Bird experts and Chatham Islanders told David Crockett he was chasing a taipo (ghost), but the Whangarei man persisted, and 35 years ago this week, the taiko was re-discovered. The Taiko Trust, a local conservation organisation on the Chathams, is marking the 35th anniversary of the taiko (magenta petrel or […]
fauna
6 posts
DOC ranger Kenny Dix took the opportunity to band the wandering albatross chick whilst he was visiting Pitt Island recently. This was the sixth Antipodean wandering albatoss chick to be raised on Pitt Island and all going well, this special little one will set out to sea in early 2013. […]
Status (2008):Population (2009):Trend: Critically Endangered600 individualsImproving Larger and heavier than its mainland cousin, the parea or Chatham Island pigeon is today largely confined to the south-western corner of Chatham Island. Like several other Chatham species the parea had a close brush with extinction, with the population dropping to 40-45 birds […]
Status (2012):Population (2010):Trend: Nationally vulnerable1,400 individualsImproving Probably once abundant throughout the Chatham Islands, human exploitation, habitat destruction and introduced predators saw the Chatham petrel restricted to Rangatira or Southeast Island by the time of its discovery in 1892. Until 1961 farming activity on Rangatira resulted in the petrels being confined […]
Status (2012):Population (2013):Trend: Nationally critical298 mature individualsStable Restricted to Little Mangere Island for over 80 years, the deteriorating condition of the small area of forest available to the birds and their resulting population decline saw the seven remaining birds transferred to a larger patch of bush on adjacent Mangere Island […]
Many of us are familiar with New Zealand’s variable oystercatcher, the black and white (or sometimes entirely black) wader with bright orange legs and bill that we encounter on beaches around the country. What most don’t know is that the Chatham Islands have their own version, the Chatham Island oystercatcher and that it narrowly escaped extinction in recent times.