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In a forest humming with birdsong, a team of dedicated volunteers deftly navigate the trails to check on Shakespear Regional Park’s Open Sanctuary (SOSSI) latest arrivals, the tiny hihi, one of New Zealand’s rarest native birds.
They are about to band three hihi fledglings snuggled in a nest, deep in the bush. The hihi conservation team at the sanctuary is part of a national programme tasked with ensuring the survival of the species. Their efforts are paying off after 59 chicks hatched in the sanctuary – a first for the species in more than a century.
The hihi, similar in personality to the cheeky pīwakawaka, are a distinct species, closest to the New Zealand wattlebirds such as the saddleback.
With a population of only around 2000, hihi are nationally threatened and unable to survive outside a sanctuary. Little Barrier Island held the only naturally-surviving population until the 1990s.
Recovery efforts created small populations in predator-free sanctuaries around the North Island, Shakespear Open Sanctuary now brings the total number of hihi habitats to eight.
The new chicks are the result of the ongoing translocation program where 40 adult hihi were moved from Tiritiri Matangi Island to the sanctuary and are carefully nurtured at the park by the rangers and a team of volunteers led by Red Beach resident Maree Johnston. With a background in zoology, Maree volunteers fulltime in the park, monitoring the birds’ wellbeing, maintaining feeding stations, banding the fledglings, and capturing data about the population.
Gulf Harbour resident John Stewart volunteers at Tiritiri Matangi and Shakespear sanctuaries, supporting the banding programme. This enables them to uniquely identify each member of the local population and track their wellbeing. An additional group of 16 volunteers maintains the sugar feeding stations.
“The birds are vulnerable to predation and also need sugar water to survive. It’s due to the efforts of the hihi volunteers that the population is thriving at Shakespear, says Auckland Council park ranger Bruce Harrison.
It’s clearly a labour of love for the hihi project team, and Maree encourages everyone to vote for the hihi in Bird of the Year 2025.
If you would like to volunteer or support the work of SOSSI, you can find details at their website www.sossi.org.nz
