My Account
A dearth of little blue penguins coming ashore between Ti Point and Leigh has prompted Warkworth Area Forest and Bird to start an effort to encourage them back and is appealing for help in tracking them down.
Society committee member Jenny Enderby says anecdotal evidence suggests penguin numbers are declining around Mahurangi beaches and nobody is entirely sure if this is because of predators or because of a lack of food.
Jenny says fishing for pilchards – a source of food for penguins – may be contributing to the decline.
Another reason may be bad weather and an abundance of penguin predators such as dogs, cats, stoats and rats.
“Around Leigh, in particular, a lot of people are saying the penguins used to come and nest under houses and baches, but they are not seeing so much of them now,” she says.
It doesn’t help the penguins’ cause that they have a reputation for being noisy, and smelly from the fish they eat.
As a result, many people have blocked off entrances underneath their homes to keep penguins out.
Meanwhile, Forest and Bird hopes to reverse the decline by securing permission from Auckland Council and the Department of Conservation to trap predators.
The society has also acquired 31 penguin boxes for penguins to nest, lay their eggs and rear their young, and which offer protection from being preyed upon.
They also provide a good place to relocate penguins, should they end up under a house where they are not wanted.
The boxes are made of marine plywood and feature a tunnel entrance, which is large enough for the plumpest penguin to enter but makes it difficult for dogs and cats to do so.
Blue penguins are known to readily adopt the boxes, in some cases, occupying them just a few hours after they have been placed.
They also appear to prefer the nest boxes to natural sites and breed more successfully when they have access to a box.
Jenny says it’s too late to start placing the boxes this year, as the nesting season is over. However, the society is appealing to the public to let the society know where they have seen penguins come ashore historically or more recently to help it best place the boxes.
Next breeding season, the society hopes to secure a penguin-sniffing dog to assist penguin tracking efforts.
“They are a cute little bird. They are in trouble and we don’t want another New Zealand bird to disappear, do we?” Jenny says.
Jenny says similar penguin conservation efforts at Flea Bay, Akaroa, have seen the penguin population climb to around 1000 nesting penguins, and she believes the success can be replicated in Mahurangi.
Jenny Enderby with a penguin box.
