Tiritiri Matangi – Hihi find new home

As a relatively long-established reserve, Tiritiri Matangi now has a wide range of native plants and animals, some of which have been translocated from other sites, and which are now flourishing on the Island. For some years now we have been able to export precious birds to other sites where we hope they will establish new populations. In early May we sent hihi/stitchbirds to our near neighbour Shakespear Regional Park and tīeke/saddlebacks will be translocated in late May.

The release of hihi at Shakespear on Saturday May 10 was the culmination of a lengthy process begun over a year ago with planning, fundraising and an application for a translocation permit. A contractor, Kevin Parker, was appointed to lead the project and a team of 11 volunteer assistants, including me, was recruited. Prior to our arrival on the island on May 4, all the equipment needed was cleaned and sterilised and food for the team and the birds purchased. Typically, food for the birds costs more than that for the volunteers.

Our plan was to catch the hihi when they entered the sugar-water feeder cages provided on the island, take a tiny blood sample for disease screening at a lab in Auckland, keep the birds in an aviary until the screening results were available, then place them in transfer boxes for the move to Shakespear where they would be released.

On arrival our task on the first day was to collect lots of vegetation to fill the large aviaries so the captured birds had places to hide, rest and feed. We keep males and females in separate spaces as the males can be aggressive. Catching began the next day and was so successful that we had all but a couple of the 40 birds needed by the end of the day. Once the birds were in the aviaries a key team member, Cheri Crosby, took responsibility for their twice-daily feeding. Cheri followed strict hygiene measures while providing a plentiful and varied diet of fruit, sugar-water, protein mix and juicy wax moth larvae. Her goal was to ensure the captive birds didn’t lose weight and preferably gained some.

On transfer day the team assembled a few hours before the transfer for the tricky job of catching the birds in the aviaries, carrying out weight and health checks and placing them in transfer boxes. Kevin’s team is now very experienced and the whole procedure was completed without a hitch. The boxes of birds were moved down to the Tiritiri wharf and loaded onto a water taxi. The sea was a little rough and we had a few nervous moments on the bumpy journey to Gulf Harbour, wondering how the birds would cope. Thankfully, they came through fine, and we could all give a sigh of relief and a happy smile when the boxes were opened, and the birds flew off into their new home.