View midway along the new track to Maungatautari peak

Photo: Julie Milne

Completion of a metalled service track on Maungatautari is good news for visitors wanting to walk across the 3,400 hectare mountain.

Maungatautari Trust staff and volunteers have extended the current 1.4m wide metalled service track from the base of Pukeatua peak to Maungatautari peak so that the all-weather track now runs the 7.4km from Tari Road to Maungatautari peak.

“The main role of the service track is to provide quad bike access for the pest eradication staff and volunteers so that they can reach their monitoring lines quickly and safely,” said Trust chief executive Jim Mylchreest.

“The spin off, however, is an easier walking forest track - we hope that more people will get walking on the mountain and in turn be inspired by, and appreciate the scale of, the restoration work.”

Building the track has been a labour of love for nearly three years as Trust staff Craig Laxon and Lance Tauroa divided their time between this track, developing walking tracks, an aviary in the southern enclosure, track work in the Tautari Wetland, working on the pest eradication operation and fence maintenance.

“I feel a great sense of achievement, now that it is finished to the summit,” said Craig Laxon. “However Lance and I couldn’t have done it without the trusty team of volunteers who helped transport the metal along the track, so special thanks go to them. Now all we have to do is link the track to the northern enclosure.”

The metalled track from Tari Road to Maungatautari peak meanders through the native forest with intermittent views to the south and west - from the saddle at the base of Pukeatua peak you look across the South Waikato plains and Lake Arapuni, while closer to Maungatautari peak you get stunning views of Kakepuku with Pureora Forest in the distance. Kereru, tomtits, tui, korimako and fantails are regularly seen along the new track and the Trust is beginning to receive reports of hihi, popokatea and kaka sightings.

Visitors intending to walk across Maungatautari to Maungatautari peak (797m), or Pukeatua peak (753m), need to have a good level of fitness. As with walking or tramping in any New Zealand forest visitors should plan their trip, wear suitable clothing, take food and water and, above all, tell someone exactly where they are going and when they expect to exit the mountain.

The Out in the Styx Guesthouse runs a shuttle service (by special arrangement) from Pukeatua village to Hicks Road for those wishing to walk across the mountain. The cost is $10/head (minimum $40) – book with the Out in the Styx Guesthouse on 0800 461 559.

Photo: Phil Brown

The nationally endangered hihi (stitchbirds) will get a profile boost over the next few months with a giant (4.1m wide by 2.3m high) photograph of a male hihi featured at a prime spot at Hamilton Airport.

In March this year 79 hihi were released into Maungatautari’s southern enclosure, following a century’s absence from the mountain, and now regularly visit a series of specially built feeders close to the walking tracks.

Maungatautari is the only place in the Waikato where hihi have been reintroduced.
The wall space at Hamilton Airport is shared by the local councils and the production of the large poster was paid for by Waipa District Council.

“Waipa is a proud supporter of Maungatautari” said Waipa’s Mayor Alan Livingston.
“We saw this as one way we could help promote this internationally significant restoration project, and do our bit to highlight the plight of our endangered wildlife.”
Maungatautari Trust’s chief executive Jim Mylchreest said it was a fabulous opportunity to show the public what a hihi looked like.

“Hihi are rare and need everyone’s help to get them off the endangered list. It will be great if visitors to the Airport fall in love with this cute little bird and then come out to Maungatautari’s southern enclosure to see them in their natural habitat.”

The Maungatautari Trust hopes to translocate more hihi from Tiritiri Matangi and Little Barrier Island in 2010 as funding allows.

The hihi photograph was taken on Maungatautari by Te Awamutu wildlife photographer Phil Brown and was gifted to the Trust to help promote Maungatautari and hihi.

Hihi facts
Hihi were once found throughout the North Island of New Zealand but numbers declined due to loss of forest habitat, introduction of mammalian predators and arrival of new avian diseases. Prior to their recent releases at a number of mainland sites including Maungatautari, the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary and the Waitakere Ranges, the last recorded sighting on the mainland was in the Tararua Ranges in 1883.
 

Photo: Julie Milne

More than 300 people, including visitors from Tauranga, Cambridge, Te Awamutu, Morrinsville and Matamata, enjoyed a variety of guided botany and photography lesson walks in the southern enclosure for this year’s Maungatautari Conservation Week event.

As well as learning about the structure of the plant community, finding the fascinating and often overlooked plant treasures now regenerating on the forest floor, visitors were the first to see the series of plant identification signs now beautifully displayed in the enclosure – and they do look spectacular!

A wonderful day was had by all - special thanks to the wonderful guides Professor Bruce Clarkson, Dr Bruce Burns, Roger MacGibbon and Phil Brown.

Photo: Phil Brown

A second pair of critically endangered South Island takahe has been released onto Maungatautari.

The North Island takahe is extinct. There are an estimated 230 South Island takahe left in the world - Maungatautari now has the only two breeding pairs of South Island takahe on the mainland North Island of New Zealand.

A helicopter collected the 6½ year old female from Maud Island in the Marlborough Sounds before continuing to Mana Island, just off Wellington’s West Coast, to collect her much younger (2¾ year old) suitor. From there the pair was flown on a domestic flight to Hamilton, seats courtesy of Air New Zealand.

Ngati Koroki Kahukura Kaumatua Wally Papa named the male takahe Ngutuwhero meaning red beak, and the female Maroro, meaning strong or sturdy.

“For Maungatautari’s resident takahe, Matariki and Hauhunga, it was love at first sight and, while the two have been constant companions since their introduction in June 2006, they have not produced a chick. Perhaps the assumed threat of competition, albeit over a fence, will jolt them into action,” said Trust chief executive Jim Mylchreest.

“Breeding is only one part of the equation though. Releasing this second pair of takahe into the mountain’s popular southern enclosure will give people another opportunity to see takahe up close and with that comes a better appreciation of their plight and the effort being made to save them from extinction.”

The new pair could not be more different from each other, leaving Trust staff to hope that the saying ‘opposites attract’ comes true.

Department of Conservation takahe program manager Phil Tisch described Maroro as “a somewhat troublesome lady who insists on pairing with her brother and over-enthusiastically defending her territory,” while Ngutuwhero is “a relaxed lad. He has been hanging with the boys on Mana Island so it is time to break up the bachelor pad, settle down with a lady and pull his weight for the species”.

“Eighty six takahe live on predator-free islands around New Zealand. Each year we move a number of birds between islands to prevent in-breeding and over-crowding and also to have the maximum number of birds paired as possible. The pest free areas on Maungatautari provide an ideal mainland breeding site.”

Takahe Facts:
The current wild South Island takahe population is restricted to a 50,000ha area in Fiordland. Beyond this area takahe are managed on five off-shore islands. Maungatautari is another translocated managed population – together these sites offer security against any chance of disease wiping out the species. Two purpose built display sites exist, Mt Bruce in the Wairarapa and the Te Anau Wildlife Park, offering the public an opportunity to see these rare birds.

The South Island takahe was thought to be extinct until a few birds were spotted in the Murchison Mountains, Fiordland, in 1948. Human predation and a range of introduced predators would have been the main agent of decline for both North Island and South Island takahe, from the glory days when they ranged throughout their respective islands.

Since 2005, a partnership between Mitre10 Takahe Rescue, National Parks and Conservation Foundation and the Department of Conservation has provided additional funds for the Burwood Bush Captive Takahe Rearing Facility.

Takahe are similar to the common pukeko but are a green-blue colour rather than the black-blue of the pukeko. Adult birds can grow to 50cm high and weigh about 3kg. The nest is a raised bowl of grasses and normally three eggs are laid.

Photo: Phil Brown

Only a month after the four kaka chicks were released from Maungatautari’s southern enclosure aviary, four new kaka have arrived from Wellington Zoo.

Their arrival was a relaxed, low key occasion with members of the Tauroa and Papa families on hand to release the two pairs of juvenile siblings who will stay in the aviary until they settle and ‘key-into’ their new surroundings. It is hoped that they will eventually breed with the previously released kaka.

To commemorate the day Maureen Tauroa named the birds Orion, Tao, Mauku and Ata after the people who had opened the small crates which had transported the birds on their commercial flight from Wellington.

“It has been a really special day, particularly being able to share it with the Tauroa and Papa families,” said kaka carer Marilyn Mackinder.

Helping to make the newcomers feel at home are the kaka pair Wild-one and Mia in an adjoining flight, along with the kaka who regularly visit the aviary area especially during the supplementary feeding times.

“Orion, Tao, Mauku and Ata will also certainly get to know two of the recently released kaka chicks. I’m sure it won’t be long before Billy T is saying hello through the mesh – he and Puku will be very curious,” said Marilyn.

“Over the next few months I will be bringing the new kaka a range of fruit and vegetables and of course special home-made biscuits every day. It’s just like making school lunches again!”

Recent announcements of long term funding for the Maungatautari project in Waipa District Council and Environment Waikato’s Long Term Community Council Plans have been welcomed and appreciated by the Maungatautari Trust and volunteers.

“It’s the first time since we started the restoration of Maungatautari that nearly 50% of the estimated annual operating costs have been funded for longer than a year,” said Trust chief executive Jim Mylchreest.

“Up until now we have been existing somewhat hand to mouth never knowing whether the latest fundraising application has been successful.”

“So now, thanks to the funding from the ratepayers of Waipa District Council and Environment Waikato over the next three years, we can move on confidently with our essential pest eradication work and fence maintenance.”

Since the pest eradication operation across the main mountain began in November 2006 volunteers and Trust staff have trekked the mountain in all weather conditions to gather the critical pest tracking information required by the eradication teams. Subsequently 11 of the 15 pest species originally on the mountain have already been eliminated. Only limited remnant populations of mice and individual rabbits, hares, and rats remain.

“The volunteer effort has been enormous and is the primary reason why the pest eradication operation has been so successful thus far - the financial support from Waipa District Council and Environment Waikato will give that work a boost and help see all the pests removed.”

Maungatautari is on the verge of becoming the largest pest free area on mainland New Zealand – Maungatautari’s pest free southern enclosure currently holds that honour.

The Trust will continue to work towards total pest eradication and will now concentrate its funding efforts on wildlife reintroductions and visitor facilities.

Photo: Phil Brown

“A spectacular project” is what the Minister of Conservation, the Hon Tim Groser, called Maungatautari on his first, and recent, visit to the mountain restoration project.
“Maungatautari is an internationally significant project,” the Minister went on to say as he paid tribute to David Wallace for his drive to restore Maungatautari, saying that it was incredibly bold to have such a vision and carry it forward.

“Conservation requires the support of an educated public and I came here as a gesture of support.”

Despite a wet and cloudy start to the familiarisation visit the Minister, joined by former Member of Parliament Simon Upton, received a warm welcome from Maungatautari Trustees, staff and volunteers, along with representatives from the Department of Conservation, Environment Waikato and Waipa District Council.

Maungatautari volunteers Bill Mathers and Tony Rolley began a tour of the southern enclosure with a description of the pest proof fence and a demonstration of the electronic surveillance system. The group then walked to the 16 metre forest canopy viewing tower before visiting the pair of takahe in the Tautari Wetland.

A helicopter ride, kindly donated by the Vela family, flew the Minister across Maungatautari to help him appreciate its size and scale.

“Maungatautari is a rugged 3,400 hectare mountain fully enclosed in a pest proof fence and very close to being pest free. We felt it was essential to show the Minister the topography we have been dealing with during the pest eradication programme and thanks to the Vela family we were able to do just that,” said Trust chief executive Jim Mylchreest.

A Maungatautari dairy farmer and business owner, with a law background, has been appointed as an adjoining landowner trustee at the Maungatautari Trust’s recent AGM.

Mike Montgomerie operates two dairy farms, one on the edge of Maungatautari, and has been attending and contributing to Trust meetings for the past year.

It’s a privilege to be appointed as a trustee and to be given the opportunity to contribute more formally”, said Montgomerie. “It is just mind blowing the speed at which the mountain is being restored and the amount that volunteers have contributed. Watching all this I felt it was time I did my bit.”

Chairman of the Trust, David Wallace, said he was delighted that Mike had been appointed.

"The Maungatautari Trust has a strong skill-set which will help us achieve our goals. Mike is no exception; he brings a range of expertise to the table, which has already proven valuable during the past year. Most importantly though, he is passionate about restoring Maungatautari.”

The Department of Conservation advised that Trustee Arthur Hinds from the Coromandel would continue his role as the Waikato Conservation Board Representative.

In his AGM report David Wallace thanked the many volunteers, supporters, funders and Trust staff for their work and commitment over the past year.

“Our actions and tenacity show that a community can take on a bold restoration project and pull it off”.

Photo: Marilyn Mackinder

Maungatautari’s recently released kaka chicks have remained in the southern enclosure and are providing entertainment for visitors.

“These kaka, which have been bred in captivity in the Maungatautari aviary, have bonded to the area giving visitors a greater chance of seeing and hearing these endangered birds in their natural habitat,” said kaka carer Marilyn Mackinder.

“The birds seem to love the public attention as they swoop over visitors, hang off tree branches and climb over the aviary to say hi to their parents at feeding times, and the kaka squawking is definitely filling the forest area near the aviary and viewing tower with the four extra ‘voices’.”

Marilyn uses the supplementary feeding times to record the condition of the kaka via their identification bands.

The kaka chicks are also forming personalities with the aptly named Puku, meaning stomach, living up to her name by regularly arriving first for peanuts and pushing herself to the front to make sure she gets lots of food.

The kaka chicks are joining a number of previously released kaka for the supplementary feeding times which are held in Maungatautari’s southern enclosure at the aviary Monday – Friday between 10.30am and 11.00am, weekends 10.00am and 3.30pm.

Photo: Phil Brown

The longer autumnal nights have signalled the start of the kiwi breeding season.

Over the past few weeks kiwi calling on Maungatautari has increased as the birds call to their mates and begin to share burrows and prepare for the peak egg laying season in mid winter.

“This is also the time of the year when we put new radio-transmitters on the adult birds and give them a health check,” said Trust ecologist Chris Smuts-Kennedy.

“Its ideal timing as we can also track the birds and see who is mating with who. Although pair bonds do often last for many years – even for life, last year there was a bit of wife swapping as the kiwi attempted to find a suitable mate.”

“While it is early days we are excited about the partnership of Jo, an older female from the King Country, and Te Tuatahi-a-nui, a younger captive-bred male originally from the Otorohanga Kiwi House, who are sharing a burrow.”

“As one of the last surviving King Country kiwi, Jo carries invaluable genes which are now only available in the few remaining birds. It’s important that those genes survive, and for Maungatautari they would add to the genetic diversity of the population. We know Jo is old - we desperately want her to pass her genes on before her egg laying days are over.”

“She has certainly picked the perfect match. Te Tuatahi-a-nui is young (eight years old) and in great health – in fact he is one of the poster boys for the project – he was the first kiwi to be released into the southern enclosure and the first kiwi to call on the mountain in 100 years – quite a lineage for any resulting chicks.”

Jo was released into Maungatautari late last breeding season along with her King Country mate Mark. They had not produced a viable chick for many years while being monitored by the Otorohanga Zoological Society, and so were separated on Maungatautari in the hope that at least one of them would successfully breed with a new mate. It is not known yet if Mark has settled with a mate this season.

All the kiwi pairs on Maungatautari will be tracked over the winter period from a safe distance. ‘Chick-timer’ transmitters on the male kiwi indicate when they are incubating a clutch – and even emit a special radio signal when a chick is hatching under the male. At approximately 58 days (about three quarters of the way through incubation) the eggs are removed to the expert hatching facility at Kiwi Encounter in Rotorua. The removal of the first clutch often promotes an earlier-than-normal laying of the second – and they can even lay a third clutch, which is normally only one egg instead of the usual two. Three weeks after hatching the chicks are transferred back to the pest free enclosures on Maungatautari. The chicks then live entirely independently of their parents.

Photo: Julie Milne

Massey University, along with a number of other conservation groups, have requested plan details of the portable kit-set aviary designed and built by Maungatautari volunteers.

Specifically produced earlier this year, the aviary complex was used as a temporary ‘home’ for hihi (stitchbirds) and popokatea (whiteheads) during their recent translocation to Maungatautari.

“It seems that our kit-set structure is just what other groups have been looking for”, said Trust ecologist and co-designer Chris Smuts-Kennedy.

“It is completely pest proof, colour coded for easy assembly, and is able to pack down to flat panels for transportation and cleaning. It includes a double-door entry system so birds can’t escape when a door is being opened, which is rather cleverly incorporated into the aviary layout to minimise the need for extra components. The light H4 treated timber framing makes the panels light to carry yet rigid when assembled.”

“Basically we have tried to think of everything from the animals and users point of view, and I think we have. I guess other groups think so as well which is a wonderful complement to the hardworking Trust volunteers who have put a total of 408 hours into designing and building the aviary.”

From an animal perspective the whole structure is enclosed in galvanised or stainless steel wire mesh to keep it pest proof and then internally covered with 30% shade cloth to stop birds injuring themselves and to provide some cover from the sun. All hooks holding the perches and feeding trays have been recessed so as not to damage any inhabitants. The food tray area is placed for easy access to the doors to reduce disturbance.

With other wildlife translocations to Maungatautari planned over the next few years the structure will be well used and will occasionally be on loan to other groups for conservation work.

Maungatautari volunteers Bill Mathers, Bryan Jenkin and Warwick Gatland led the build with assistance from Rod Lugton, Jim McKnight, John Shaw, John Sheat, Bob Vercoe, and David Welch.

Photo: Phil Brown

The recently released hihi (stitchbirds) on Maungatautari are regularly visiting specially made feeders in the southern enclosure.

“On the day of the release several birds were seen at one of the feeders and since then there have been a number of sightings throughout the enclosure,” said Trust ecologist Chris Smuts-Kennedy.

“With the feeders located next to the Rata track, close to the viewing tower and the aviary, visitors to the enclosure have the opportunity to get closer to this nationally endangered bird – it’s the first chance people have had to see hihi anywhere in the Waikato.”

Each feeder contains a bottle of sugar water placed in a red plastic base with artificial yellow flowers. The hihi retrieve the syrup mix from the holes in the ‘flowers’ with their brush-tipped tongues.

To prevent larger nectar feeders such as tui taking the syrup the feeders are wrapped in plastic and wire mesh with 40mm holes.

The Maungatautari Trust has now released 79 hihi into the southern enclosure - 59 from Tiritiri Matangi Island and more recently 20 from Little Barrier Island.

Following the recent hihi and popokatea (whitehead) releases Maungatautari staff and visitors have noticed a marked increase in the number of bird calls in the enclosure. While a hihi sighting during a visit to the southern enclosure cannot be guaranteed, the Trust recommends people stand a few metres from a feeder and wait quietly and patiently.”

Photo: Marilyn Mackinder

Three months after hatching and a month after leaving their nest Maungatautari’s four kaka chicks are only now learning to ‘talk’.

Kaka calling in the southern enclosure aviary has recently increased now that the chicks have reached the calling stage in their development.

“But the three female and one male kaka are not just learning to ‘talk’, their parents are teaching them to ‘speak’ a specific dialect,” said Trust ecologist Chris Smuts-Kennedy.

“The Maungatautari kaka chicks are also exposed to dialects from wild birds visiting from other forest areas such as Pureora Forest Park, and previously released birds constantly flying around in the southern enclosure.”

“By listening to, and imitating, this range of sounds these chicks will learn a combination of calls which will form the start of a dialect distinctive to Maungatautari.”

Kaka are members of the parrot family. Parrot chicks spend an extended time with their parents learning a range of social skills including ‘speaking’.

Other resident native birds on Maungatautari such as tui and bellbirds have already developed a Maungatautari dialect.

The kaka chicks are fed at Maungatautari’s southern enclosure aviary between 10.30am and 11.00am weekdays, and at 10.00am and 3.30pm on Saturday and Sundays.

New Zealand is well represented in a list of Australasian ecological restoration projects drawn up by an international panel to showcase such work.

Nearly a third (eight) of the ‘Top 25’ projects are from New Zealand, which is impressive given the relatively small size of the country, compared to Australia, says Waikato University’s Professor Bruce Clarkson, the New Zealand representative on the selection panel.

“I don’t think the rest of the world really knows what is going on in Australasia, particularly New Zealand,” Professor Clarkson says. “I travel the world and I think some of the things that have been going on in New Zealand are world-class advances, particularly in terms of pest animal species control and predator proof fences.”

The projects include Maungatautari Ecological Island, Wellington’s Karori Sanctuary and Tiritiri Matangi Island. In addition, Hamilton’s Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park was highly commended.

The 18-month search for the top projects was initiated by Ecological Management & Restoration, the management-oriented journal of the Ecological Society of Australia (ESA), in partnership with ESA and the Society for Ecological Restoration International (SER International), the world’s premier restoration body.

The specialist panel was made up of two ecology professors, two natural area managers, a consulting ecologist and the EMR journal’s editor.

“The idea was to spread the word about some of the very high-quality work going on in Australia and New Zealand, which often is overlooked,” Professor Clarkson says.

Large and increasing efforts are being made across the world by agencies and citizens to rectify the enormous negative transformations of the environment that have occurred in recent centuries. “Slowly but surely, native vegetation is beginning to be regenerated and reinstated on lands where it once grew, and populations of native animals are being returned to their native habitats,” he adds.

Photo: Marilyn Mackinder

Kaka names and winners

The Maungatautari Trust is delighted to announce the winners of the 'Name the kaka competition': The three female kaka have been named:

'Timata' meaning start, beginning
Winner: Te Raika Murray from Te Awamutu

'Flapper'
Winner: Tessa Winter from Putaruru

'Puku' meaning tummy stomach
Winner: Blake Seavill from Karapiro School

The male kaka's name is:
'Billy T'
Winner: Mrs Raewyn Stokes from Tauranga

The Maungatautari Trust thanks all those who entered – kaka feeding times are between 10.30am and 11.00am weekdays and at 10.00am and 3.30pm Saturday and Sundays.

Environment Waikato regional council and Waipa District Council are currently seeking submissions on their Long Term Council Community Plans. The Trust has already done considerable work in ensuring that long term funding for Maungatautari is noted in the Draft Plans – in order to confirm that funding the project needs all Maungatautari supporters to show their support for the project via submissions.

We cannot stress enough the importance of the Maungatautari restoration project to the long term viability of our native species and to the health of our environment.

In only a few years of restoration Maungatautari has already made a positive impact on the state of our threatened wildlife by providing a safe ‘home’ for a pair of critically endangered takahe and nationally endangered kiwi, kaka, kokopu ( native trout) hihi (stitchbirds) and popokatea (whiteheads). More endangered species will join them as funding allows.

Where else in the Waikato can you get up close to such a range of native species – and the restoration of Maungatautari has only just begun! Maungatautari will not only be the single most important site for a number of our wildlife, such as kokako, it will also be an additional safe breeding site for other species such as the hihi and tieke (saddlebacks).

Regardless of where you live, whether it is within the Waikato, New Zealand or overseas, a positive submission from you and your organisation will have an influence on the details in the final Plans - we therefore urge you to give this your immediate attention.

Environment Waikato regional council (note the question relating to Maungatautari is the Natural Heritage rate question (fifth question). Submissions close 4pm 20 April 2009

Waipa District Council (note the question relating to Maungatautari is the fifth question on the submission form at the end of the pdf). Submissions close 5pm 17 April 2009

Thank you for your continued support and I know that your submission will make a difference.

Jim Mylchreest
CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Photo: Phil Brown

For the second time in a month the Maungatautari Trust has released a locally extinct native bird species into the pest free southern enclosure on Maungatautari.

Sixty whiteheads (popokatea) captured on Little Barrier Island during the last week were flown to the mountain sanctuary courtesy of Mitch Plaw, Architectural Profiles Limited, in his privately owned helicopter.

“It’s about 20 years since whiteheads were officially sighted on Maungatautari,” said Trust ecologist Chris Smuts-Kennedy.

“These 60 birds are another important step in the restoration process. We reintroduce them now and let their numbers slowly build up. Whiteheads are likely to become the most commonly seen and heard bird on the mountain – quite simply without them our restoration would be very incomplete ecologically, visually, acoustically, and aesthetically.

“ANZ National Bank Rural Manager Neil Warren attended the release on behalf of the ANZ National Staff Foundation who co-sponsored the whitehead release along with World Wide Fund for Nature.

Mr Warren said that getting a number of species back on the mountain was important and he was delighted that the Staff Fund was able to help with that.

Maungatautari has a variety of suitable habitat for whiteheads as the mountain has at least eight distinct altitudinal vegetation zones – and these birds are expected to utilise most of that. In winter the birds will form noisy flocks which will be a highlight for visitors.

Whiteheads are the fifth bird species to be reintroduced on the mountain after kiwi, kaka, takahe and hihi.

Whitehead facts

Whiteheads are primarily insectivorous – they eat a variety of spiders, moths, caterpillars and beetles although they do supplement their ‘meat’ diet with the fruit of several native trees including the matipo and mahoe.

Whiteheads form flocks in winter, and often form mixed feeding flocks with other insectivorous birds like saddlebacks, fantails and silvereyes. The smaller species like whiteheads seem to take advantage of the vigourous foraging of the larger birds like saddlebacks which disturb small insects for them to catch.

Photo: Phil Brown

Maungatautari volunteers and supporters have welcomed 59 nationally endangered hihi (stitchbird) to the mountain’s pest free southern enclosure – the first hihi on Maungatautari in well over a century.

The birds were transported via helicopter from Tiritiri Matangi in the Hauraki Gulf and mark the first translocation of hihi to the Waikato region and the start of a sustainable breeding population which will eventually see hihi proliferate across the 3,400 hectares of pest free native forest.

Maungatautari Trust chief executive Jim Mylchreest said that it was a special milestone for the restoration project.

“It is wonderful to see hihi back in the Waikato and its all thanks to a joint effort from World Wide Fund for Nature, who funded the translocation, and the Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi group, along with the Department of Conservation whose great conservation work on the island has provided a surplus hihi population.”

Earlier in the week Maungatautari staff and volunteers, and volunteers from the Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi, Zoological Society of London, Ark in the Park and Massey University captured the hihi on the island. The birds were then held in aviaries waiting the results of disease screening before being transported to the mountain reserve.

Hihi (stitchbird) facts

Hihi were once found throughout the North Island but declined due to loss of forest habitat, introduction of mammalian predators and arrival of new avian diseases. The last recorded sighting on the mainland in the Tararua Ranges in 1883.

The hihi is classified as nationally endangered - the total population across all known sites is estimated to be in the low thousands.

Genetic research has revealed hihi belong to a new family of birds found only in New Zealand. Previously it was thought they belonged to the honeyeater family along with tui and bellbird.

Hihi nest in holes in trees and are the only bird known to also mate face to face.

Beside the male with the distinctive yellow band across the chest and a black head the female is brownish and comparatively dull.

Department of Conservation programme manager in Warkworth Liz Maire said she was delighted with the translocation.

Photo: Marilyn Mackinder

The four kaka chicks which hatched on Maungatautari in mid December have successfully left their nest box in the southern enclosure aviary.

Kaka carer Marilyn Mackinder found the first chick on the aviary floor on St Valentine’s Day when she arrived at 9.30am to feed the birds and clean out their flight area. The others followed a few days later.

“The chicks have been in the nest box for 60 days and for the majority of that time we couldn’t see them and only heard the odd rustle so I’m just so relieved to see them safely on the ground,” said Mrs Mackinder.

As the chicks are still unable to fly when they leave the nest each one has climbed out of the nest box along a perch and down the mesh walls of the aviary to the ground. They will flap around the aviary until their wings develop - in the wild this behaviour makes them highly susceptible to predators.

“Both parents are caring for the chicks, I have seen Wild-one, the male, feeding them pieces of apple and the Mum, Mia, has been very protective and squawks very loudly if she thinks I am getting too close to them when I am in putting out fresh food.”

In the next few months the kaka chicks will be released from the aviary however the Trust hopes that they stay in the area and join the other kaka for the supplementary feeding and ultimately breed in the pest free protected area.

Photo: Phil Brown

Preparations for the first hihi (stitchbird) translocation to Maungatautari are now in full swing to ensure the transfer of 60 birds from Tiritiri Matangi, planned for March, runs smoothly.

Some additional birds (probably 10-20) will also be translocated from Little Barrier Island, to maximise genetic diversity in the new Maungatautari population. The capture and transfer from Little Barrier will take place less than a week after the Tiritiri Matangi operation.

Leading the operation is seasoned translocation expert and Trust ecologist Chris Smuts-Kennedy who has managed prolonged operations on various islands around New Zealand including Raoul Island.

Volunteers will be central to the translocation and one group is already building five easy-to-assemble portable aviaries for holding the birds on the islands until they are ready to be transported to Maungatautari.

The aviaries have been specially designed so that they can be transported in a kit-set form, assembled on site, and then dismantled and easily disinfected against disease. They will also be valuable for future translocations of several species.

Volunteer chef Jan Olsen has been given the task of buying enough food for 11 people for a week or more as well as the logistics of getting it onto, and stored, on Tiritiri Matangi.

Along with the hihi the Trust also plans to translocate 60 whiteheads from Little Barrier, as the catching technique used there should work for both species. This will also eliminate the cost of a separate translocation of this species from another site. Whiteheads became locally extinct on Maungatautari about 20 years ago.

Maungatautari should be large enough and have sufficient habitat to hold what might well become the only self-sustaining population of the nationally endangered hihi on mainland New Zealand. The success of the translocation will be intensively monitored. 

Photo: Graeme Milne

Maungatautari’s first kiwi chick for 2009 has been released into the pest free southern enclosure. Tetley is Robin and Horokio’s third chick for this breeding season.

The egg was taken to the expert hatching facility at Kiwi Encounter in Rotorua part way through its incubation and carefully monitored until it hatched. Two weeks later Tetley was reported to be ‘scoffing its food’ and was deemed ready to return to Maungatautari by the Kiwi Encounter team.

Chief executive Jim Mylchreest said that it had been a great season for the Maungatautari kiwi so far. Five chicks had already been released, one had hatched on the mountain, another was expected to hatch later this month at Kiwi Encounter and the transmitter on male kiwi, Mark, indicated that he was incubating a clutch - his first on Maungatautari.

“We hope to continue that success throughout 2009 and plan to have a number of new species translocations as well as further releases of kiwi and kaka. Plans for hihi and whitehead translocations are well underway with teams scheduled to go to Tiritiri Matangi (and perhaps Little Barrier Island) to collect several pairs in a few months time. Then, if we can secure the estimated $95,000 required to translocate several pairs of kokako, we will be busy with kokako releases later in the year.”

“With the mountain now virtually pest free it is great to be getting into the serious business of species translocations and making progress toward achieving our vision of returning endangered wildlife to Maungatautari.”

Photo: Julie Milne

Regular sightings of kaka in Maungatautari’s southern enclosure are bringing visitors to the mountain restoration project.

Several kaka, which were released onto the mountain from the aviary in the southern enclosure over the last two years, have been seen in the area near the 16 metre high viewing tower and aviary throughout the day.

Keyed into the sound of volunteer kaka carer Marilyn Mackinder’s 4 wheel drive motor bike the birds come to the bird feeders at around 9.30am and again at around 3.30pm when Marilyn arrives with a selection of supplementary food.

Maungatautari Trust ecologist Chris Smuts-Kennedy said he was delighted that the birds were appearing regularly.

“It’s what we have been strategically working toward since we started the (ongoing) kaka reintroduction programme two years ago. The aim has always been to make sure that people can see these endangered birds in their natural environment, and to increase their numbers.”

“While we would like to think that kaka will continue to visit the release area twice a day there are no guarantees so let’s enjoy them while we can.” The four kaka chicks which hatched in the aviary over Christmas continue to thrive in the nest box. The female is now feeding them small pieces of solid food.