Environment – Wattlebirds on Tiritiri Matangi 

You may have noticed some good news from the Hunua Ranges – a recent survey found a record 418 breeding pairs of kōkako. In the mid-1990s there were just 21 of them there. Kōkako belong to the endemic wattlebird family, which also includes tīeke/saddleback and the extinct huia. You can easily see and hear tīeke and, with some good luck, kōkako on Tiritiri Matangi.

Both wattlebirds are weak fliers with short, rounded wings, but they make up for that by being very agile, leaping through the tree canopy or across the ground with great ease. 

Kōkako are large songbirds with grey body feathers, a black “bandit” mask and bright blue wattles under their bill. They are beautiful singers but are more often heard talking to each other with soft “took” calls. Tīeke are much smaller – less than blackbird size – with shiny black plumage and a rusty-orange saddle and rump. Their wattles are bright red-orange. They are also very noisy, most recognisably making a loud chatter or a sequence of “chip” calls, but with a large variety of other calls.

Their history on Tiritiri Matangi has also been very successful. The first three kōkako were brought to the island in 1997, with four more in 1998 and 11 later arrivals. They bred successfully and numbers increased so that by 2018, 54 birds had been taken off to help establish populations at other sites. The population on the island is now around 100 birds. In the most recent nesting season – described as rather poor – there were 29 pairs who made 42 nesting attempts and produced 10 chicks. One of these came from our oldest pair: a 20-year-old female and her 19-year-old partner. Windy, wet weather may have caused some nesting failures.

Tīeke were driven to the brink of extinction, with the only surviving birds on Taranga/Hen Island. They nest and roost in cavities, often close to the ground, where they are easily caught and killed by mammalian predators. Some of those birds were moved to Repanga/Cuvier Island, and 24 were taken from there to Tiritiri Matangi in February 1984. Since then they have flourished, with our population fluctuating between 700 and 1000 birds; 315 have been taken to other sites, including Shakespear Regional Park. 

Tīeke usually lay two or three eggs, sometimes four, and can have up to four broods per season, making them very productive. They are probably near their maximum population on the island and now usually lay one or two eggs and have one or two nests per year. Like kōkako, they are long-lived – the oldest known bird reached 21 years.

Sadly, we will never see a huia, but a visit to Tiritiri is worth it just to enjoy the sights and sounds of their two surviving relatives.