Project Weka

Forest and Bird, Volume 22, Issue 3, 1 August 1991, Page 10

Project Weka

JUST AS Forest and Bird's Project Weka gathers momentum, the North Island weka has been officially declared a "threatened species". So far a weka survey has been completed on Kawau Island and a major survey is underway in the Gisborne district the weka’s stronghold. Led by Dick McMurray of Forest and Bird’s Gisborne branch, the Gisborne survey is a joint effort by the Department of Conservation and Forest and Bird. Using a postal questionnaire to cover farflung rural areas, the results from 320 returns have recorded a mere 400 birds. Though this would be an underestimate, it indicates a remarkable decline from the 1970s when weka were abundant and readily seen. The strongest populations appear to be in the Matawai/Whakarau hinterland, where droughts have been less severe and the

habitat is less disturbed. Survey respondents suggest the droughts of 1982-83, followed by floods, led to food loss and subsequent starvation among weka. Other factors suggested leading to weka de-

cline include increased numbers of ferrets, and loss of habitat from intensive horticulture. An encouraging response was that 90 percent of replies said they were sorry to learn of the weka’s plight and would

welcome the bird's return (though not in the garden’). On Kawau Island the weka survey was organised by Richard Chambers of the Hibiscus Coast branch, assisted by John Kendrick, Forest and Bird, Ornithological Society members and islanders. They surveyed the western side of the island on foot, playing taped weka calls and recorded all the responses. A total of 123 weka were recorded. The weka seem concentrated on the sheltered western side of the island, where the islanders live. Local people say that weka numbers have fallen by half or even three-quarters in the last three years.