, said, ‘Open sanctuary must stay.’

In response, Brian said the changes did not in any way imply an intention that Tiritiri should no longer be an open sanctu-ary. On the contrary, there was a specific reference in the new objects to ‘educate and inspire visitors’ which clearly indicated it would remain open. In any event, whether the Island was open or closed was not some-thing SoTM had the power to decide. ‘We don’t own Tiritiri. It’s owned by DOC and its status is ultimately up to them.’

Reference to an open sanctuary had been left out of the new objects, he said, because it was felt the words weren’t necessary. The changes would make no difference to the Island’s status but they would provide legal endorsement of the new directions SoTM was taking after its 29 years of existence.

Brian also explained that it was not pos-sible to amend the proposed objects at the

meeting because any changes to the constitu-tion were legally required to be circulated 21 days in advance of a vote. ‘We have to either accept the changes as they are or reject them completely.’

When the changes were voted out Brian said he was ‘pretty disapppointed. We will probably have to pull the plug on some things we are doing that are not covered by our current objects.’ However, the Commit-tee subsequently decided to move quickly to call an Extraordinary General Meeting to consider a revised set of objects which were circulated to members by email. As well as specifically endorsing SoTM’s work in edu-cation and cultural heritage, the revised ob-jects contained three references to ‘the open sanctuary at Tiritiri Matangi’.

There was a big turnout for the EGM to consider the revised objects with around 90 people packing the Epsom Community Centre. In addition there was a pile of apolo-gies, along with 34 proxy votes, all in favour of the changes.

In explaining what was being proposed, Brian apologised for not having appreciated the strength of emotive attachment to open sanctuary status and for not fully explain-ing the reasons for having to change the ob-jects. Basically, he said, the objects needed to change because SoTM had moved on since it was founded. The original aim, to create a sanctuary where native fauna would thrive and people could come to see it, had been achieved. These days the organisation was also heavily involved in education and ad-vocacy, as well as preserving the Island’s rich cultural history, but it needed to have clear authorisation for this in the constitution.

The only speaker from the floor was founding secretary of SoTM, Mel Galbraith, who said the attachment to Tiritiri's status as an open sanctuary was not just emotional but highly necessary. Even today, the Island's position as an open sanctuary was not pro-tected by law and so needed all the support it could get, including in SoTM’s constitution.

When the changes were put to the vote they were agreed unanimously.

Committee re-electedAt the AGM the entire SoTM Committee was re-elected unopposed as follows: Chair

Hello again. I’ve been holding off writing this article, waiting for the outcome of two key events. Well, one was a total suc-cess and the other a partial success.

Firstly, at the Extraordinary General Meeting, held on 30 October, the consti-tution was successfully amended, giving us the remit to continue our education and heritage programmes. The EGM was called as a result of the narrow failure to pass proposed constitution changes at the September AGM, primarily due to our naïve removal of references to the Island as an ‘Open Sanctuary’. While we never envisaged the Island as continuing as any-thing but an open sanctuary, we took the concerns of the membership on board and reworded the changes. The outcome was that the motion was passed unanimously. Our fears that we would not reach the re-quired quorum proved unfounded with a fantastic turnout. A great big thank you to all who attended and to those who could not attend but gave support.

Secondly (and first the good news), we have managed to get eight truckloads of track metal onto the Island. The bad news is that we had scheduled four barge sailings with a total of 24 truckloads but the three others were cancelled due to bad weather. This means we still have insuffi-cient roading material to recommence the Ridge Rd repairs which are so badly need-ed. On the positive side, we have now proved that SeaLink’s largest available barge can land on the Island and that the much shorter trip from Wynyard Quarter is a practical proposition. This means that in future we may be able to take up to 12 trucks at a time onto the Island and have a bigger window of opportunity.

The Labour Day working weekend was again a great success (from both work and social perspectives). A good deal of track was repaired, relining of the current museum was started and we now have a set of steps on the track from the Wharf Dam so our third guiding track is ready for the peak season. A great effort.

And finally, the Island is drying out, birds are breeding and visitor numbers are rising. It’s time to get the shade sails out at the Visitor Centre. Summer is upon us! See you on the Island soon.

Brian


Brian Chandler, secretary Gloria Nash, treasurer Kevin Vaughan, committee Helen Bucksey, Hester Cooper, Simon Fordham, Barry Fraser, Chris Hannent, Carl Hayson, Peter Lee, Kay Milton, Ray Walter.

History continues

Copies of Tiritiri Matangi: a Model of Con-servation have almost sold out, but author Anne Rimmer (above) told the AGM that she was arranging to have 200 copies of a slightly updated version reprinted privately. It will mainly be a facsimile of the original 2004 edition with an extra chapter to sum-marise the past 13 years plus an updated Timeline and species lists. An anonymous benefactor has offered to cover the costs so

SoTM will benefit from sales in the shop.Anne would like to hear of any need for

changes to that original edition. Her email address is: [email protected].

Founding Committee memberTim Ellison, a founding member of the SoTM Committee, has died aged 70.

Graham Jones, a former neighbour of Tim’s, recalls that ‘he joined me on a trip out to Tiritiri with his family back in about 1986. He fell in love with the place and went out on quite a few more occasions to help in the glasshouse or join the tree planting.’

When Jim Battersby formed the Sup-porters in 1988, Tim put his hand up for the Committee. Because he was a travel agent, Graham says, ‘it was natural for him to be the trip organizer and fare-collector on many a planting expedition when transport was by the old wooden schooner Te Aroha or the slow, rolling, fume-filled Concorde.’

When Tim stepped down from the com-mittee he continued to do tree-planting but then moved to Australia. Tim later re-tired to Warkwoth where he got involved in Tawharanui Open Sanctuary Society and became guardian of Kowhai Park reserve.

Summing up, Graham says Tim ‘was one of those quiet conservationists who took the adage “think globally, act locally” to heart.’

Wandering ChickRanger Vonny Sprey was prepar-ing for the ferry departure when she was approached near the lighthouse by a visitor cradling a small black chick which appeared to be a takahe. Trying hard not to panic, she took it back to the nest, where Anatori was brooding the older chick hatched a few days before. Since there was no sign of the second egg, it seemed likely that its former occupant was the small black bundle now in Vonny’s hands. She left the chick next to the nest and retreated. Later that day, the nest was empty, but next morn-ing, to Vonny’s immense relief, Anatori was there with both chicks. That was a happy ending but it would have been better if the chick had been left alone. Almost certainly the parents were nearby and well aware of the location of their wandering offspring.

Tiritiri's kokako inspire a moving musicalThe wonderful story of how kokako returned to Taranaki, thanks to Tiritiri Matangi and its volunteers, has become the subject of a moving theatrical production put on by pu-pils of Tauranga Intermediate School.

Tamanui the Brave Kokako was pro-duced by the school’s head of music, Carol Storey, and inspired by conversations with her daughter Nataalia Lunson who has re-searched kokako song. The script is based largely on the delightful children’s book, Tamanui the Brave Kokako of Taranaki, by Rebecca Beyer and Linley Wellington.

It opens with one of Tamanui’s descen-dants explaining to some curious chicks how they came from their home in Taranaki to live on Tiritiri. This leads to a heart-rend-ing scene in which a cast of evil rats, pos-sums and stoats kill off the happy kokako of Taranaki until only Tamanui survives. A reluctant and confused Tamanui is caught by DOC workers and eventually reaches the sanctuary of Tiritiri. Finally, the school’s kapa haka group provides a stirring powhiri as his descendants return home.

The script and some of its many songs were written by Carol, her daughter and sev-eral of the students. ‘Nataalia also guided us through the section in the script where the kokako is captured as she has been involved with translocating kokako from Kaharoa.’

Carol said she was delighted with reac-tion to the show. ‘My goal is to be able to do a national tour in the near future. I love the birdsong of the kokako and am very passion-ate about spreading knowledge in an artistic creative way.’

Jim and Chris Eagles, whose grandson was in the cast, have a DVD of the show which is available through the kokako team.

LAST KOKAKO: (clockwise from top left) Tamanui finds himself alone; Poutama;

Manaaki. Photos / David Stratton


The process of getting approval for SoTM’s three major projects – the accommodation and field centre building, the maritime mu-seum and the giant signal mast – is going well and chair Brian Chandler was able to tell the Annual General Meeting he has high hopes that work will start in 2019.

Brian reported that after a huge amount of work doing plans, historical and ecologi-cal impact reports, etc, the Committee had now submitted lease and licence requests to the Department of Conservation and was now awaiting a decision. In addition, it had held a pre-lodgement meeting with Auck-land Council in preparation for the Resource Consent application and this was ‘very en-couraging and they seemed very keen.

‘We won’t do anything more for now un-til DOC has given us a decision but I feel pretty confident. Call me naive, if you like, but I think we will be able to go ahead.’

As well as designs for all three projects Brian showed the meeting a timeline which included a building project manager being employed, contracts being let and work starting in 2019.

To fund the work, he said, SoTM had already set aside $600,000 of reserves. It would also be appointing a funding man-ager to kick-start a campaign to raise money from major funding bodies like Lotto, phil-anthropic trusts, wealthy individuals and corporates (including goods-in-kind).

It was hoped Supporters would help through monthly or annual pledges, one-off donations, living bequests, identifying pos-sible donors, encouraging visitors to donate, running or helping with events and coming up with ideas.

Brian was also able to report good prog-ress for SoTM on other fronts.

The Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi is in a very strong financial position, with a surplus of $179,484 in the financial year to 30 June 2017, taking accumulated funds to $1.4 million, treasurer Kevin Vaughan told the AGM.

This had made it possible to transfer $617,675 into a reserve fund to go towards the major projects – accommodation, museum and signal mast – that the organisation is working towards.

The healthy surplus, more than double what was recorded the previous year, was

largely due to a big increase in income from donations and fundraising, which rose from $168,020 to $281,020.

Kevin said a huge factor in SoTM’s success was the work done by volunteers, recorded at over 60,000 hours, and worth millions.

During the year there had also been a very pleasing performance by the Island shop, which managed to maintain its level of sales at $274,513, in spite of the high number of ferry cancellations, and to increase its margin from 41.2% to 42.8%.

SoTM finances very healthy

Annual report

Field centre and museum may start in 2019

RISING AGAIN: The signal mast.

On 24 October of this year it will be 29 years since our inaugural meeting at St Matthew-in-the-City. For many years I have attended the AGMs and other Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi meetings. Because I am finding it difficult to get about, this may be the last one I attend. So, I want to say a few words.First, thanks to so many Supporters whom I have met over the years, for your friendship and companionship. The first Committee of the early years was stimulating and exciting. To have welcomed Prince Philip onto the Island was indeed an honour, as it was to be present at the release of many of our introduced native birds and the tuatara. I recall the many happy Working Weekends I have enjoyed with many of you, and the comradeship shared in the bunkhouse (though you’re all starting to look a bit old). It was such a privilege to have shared guiding for a number of years with many outstanding guides. This is a wonderful family to belong to, led by so many capable people, and contributed to by hundreds and hundreds of other enthusiasts. I was humbled and honoured when you made Barbie and me Life Members. As I have said before, it meant more than a knighthood.But I want to have preserved for all time, the names of the six – our stupendous six – to whom most honour and memory are due. They are:*John Craig and Neil Mitchell who devised and guided the replanting of Tiritiri Matangi and the return of so many birds and other fauna;*Ray Walter who learnt to deal with plants and arranged the planting and helped with so much building; *Barbara Walter who organized so much of the early effort, and pioneered the shop; *Mary-Ann who has contributed so much to guiding and the shop; *Mel Galbraith, our first secretary, so knowledgeable, so dependable, with wide contacts, who has continued making major contributions ever since, and still does to this day. These are our Stupendous Six whose memory should be enshrined in the annals of Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi history. I hope you may find a way of doing so.

SoTM’s founding chairman, Jim Battersby, attended the 29th AGM and

indicated it will probably be his last. Appropriately, like the first, which was

held in St Matthew-in-the City, it was in a place of worship, the Mt

Eden Village Centre which is also the local

Methodist Church. The meeting paid tribute

to him with a huge round of

applause. His message

to members was:

Jim Battersby's final AGM speech?


BiodiversityIn the biodiversity area the past season had generally been a good one, he said.

The hihi population had recorded its first upturn in population for several years and there were now 33 pairs of rifleman, with 25 chicks fledged, ‘our best season ever’.

There had been eight kokako fledg-lings, ‘a big drop from 20 in the 2015-16 megayear’, but the population ‘is still very healthy’ and ‘probably the highlight of the year’ had been the translocation of 20 birds back to their ancestral home at Paraninihi in Taranaki.

Monitoring of tieke nest boxes suggested a poor season but the transect survey indi-cates numbers held up. The transect count also indicated that bellbird (2332) have overtaken whitehead (1794) as the Island’s most numerous species but, Brian added, ‘that’s hardly surprising when we keep send-ing whiteheads to other reserves, like the 100 we sent to Bream Head this year’.

Other translocations saw 40 hihi going to Rotokare in Taranaki and 10 kiwi cross-ing the water to Shakespear Regional Park, while 10 replacements arrived from Kapiti Island. However, there was a sad outcome to the kiwi translocation when one of Tiritiri’s founder birds, Matariki, aged about 23, was found dead at Shakespear after apparently falling off a cliff.

Brian said the situation with regard to takahe continued to be a source of frustra-tion. ‘DOC plan to have two pairs on the Is-land. We want three. They say we don’t have sufficient grassland. We think they’re wrong. We’ll keep working on it.’

Still, he added, two juvenile takahe were produced during the breeding season ‘so that’s a 100% improvement on the previous

year’. Of the present birds, Anatori and Tus-sie would probably stay on the Island until March, the juveniles Turama and Jenkins were now at Burwood with Nohoa, and Arataki has tested positive for salmonella so will stay on Tiritiri for another year.

InfrastructureOn the infrastructure front, Brian said, the year had been dominated by mud – ‘which we’ve got a lot of ’ - but a huge amount of work had been done.

SoTM had managed to get two loads of metal to the Island last year and was plan-ning to get four more this year. ‘It’s mainly for roads but it’s also good on tracks when you get the amount of rain we’ve had.’

There had been a big effort put into upgrading and realigning tracks, bridge re-pairs and repairing the implement shed roof, ‘which was a big job.’ The working weekends had been very successful, with countless track and culvert repairs.

Visitor engagementBrian said the recently renamed Visitor En-gagement Subcommittee, chaired by Helen Bucksey, had enjoyed a great year, getting a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence for the third year in a row and keeping the Island as TripAdvisor’s No. 1 attraction in Auckland.

A lot of effort had been put into guide

training to make the visitor experience even better and much work was also being done to improve signage with a penguin info-graphic by the wharf toilets, a bird sign at Hobbs Beach and refreshed kokako signage at the Visitor Centre.

In addition, new weta motels were being installed, the subcommittee was looking at new penguin boxes to improve visibility and reduce disturbance, there were plans for bug signs along the tracks and thought was being given to maritime interpretation ‘which is an area we probably haven’t put as much effort into as we should, given its importance’.

EducationThe schools programme, and the Growing Minds project to help lower decile schools, were both going brilliantly, he said, in spite of problems caused by bad weather and ferry cancellations. School visits were down 8% because there had been 36 ferry cancella-tions so far in 2017, which was disappoint-ing. The cancellations also meant that visitor numbers were down 2%, though non-school guided walk numbers were up 27%.

ThanksIn conclusion Brian thanked all those in-volved in producing such a successful year, including the paid staff, DOC rangers, sponsors and all the fantastic volunteers.

MOVING FORWARD: The proposed field centre and accommodation block.

PRESERVING HISTORY: The proposed lighthouse museum in the old workshop.

Annual report

Field centre and museum may start in 2019


NAMESAKE: This good-looking kakapo was named Clout after recovery group leader Mick Clout. Photo / Kakapo Recovery Programme

Clever feeding plan boosts kakapo female numbers

The future of the kakapo is starting to look assured, thanks to a mix of clever science and intensive management, guest speaker Mick Clout was able to tell a fascinated audience at SoTM’s AGM.

Mick, who is a professor emeritus at the University of Auckland and chair of the Ka-kapo Recovery Group, discussed the tech-niques used to get females to lay more eggs, overcome a gender imbalance and – a work in progress – reduce the number of sterile eggs.

As a result, the population of this unique creature, which has the multiple distinctions of being the only flightless parrot, the heavi-est parrot (topping 3.5kg), strictly noctur-nal, entirely herbivorous, having the lowest metabolic rate of any bird and being one of the longest lived birds (estimated to live 90-plus years), is finally starting to rise above the danger level.

Going back to the beginning of the ka-kapo story, Mick recalled that 60-70 years ago it was feared the kakapo was doomed. An extensive search for the birds found 18 in Fiordland but all were males. Then a kakapo population including females was found on Stewart Island and hopes rose again. But no sooner had those birds been found than they were decimated by feral cats.

In 1980 there were thought to be 140

kakapo but the cat predation saw that plum-met to 87 the following year, at which point kakapo started being transferred to the safety of island sanctuaries. Nevertheless, the de-cline continued and by 1995 there were only 51 left.

Concern about the lack of any real re-covery led to a review which resulted in the establishment of an advisory group, includ-ing non-DOC staff, and to intensive moni-toring of individual birds, including nest management, hand-rearing of chicks and supplementary feeding.

This halted the decline, with the better-fed females able to spend more time on the nest to help their young, Mick said, but led to a new problem because a disproportionate number of the resultant chicks were males, which reduced the programme’s ability to grow the population.

The project was then re-assessed in the light of sex allocation theory which sug-gests that in a species like the kakapo, where the males compete to mate with multiple females, producing male chicks would be the best way for a female to maximise the success of her genes. On the other hand, male chicks, being bigger, required a bigger investment, so only the healthiest females could afford to take that risk.

In other words, he said, the theory im-

plied that giving the females supplementary feeding had caused them to produce more male chicks, and analysing the sex ratio of clutches confirmed this. The females which had been given extra food had produced 67% males while those relying only on natu-ral food produced 29% males.

As a result, for the 2002 breeding season on Codfish Island it was decided that pre-nesting feeding of females would only be done until they reached 1.5kg. But unlimit-ed supplementary feeding would commence after egg laying so the mothers would still be able to devote time to raising their chicks.

This feeding plan worked: 20 of the 21 females laid eggs, 24 chicks survived and, of these, 15 were female and nine male. It has since become common practice and as a consequence there has been a steady rise in the proportion of females in the population.

However, Mick said, there were now other problems that needed to be tackled. In the 2016 breeding season on Codfish and Anchor Island a total of 122 eggs was laid but 59 of them were infertile, there were 11 embryo deaths and 15 chicks or fledglings died. As a result, only 32 fledglings survived. ‘That wasn’t bad in terms of the programme. But imagine if 100 chicks had survived!’

The recovery programme, he explained, was now focussing on ways of raising kakapo fertility. For instance, it was noted that less than half of the eggs produced by females who mated only once were fertile, whereas those who mated twice with the same male increased their fertility rate to over 60%, and eggs laid by females that had mated with two different males had a fertility rate of about 90%. Now research was being carried out into ways of encouraging multiple mating, including the possibility of artificial insemi-nation. A big effort was also being put into studying the kakapo genome, which offered a number of exciting possibilities.

Other options for the future included transferring kakapo from the small islands where they mostly live now to larger islands where they might breed more successfully, and investigating whether it might be pos-sible to trigger breeding outside the rimu masts – or heavy fruiting years – when it naturally happens.

In conclusion, Mick was able to tell the meeting that as of September 2017 the world population of kakapo is 153, includ-ing 73 females, so the bird’s prospects have much improved.

One of the liveliest AGMs in recent years was capped off by a fascinating talk on the kakapo by conservation ecologist Mick Clout. Among other things, he explained the great kakapo conundrum: if female kakapo don't get enough to eat they have trouble looking after their chicks; but if they get too much to eat they produce too many males. So what's the answer?


CUTE BUT HUNGRY: A quizzical adult ruru and a downy chick. Photos / Martin Sanders, Kay Milton

Thanks to the Supporters of Tiritiri Matan-gi’s summer studentship, I had the chance to spend part of my summer break on beauti-ful Tiritiri working on a preliminary study of the Island’s resident ruru population with John Stewart.

Ruru or morepork (Ninox novaeseelandi-ae) are a small native species of forest-dwell-ing owl, named after their well-known night time call. While at risk from habitat loss and introduced predators, they are relatively common in New Zealand and are found dis-tributed throughout areas of native forest, as well as within modified habitats such as farmland, pine plantations and urban green space.

The aim of this study was to learn more about the breeding success and diet of ruru on Tiritiri and to investigate the possibility that ruru predation is having a negative im-pact on species of conservation importance, particularly hihi, who have a high juvenile mortality rate on Tiritiri.

Although ruru have a generalist diet consisting mostly of abundant insect spe-cies, they are also known to be opportunistic

predators of larger prey such as birds and liz-ards (as well as small mammals where they are present).

When I arrived for my first visit, John had already located seven nest sites and had NatureView cameras set up at four of these. We set the cameras to record 15-second videos when motion was detected, allowing us to observe arrivals and departures at the nests, prey deliveries, chick behaviour and

development, and the occasional kiwi wan-dering into the frame.

Over the course of the summer, we stud-ied a total of 10 nest sites and sifted through nest contents for prey remains once chicks had fledged. I also spent plenty of time get-ting acquainted with our research subjects, watching the thousands of videos generated by the cameras.

We estimated the ruru population on the Island at around 51 birds (including the fledged chicks) for the current breeding season. This number was based on reported sightings and calls recorded during the an-nual kiwi call survey, and equated to around one bird per 4.3ha across the Island, or one bird per 3.5ha in forested areas.

We found breeding pairs to have a typi-cal clutch size of two, and at the end of the breeding season calculated a mean fledging rate of 1.1 chicks per nest.

Looking at the frequency and pattern of activity and chick-provisioning at the nests recorded on our cameras, there was a peak in visits by adult ruru after sunset, followed by a steady rate of less frequent visits and another

Work by summer studentship researcher Sarah Busbridge of Auckland University of Technology suggests that the level of ruru predation on birds while feeding unfledged chicks does not pose a threat to endangered species. But, she notes, further work is needed to find out what is fed to chicks after fledging.

Are ruru a threat to Tiritiri's conservation work?

RESEARCHER: Sarah Busbridge


WHAT DO RURU EAT? Percentage occurrence of prey items observed during food passes at ruru nest sites.

small peak before sunrise. This bimodal pat-tern of nocturnal visits has also been found in other owl species. Unfortunately, gaps in our data caused by difficulties with the cameras made it impossible to calculate the mean vis-its per night for each site.

In terms of diet, tree weta were by far the most common prey type consumed by both adult ruru at the nest site and chicks, followed by moths. As a group, invertebrates made up 96% of all prey items captured by the cameras that we were able to identify, in-dicating they are the core component of the diet of ruru on the Island.

We observed three incidences of preda-tion on lizards. Although we were not able to confidently identify the species from the video footage, based on their size it is likely that one was a gecko and the other two were skinks.

We also observed 14 birds being delivered to nests in the camera footage. Again, species were not able to be determined from the vid-eos, but when we dug out the nests we identi-fied remains (or leg bands) of:

stitchbird/hihiwhitehead/popokateared-crowned parakeet/kakarikiNorth Island robin/toutouwaisaddleback/tiekebellbird/korimakoblackbirdsong thrushkingfisher/kotarespotless crake/puweto. As this is the first time nest sites have been

excavated it is possible that some remains un-covered were from previous breeding seasons, so we did not attempt to quantify predation rates for this season from these results.

In a 2009 thesis on ruru diet, KM Denny suggested that their predominantly insectivo-rous diet is facilitated by the low searching and handling times associated with inverte-brate prey. Avian prey may provide a bigger meal and larger energetic return, but why bother spending time chasing speedy birds when there are plenty of weta around that

BBird Caterpillar Grasshopper Lizard Moth Other Unidentified Unidentified Weta invertebrate invertebrate prey

can be easily spotted and consumed in a few mouthfuls without the hassle of plucking all the feathers off? Most potential avian prey is also only active during the day, reducing predation opportunities for ruru to dawn and dusk, which is when the majority of bird de-liveries recorded on the cameras occurred.

This study has indicated that, during the pre-fledging period, the varied and mostly insectivorous diet of ruru makes it unlikely they will pose a major threat to uncommon bird populations.

However, if populations are of high con-servation importance, already small, con-fined to a small area (particularly following a translocation), or potentially rendered more vulnerable by disease, competition, reduced genetic diversity or nutritional deficiencies, predation opportunities for ruru may be in-creased and impacts may be greater than in a natural system.

Furthermore, Dylan van Winkel, in a 2008 thesis which included an assessment of the impacts of native avian predators on lizards, noted that even a small loss due to predation could impact on the establishment of a vulnerable population and affect genetic diversity, sex ratios, and overall viability and resilience.

This study provides preliminary data on ruru diet and breeding success on Tiritiri as well as evidence of predation on conservation species. Further research is needed to provide a more accurate estimate of ruru population density on the Island and of predation rates.

In particular, more information is needed on what ruru feed to their fledged young and what they eat outside the breeding sea-son. This presents more of a challenge, and I look forward to hearing how the research progresses.

Native predators such as ruru are an in-tegral part of our native ecosystems, but it is important to understand the predation pres-sures they exert on offshore islands so that we can elucidate the potential for negative im-pacts on small, valuable populations of con-servation species.

Moving from winter to spring means a big rise in activity for our bird researchers. Once more we are in the busiest time of year. The very wet conditions throughout the winter have continued into early spring, and it is hard to tell whether these have had an impact on our birds. Robins started nesting in August, as usual, and fledglings are already being seen. Pateke ducklings have been on the ponds and two takahe chicks have hatched. Some species have started earlier than last year while others are taking their time.

WetapungaDuring August, Chris Green and Karin Gouldstone set up a tracking tunnel grid on Wattle Track to monitor the wetapunga population at that release site. The 70 tun-nels had inked cards inserted and were baited with peanut butter during the new moon part of the lunar cycle. Evidence suggests that our larger nocturnal insects are more active dur-ing the darkest time of the month or when the moon is obscured by cloud. Cards are out for 3-4 nights then checked for wetapunga footprints.

During August there were four cards with wetapunga prints, but this increased to eight in September. The difference could have

WELCOME: One of the new weta motels erected on the Island. Photo / Jim Eagles

Motels for weta, peanut butter for wetapunga and chicks all overFauna Notes


been due to the much colder weather over the nights the cards were out in August. The grid will be run again in October for a final check on this generation, but clearly the wetapunga are doing very well in Wattle Valley.

There are still adults to be seen on the Wat-tle Valley Track if you look closely, and some-times they are taking up residence in some of the nest boxes provided for hihi, tieke and titipounamu, as well as the hihi caged feeder stations.

Numbers of adults visible on trees are now lower than earlier in the year and this could be due to the stage in the life cycle. Most weta-punga are now juvenile and thus very well hidden during the day. We might see a slight increase with the warmer spring weather but Chris does expect numbers to decline until the next generation reaches adulthood.

Tree wetaThe wetapunga’s smaller cousin, the tree weta, hasn’t been forgotten either. Four new weta motels have been built to allow visitors to view tree weta (if the weta find the motels to their liking).

The motels are made to a DOC design and so far one is on the Wattle Track and another on the Kawerau Track. The other two have yet to be placed. To date no weta have taken up

the invitation, but it is early days yet and the boxes may need time to weather before weta show an interest.

TakaheFirst, some sad news. Cheesecake, who spent 11 years on Tiritiri before being moved to Burwood in May, was found dead in early October. The team at Burwood were hope-ful that she would breed for two or three more seasons before retiring, and she had settled well with a new partner, but it was not to be.

Cheesecake will be fondly remembered as Greg’s last partner and was often seen around the Visitor Centre. We await the re-sults of a post mortem to find out how and why she died. Her son Wal is continuing her legacy at Burwood.

Both pairs of takahe on the Island, Ana-tori and Tussie at the south end and Edge and Turutu (still accompanied by their daughter Arataki) at the north end, started nesting in September, which is earlier than usual.

Anatori and Tussie had two tiny chicks by 20 October. It is very unusual for a pair to raise two chicks to adulthood, especially without the help of an older sibling, so we shouldn’t expect too much.

HUNGRY: A fine, big male wetapunga on the lookout for food; entomologist Chris Green puts a tasty dollop of peanut butter on the tracking paper in one of his tracking tunnels. Photos / Alison Forbes, Jim Eagles

Motels for weta, peanut butter for wetapunga and chicks all overKokako

After the transfer of 20 of our kokako to Pa-rininihi over the winter, there have been a lot of new developments, which are taking time to settle down. Observations in early October suggested that 9 new pairs had formed, but at least four of these, those involving yearling females, have since split and other, possibly temporary, relationships have been noted. There are also ten well-established pairs. By late October, two females were incubating eggs, two were building nests and two more possible nests had been found. All eight of last year’s fledglings have been seen, but have not yet settled into clear territories. Based on past experience, we cannot expect such young birds to produce chicks this season. Our ko-kako team will have a bigger challenge than usual, trying to keep up with the new and often temporary pairings and learning the nesting habits of unfamiliar females.

The Wattle Track remains the most crowded part of the Island, and therefore the most likely place for visitors to see kokako, with four pairs between the Wharf Pond and the buildings. But Spaghetti Junction, where four tracks join the Ridge Road, is also where several kokako territories meet, and more birds are settling on the east side of the Island than ever before.


Hihi/StitchbirdThe good news is that it looks like our hihi population is holding steady after the translocation of 40 juveniles to Rotokare in April: 150 birds were observed in the pre-breeding survey. On the other hand, the hihi breeding season is off to a slow start with only one active nest by mid-October.

Hihi research, however, is in full swing, with Helen Taylor return-ing to check up on male fertility in her mobile sperm lab. Alex Knight is joining her and collecting poo samples to test for parasites. Caitlin Andrews is interested in how hihi forage for food and how they may be an important pollinator of native plant species. The males are very visible on the Island right now as they display their beautiful plumage to the females, cocking their tails and sticking their ear tufts up.

RiflemanThe ninth annual survey of rifleman took place in September, when a minimum of 34 pairs was confirmed, one more than at the end of last season. Each pre-season survey has shown an increase over the previ-ous year. Observations in recent weeks have pushed the current total up to 41 confirmed pairs.

Twenty-one nests have been found in boxes, 18 pairs are using rifleman nest boxes, two are using hihi boxes and one is using a tieke box. There are two pairs nesting in the vicinity of the bunkhouse, which will greatly increase the opportunities for overnight visitors to see these birds. For the first time, there is a pair in Lighthouse Valley and, for only the second time, a pair in Wattle Valley. It is noticeable,

LITTLE CUTIES: (from left) Six pateke ducklings; a tiny rifleman is banded. Photos / Mary-Ann Rowland, John Sibley

Your chance to compete in The Great Hihi Sperm Race

THEY'RE OFF: Over the past few months Otago University researcher Helen Taylor (above left) has been collecting sperm from dozens of hihi on Tiritiri, Hauturu, Bushy Park and Zealandia. This involves catching male hihi when they visit a feeder, drawing off sperm (right), quickly putting it under a microscope and videoing the individual spermatozoa as they swim around (as shown on the laptop screen). Then a special piece of software is used to work out how fast each sperm is swimming. The research project is aimed at comparing the quality of the sperm from males in different sites, as part of the work to overcome genetic bottlenecks, and the speed with which they swim is one of the measures used. But now Helen also wants to use her project to raise funds for hihi conservation through The Great Hihi Sperm Race. 'Our idea is to get people to bid on the hihi male they think will have the fastest sperm. Whoever bids highest on the bird that turns out to have the fastest sperm when I've completed my analysis, will win a hihi prize pack.' For further details see www.thegreathihispermrace.weebly.com.


Dear SirMy name is Isaac Bensemann and I attend Motueka High School. I have made a crossword for you to put in the Dawn Chorus.My nana, Faye Bensemann, gets your magazine and I often read it. She once took us to the Island and it was amazing. We got to experience a takahe up close and it was awesome. Some day I hope to return.I love making crosswords about things that interest me so when I saw a fantail right outside my window I thought I'll make a crossword on birds.I thought you might like it for the magazine. Yours sincerely Isaac Bensemann

CLUESAcross5 Weweia8 Ranguru10 Mountain parrot11 Parson bird12 Very fast (a relative gets up to 320kph diving)13 Endangered native wading bird

Across: 5 Dabchick. 8 ChathamPetrel. 10 Kea. 11 Tui. 12 Falcon. 13 Black stilt. Down: 1 Fantail. 2 Kotare. 3 Takahe. 4 BlueDuck. 6 Tomtit. 7 Heron. 9 Albatross.

Young supporter sends Dawn Chorus a bird crossword puzzle

Down1 Small with large tail2 Maori for kingfisher3 Looks like a big pukeko4 Whio6 Only 13cm and five sub-species in NZ7 On $2 coin9 Largest seabird

ANSWERS

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this year, that some of the pairs are very close together, suggesting that territories are getting smaller as the population increases.

There have been two sightings of our oldest known bird, a male translocated in 2010 and the only known survivor among those moved from Hauturu/Little Barrier Island. He is at least 7½ years old.

Tieke/SaddlebackWith very little activity in the tieke nest boxes last year, we were not sure what to expect this season. So we were surprised and delighted when Barbara Walter found the first nests with eggs in September. Two boxes in Lighthouse Valley were even further ahead, and the first chicks were banded there in early October.

Elsewhere, early activity is patchy, with lots going on in some areas and virtually nothing in others. The absence of nests in boxes is not a problem, of course, since it means the birds are finding enough natu-ral nest sites, but the nest boxes, when they are used, do give us a use-ful indication of breeding success each year. While some natural nests are in tree forks and cavities (which nest boxes are designed to mimic), a substantial proportion are at ground level, in flax bushes and under-growth. With this in mind, we have moved some of the boxes closer to the ground to see whether this makes them more attractive.

SeabirdsThe nesting season is well under way for our burrow-nesting species. The grey-faced petrels nesting on the cliff face below the ‘petrel sta-tion’ will have well-grown chicks by now. The main concentration of common diving petrels is located on a headland opposite Wooded Island where many hundreds are breeding.

Most of the pairs now have a single chick and at night the ‘coo-eee’ call of the adults is accompanied by peeping calls from hungry chicks in burrows. Diving petrels come in to feed their chick every night. The adults arrive weighing about 160 grams and depart at 120g having delivered almost 25% of their weight as food for the chicks.

The sound system to attract Cook’s petrels is running at night but we don’t expect to see any birds landing for another few weeks yet.

The noisiest seabird at night is probably the little penguin and their raucous calls can be heard all over the Island. They too should be sitting on eggs or have young chicks.

Compiled by Kay Milton, with contributions from Morag Fordham, Simon Fordham, Mhairi McCready, John Stewart, Barry Fraser and Chris Green.

PETREL STATION: A diving petrel. Photo / Kay Milton


Flora Notes

Meet four of Tiritiri's most elegant and colourful flowering plants

Orchids are a special group of flowering plants, possessing an elegant beauty that is matched by few other plant family members. New Zealand has about 120 species of native orchids which are found growing on exposed banks, in scrubland, damp places and even perched on trees.

No other group of New Zealand native plants has the same range of flower colours as the orchids, which use a palette of green, white, yellow, red, violet and blue to almost black.

Tiritiri has four native ground-growing species of orchids, which are all late-spring flowering.

White sun orchid (Thelymitra longifolia)Sun orchids grow in well-lit places and

many species will not open their flowers un-less the sun is out.

The white sun orchid can have up to 20 mainly white flowers on the flower stalk. Its leaves are single and on mature plants they are broad ribbed and strap-like, lying flat on the ground.

These orchids often grow in clumps and have relatively large tubers at their base. The oval and rounded tubers were eaten cooked or raw by Maori.

Their flavour is described as crisp and slightly bitter when raw and like an insipid potato when boiled.

There are about eight species of Thelymi-tra in New Zealand, all called maikaika by Maori, and the genus is mainly found in Aus-tralia and New Zealand.

Thelymitra means ‘lady’s hat’, describing

a small extension of the column (fertile parts) of the flower.

Mauve sun orchid (Thelymitra pauciflora)By late No-

vember sight-ings may be possible of this shy sun orchid which flowers infrequently in out-of-the-way places.

Its pale mauve flowers are only open on very hot, still, sunny days. However it does manage to present itself of-

ten enough to retain its spot on the Island’s plant list.

There can be up to 10 flowers on a stem, making an attractive display. Pauciflora

means ‘few flow-ered’.

Onion-leaved orchid (Microtis

unifolia)By contrast

to the mauve sun orchid, this tough little orchid has no modesty. Its

single onion-like leaf and stalk of tiny green flowers allow it to stand out from other plants

Orchids are prized worldwide for their splendid blooms and New Zealand has some particularly attractive members of the family. Warren Brewer points out that you can even find a few of these colourful charmers on Tiritiri if you look very carefully.

GLORIOUS: In the right circumstances the mauve sun orchid can produce blooms of rare beauty. Photo / Phil Bendle

The orchids found on Tiritiri have scientific names with delightful

meanings like 'lady's hat', 'tiny ear', 'winged column' and the slightly less

romantic 'few flowered'.


ELEGANT BLOOMS: (top) white sun orchid; (middle)onion-leaved orchid; (bottom right) mauve sun orchid; (bottom left) tutukiwi or greenhood orchid.Photos / Warren Brewer

on grassy banks. It is widespread on Tiritiri and begins flowering in late October, often continuing into January.

Microtis is a genus of about 18 species of ground orchids. They have a small tuber at the base of each plant. They are mostly Australian. New Zealand has just the one native species and its small tubers were eaten by Maori, either raw or roasted.

Microtis means ‘tiny ear’, describing the short column in the flower.

Tutukiwi (Pterostylis banksii)This endemic orchid is also known as a

greenhood. It has a single large green flower with the upper sepal forming a green hood.

The petal at the bottom of the flower is modified and called the lip. The fertile parts of the flower form a structure called the col-umn.

The lip is touch-sensitive and when an unwary small insect lands on it a trigger-like mechanism is activated. The insect is flipped deep into the flower up to the column. As it crawls out over the stigma and anthers pol-lination may occur. If pollination is unsuc-cessful the flower soon resets itself.

Tutukiwi makes sporadic appearances in remote forested areas on Tiritiri.

Thomas Cheeseman (1846-1923), cura-tor and botanist at Auckland Museum, stud-ied Pterostylis banksii and corresponded with the naturalist Charles Darwin. His findings were published in the second edition of Darwin’s book, On The Various Contrivances By Which Orchids Are Pollinated By Insects (1877).

This genus of orchids occurs mostly in Australia and New Zealand, with some spe-cies common to both countries.

Pterostylis means ‘winged column’. The Maori name, Tutukiwi, which is also the common name, means ‘standing kiwi’, de-scribing the shape of the flower head.


Would you like to produce TiriKids? Michelle Gordon has been doing the job since she visited Tiritiri from Canada two years ago and fell in love with the place. While she still adores Tiritiri, Michelle says the Island does now seem a bit remote and it might be better for someone more directly involved to do the job. If you're interested please contact [email protected]


Day trips: 360 Discovery runs a return ferry service every Wednesday through Sunday from Downtown Auckland and the Gulf Harbour Marina. Bookings are essential. Phone 0800 360 347 or visit www.360discovery.co.nz. Call 09 916 2241 after 7am on the day to confirm the vessel is running.

School and tertiary institution visits: The Tiritiri education programme covers from level 1 (5-year-olds), to level 13 (17-18-year-olds), to tertiary students. The focus in primary and secondary areas is on delivering the required Nature of Science and Living World objectives from the NZ Science Curriculum. At the senior biology level there are a number of NCEA Achievement Standards where support material and presentations are available. For senior students the Sustainability (EFS) Achievement Standards are available on the NZQA website. There is huge potential in that these standards relate directly to Tiritiri in various subject areas: science, economics, tourism, geography, religious education, marketing, health and physical education. The Island also provides a superb environment for creative writing, photography and art workshops. Tertiary students have

Supporters of Tiritiri MatangiDawn Chorus is the quarterly newsletter of the Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi (SoTM). We are a volunteer incorporated society working closely with the Department of Conservation to make the most of the wonderful conservation restoration project that is Tiritiri Matangi. Every year volunteers put thousands of hours into the project and raise funds through membership, guiding and our Island-based gift shop.For further information see www.tiritirimatangi.org.nzor contact P O Box 90-814 Victoria St West, Auckland

SoTM CommitteeChairperson: Brian [email protected] 832 983 Secretary: Gloria [email protected]: Kevin VaughanCommittee: Helen Bucksey, Hester Cooper, Simon Fordham, Barry Fraser, Chris Hannent, Carl Hayson, Peter Lee, Kay Milton, Ray Walter

Guiding and shop manager: Mary-Ann Rowland, Assistant manager: Annette de [email protected] 476 0010

Membership: Annette and Malcolm de [email protected] 817 9964

Educator: Barbara Hughes-ClelandAssistant educator: Liz [email protected]

Fundraiser: Vincent [email protected]

Dawn Chorus editor: Jim [email protected]

Island rangers: Kata Tamaki and Vonny [email protected] 476 0920

the opportunity to learn about the history of Tiritiri and tools of conservation as well as to familiarise themselves with population genetics, evolution and speciation. Groups wishing to visit should go to www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz/schoolvisits.htm or contact [email protected]. Bookings are essential.

Overnight visits: Camping is not permitted but there is limited bunkhouse accommodation at $15 a night for members and $30 for non-members. Bookings are essential. For further information go to www.doc.govt.nz/tiritiribunkhouse or phone the Department of Conservation on 09379 6476.

Supporters’ discount: Volunteers who are undertaking official SoTM work get free accommodation but this must be booked through the Guiding and Shop Manager at [email protected] or 09 4760010. SoTM members visiting privately can get a 50% discount but must first book and pay on line. Then email [email protected] giving the booking number and SoTM membership number. DOC will then refund the discount to your credit card.

Coming Events4 December

7.30pm. Evening talk at Unitec at Mt Albert (Gate 4, Building 115, Room 2017) Guest speaker: Mel Galbraith will talk on the myrtle rust fungal disease which has blown across the Tasman and attacked trees like pohutukawa and manuka.

27-29 JanuaryAnniversary Working Weekend.

3-4 MarchSupporters’ Hosted Weekend.

3 MarchTiritiri Concert. Classical music with a quartet of Young

Achievers from the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. Make a note in your diaries because numbers are limited.

19 MarchSupporters’ Social, 7.30pm, Epsom Community Centre

30 March–2 AprilEaster Working Weekend

12-13 MaySupporters’ Hosted Weekend

2-4 JuneQueen's Birthday Working Weekend

21-22 JulySupporters’ Hosted Weekend

17 SeptemberAnnual General Meeting, 7.30pm, Epsom Community Centre

20-22 OctoberLabour Working Weekend

Supporters’ Hosted Weekends are led by guides who show off the Island's special places. Reduced price on the ferry

and half price in the bunkhouse. Children welcome. Working Weekends are a chance for members to give the Island a

hand. Travel is free, as is accommodation in the bunkhouse. Book through [email protected]

Visiting Tiritiri Matangi Island for education or recreation

The stunning 2018 Tiritiri calendar

The Tiritiri Matangi calendar for 2018 is now on sale and it's better than ever. Priced at $18, it's the ideal Christmas gift for family and friends,

and a great choice for sending overseas. Best of all, the profits come straight back to the Island.

Don't forget that our Island shop has an incredible array of other gift ideas, including nature books, ceramics,

bags, puzzles, jewellery, soft toys, artwork, natural beauty products, special t-shirts and much, much more. So come and spend a day on Tiritiri, see the wonderful birdlife, enjoy free tea and coffee and buy treasures for

yourself and gifts for loved ones,

But if you can't get to the Island to buy your calendars, ring 09 476 0010 or email [email protected],

and our cheerful shop team will be happy to help.

By purchasing this calendar, you are supporting the conservation and education programmes on Tiritiri Matangi Island.

Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi IncPO Box 90814, Victoria Street West Auckland 1142, New Zealand

www.tiritirimatangi.org.nzPrinted in New Zealand by Safari Print

using vegetable-based ink on paper sourced from sustainable forest.

TIRITIRI MATANGI OPEN SANCTUARY 2018 CALENDAR

Gifts that will help children discover the wonder of nature

See our range ofmagnifying glasses

and pocket microscopes

from $5 to $23

Help the environment with re-usable coffee cups for $16

Score more birdies with Kiwi General Store Golf Club gear. Tee walllets $34. Golf Balls $8. And lots more

Documents

Dawn Chorus - tiritirimatangi.worldsecuresystems.com · Dawn Chorus Bulletin 111 ISSN 1171-8595 November 2017 Who ate all the hihi? Researcher finds out what ruru really feed their