Whiteheads Released in Waitakere Ranges

Forest and Bird, Issue 314, 1 November 2004, Page 8

Whiteheads Released in Waitakere Ranges

Forest and Bird’s ‘Auckland Naturally’ programme, 55 whiteheads have been released in the Waitakere Ranges, west of Auckland. The release was made into an area being managed as a ‘mainland island’ within the regional park. Known as the ‘Ark in the Park; it currently comprises 600 hectares of forest where volunteers from Waitakere Forest and Bird provide pest control in a partnership with the Auckland Regional Council. Whitehead were extinct on the mainland north of about Hamilton till the ARC successfully introduced the bird last year to its Hunua Ranges Regional Park, a rugged mountain block south of Auckland. The birds are peculiar to North Island forests and I: another step forward for

occupy a similar niche to that occupied by their relative the brown creeper in the South Island. Whitehead tend to form flocks moving in the tree tops, feeding on invertebrates and sometimes small fruits. The presence of whitehead may also attract the long-tailed cuckoo back to the Waitakere Ranges. The cuckoo lays its eggs in the whiteheads’ nest leaving them to care for an offspring which will grow to seven times the weight of their own chicks. Whitehead are the first of a number of species which could be reintroduced to the Waitakere Ranges under the Ark in the Park project, according to project spokesman Dr John Sumich of Waitakere Forest and Bird. Among them are North Island robin scheduled for 2005, bellbird, kaka, kakariki, and later kokako and possibly kiwi. Other possibilities include kauri snails, Helm’s butterfly and mistletoes. ‘The quality of this botanically diverse, deer-free bush is such that the site is a prime contender

for a mainland release of stitchbird too, when the controlled area reaches a certain minimum size; he says. "This will require more volunteer effort but can be achieved by 2006: The Ark in the Park area of the Waitakere Ranges is centred on the Cascades Kauri Park, known to Maori as Te wao nui a Tiriwa — the great forest of Tiriwa. Forest life has flourished here since widespread possum control in the ranges by the Auckland Regional Council some five years ago. Since then the Forest and Bird volunteers have maintained trap lines and pest control in the Ark in the Park area. It is hoped the accessibility of the forest will lead to its becoming another ‘open sanctuary for rare and threatened species at the edge of a conurbation of some 1.2 million people. More details about Ark in the Park, including the Help-a-Hectare programme, can be found on the website: www.forestandbird.org.nz/ark