Hopes high for Pirongia kōkako population
17 Apr, 2021 07:12 PM
3 minutes to read
Volunteers were banding and monitoring the kōkako chicks. Photo / Carisse Enderwick, DoC
Waikato News
Although this year s nesting season has come to an end, ecologists are still waiting for an additional 20 or more kōkako fledglings in Pirongia Forest Park.
The Pirongia Te Aroaro O Kahu Restoration Society (PRS) has almost completed its annual kōkako nest monitoring and has observed nine pairs since the start of the season in September. Each pair is incubating and rearing at least one clutch of chicks and, in the case of one pair, three clutches.
Date Time
Pirongia kōkako fledglings taking leap
The Pirongia Te Aroaro O Kahu Restoration Society (PRS) has almost completed its annual kōkako nest monitoring after a season of dedicated birdwatching and nest-minding that began in September 2020. There have been nine pairs this season, each incubating and rearing at least one clutch of chicks and, in the case of one pair, three clutches.
The main threats to eggs and chicks are ship rats, possums and mustelids. For the population to persist, pest management is needed. Birds disappeared from the maunga in the 1990s due to pests; however, following extensive pest management, 20 birds were translocated by the PRS back in 2017, and a further 14 in 2018.
“This means they were hatched on Mt Pirongia but weren’t recorded,” she said. “We’re absolutely thrilled to see nesting success for a pair of unbanded kōkako here, which are obviously the offspring of some of those first kōkako we translocated just 3 years ago.”
DOC/Supplied
The Pirongia te Aroaro o Kahu Restoration Society is working to increase the kōkako population in the Waikato. Rogers said the kōkako breeding success means the population is now in its third generation and growing. The number of kōkako breeding pairs have more than doubled in the last year.