Taiko trackers a dedicated breed

Forest and Bird, Issue 312, 1 May 2004, Page 2

Taiko trackers a dedicated breed

SUE GALBRAITH

on searching for the the

Chatham Island taiko, or Magenta petrel.

o the uninitiated the scenario is | decidedly bizarre. It’s 3am on a chilly morning in rugged country on the southwest corner of the main Chatham Island. Two people, each wrapped in plastic sheeting for protection from the cold, lie face up on the ground at the edge of a dense forest. They’ve been in this position for hours. Beside them a large floodlight illuminates a moonless sky. Conversation and the occasional hot mug of tea from a thermos helps keep sleep at bay and distract them from the aches and pains of their position. But their eyes remain firmly focused on the patch of brightness in the sky. When a large silhouette appears in the light they’re suddenly on their feet, shining

lights into the sky and whooping like movie Indians preparing for war. This ritual is repeated nightly during October and November every two years by Department of Conservation staff, contractors and volunteers. It’s all part of a mammoth effort to save one of the world’s most endangered seabirds — the Chatham Island taiko. Birds coming in on the cool southerly wind to breeding colonies are dazzled by the floodlights and skilfully guided to the ground by hand-held spotlights. Transmitters are then fitted to their tails so they can be tracked to burrows. In a military-like operation, telemetry operators in tents on hilly vantage points around the Tuku Valley pick up the signals of taiko returning from the sea. Human

trackers with aerials are dispatched into the rugged bush under cover of night, hoping the trail will lead them to new nesting burrows. For all the hours spent in hot pursuit of taiko, just one or two burrows are found by the end of the operation. In fact, the known tally of active burrows now stands at about 30. Between 12 and 14 taiko pairs are expected to breed this year. Run jointly by DoC and the Taiko Trust, the taiko telemetry programme is helping to unravel the mystery surrounding this critically-endangered seabird, with its population totalling around 120. This year’s tally of 18 birds caught in the spotlights is up by six on the previous record, suggesting the population is responding well to the predator control carried out around the breeding colony for over a decade. Most of the birds caught had been banded previously. Encouragingly, some were young birds that had fledged from managed burrows, returning to the breeding colony for the first time. Seven birds not captured previously were also brought to ground. They may be offspring from burrows only recently discovered but benefiting from the widespread predator control in the area, or from as-yet-undiscovered burrows. DNA samples taken from the birds will provide information on whether there are further breeding burrows waiting to be discovered. Thought to be extinct for more than a century, the Chatham Island taiko or Magenta petrel was rediscovered by teacher and ornithologist David Crockett and a band of keen volunteers who gave up many summers in warmer places to search for them. As a schoolboy in 1952, while helping sort through Moriori midden

material from the Chatham Islands at Canterbury Museum, David Crockett found petrel bones that did not fit any known specimens. They were eventually linked to a single petrel specimen held by the Turin Museum in Italy. Labelled ‘Magenta Petrel’, it had been collected in 1867 by the crew of the Italian research ship Magenta, 800 kilometres east of the Chatham Islands. Taiko was once a major food source for Moriori on the Chathams, until cats, pigs and other predators helped decimate the population. Beginning his search for living birds in 1969, David used spotlights to try and attract them, a method based on early whalers’ accounts of petrels flying into tripot fires. In 1974 two fast-flying petrels fitting the description of taiko flew into the light, amazing volunteers with their aerial antics. On the night of New Year’s Day 1978 the first two birds were caught by the lights, captured and confirmed as the Chatham Island taiko. Following the discovery of these first taiko, the focus shifted to finding their breeding sites. When taiko — renowned for their navigation skills — start returning from sea, to seek out their nesting burrows, about 10 people at a time congregate at the taiko camp. They stay in a scattering of humble dwellings or in tents. From all walks of life and of varying ages they come from throughout New Zealand and elsewhere for a taste of taiko adventure. During the day they might be involved in trapping wild cats, carrying out maintenance or undertaking other species

work. By night they take it in turns to settle down in pairs for a long session by the lights, or to radio track the taiko to their burrows. There are usually two taiko watch shifts — 9.30pm to 2am and 2am to dawn. It’s a long time in the outdoors when a cold wind is blowing. Taiko come in from the sea on the southerly breeze. The taiko watchers remain ever vigilant and respond rapidly when taiko are seen in the lights. They attempt to land the birds by shining spotlights in their eyes. Some do a ‘war whoop’ — seabirds are attracted by the loud call which vibrates and echoes through the valleys. ‘Humans get a high from catching taiko, says volunteer Reg Cotter, aged 73, of Petone who has taken part in 18 expeditions since 1977. His ‘top tally’ is three taiko in an hour. Many nights have yielded nothing. Some taiko can be landed easily with spotlights, some take an age to bring down; some fly right through the

lights without stopping and others circle the lights for hours before disappearing out of view. Taiko are aggressive birds, equipped to survive in harsh conditions and more than able to take on interfering humans. ‘They're wonderful birds but some can be quite vicious. They’re worse than kaka, says Reg Cotter, who has learnt to keep his hands well away from their bills. The support of local landowners has been essential for the search effort and a base camp is set up on private land now owned by Liz and Bruce Tuanui. Bruce’s parents Evelyn and Manuel Tuanui gifted to the Crown the 1238-hectare Tuku Nature Reserve, where most of the burrows are located. Other important areas of taiko habitat have been protected by covenant, by the Tuanui family and other landowners. — SUE GALBRAITH is a journalist with the Department of Conservation in Wellington.

‘| Funding boost for Chatham Island taiko protection

Recent grants totalling $236,000 are a welcome boost to efforts to protect the endangered Chatham Island taiko from predation. An $80,000 contribution from the Biodiversity Condition Fund, followed by a $156,000 Lottery Environment and Heritage grant, will enable a predator-proof fence to be built around a new breeding colony for taiko within the next two years. The grants have been welcomed by the Chatham Island Taiko Trust which plans to establish the colony on four hectares of remote forest, a site used by taiko more than 50 years ago. The land is protected by a conservation covenant. ‘We are overwhelmed and delighted’, says Trust chair Liz Tuanui. Taiko recordings will be played to attract sexually active, unpaired birds to the new colony, and radio-telemetry tracking equipment will be installed. Trust volunteers have donated time and equipment to the value of $1 million over the past decade and will match this amount for the new taiko colony project during the next five years.