Project weka going strong

Forest and Bird, Issue 268, 1 May 1993, Page 8

Project weka going strong

FOREST AND BIRD’S captive rearing and release programme for the endangered ~ North Island weka continues apace. The programme is jointly managed with DoC, and sponsored by Trilogy Business Systems. At the release site at Karangahake near Paeroa, members have built a large aviary complex (see Branching Out August 1992) and 15 captive-bred birds have been released while 10 are still in residence. ‘The strategy for the release of the birds has been modified as more is learnt about weka behaviour. In the 16 breeding aviaries, owned by Forest and Bird members around the North Island, each weka pair is encouraged to nest and rear their chicks with a minimum of human interference. Both parents care for the chicks,

which at six weeks are fully grown and feathered. These juveniles are then taken to the Karangahake release aviary. This complex of five aviaries is like a weka "finishing school" where the birds are grouped with their peers to socialise and mature in the environment where they will be released. At about four months old the young adults are freed, simply by opening small trapdoors and allowing them to wander out at will. The released birds tend to stay close to the aviary for a few days, drawn by familiarity and the calls of the remaining birds, but gradually move further afield. Birds released last October are still within calling distance of the aviary. This release technique seems to have succeeded in overcoming the rapid dispersal and loss of birds which probably led to the failure of many earlier releases. All the birds are released wearing colour bands

and the local school and community regularly report sightings. Six birds wearing radio transmitters are monitored more closely by aviary manager Gary Staples and postgraduate student Gary Bramley. Problems remain, however. The most immediate one is the need for more birds. Forest and Bird has a permit to release up to 100 birds a year in the area. While some captive pairs breed well — one pair having four over-lapping clutches — other apparently compatible pairs are failing to breed. Some chicks have succumbed to disease, and two birds wearing radio transmitters were killed by dogs. Despite the set-backs, there are encouraging signs. In February, radio tracking found one of the released females sitting on a nest with her mate nearby. For the members involved in the programme, the unfolding story becomes more and more engrossing.