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The last recorded sighting of a North Island Robin (Petroica
australis) on Great Barrier Island was back in 1865, since then 30
birds were released last year at Little Windy Hill.
Following a large-scale pest control and
re-forestation project at Glenfern Sanctuary the forest was now ready
for the return of the robins. In a move instigated by Tony Bouzaid, on
the 3 rd of April 2005 a team of Great Barrier
Island residents sailed to Tiritiri Matangi to capture North Island
Robins for release on the Kotuku Peninsula (comprising Glenfern
Sanctuary, Kotuku Scenic Reserve, and Orama) in Port FitzRoy.
With the help of a team of specialists from Auckland
Regional Council, Tim Lovegrove, Kevin Parker and Anne Kernohan, 27
robins were successfully captured and transported to Great Barrier.
Twelve birds were released on the Kotuku reserve and 15 were released by
the Okiwi School children in Glenfern Sanctuary.
Rowland Geraghty (Ecology graduate from Ireland)
spent three months pre-feeding the birds to be translocated then
followed them to Great Barrier where he began monitoring the
reintroduced population. By the end of June, 23 of the original 27 birds
released had been located.
In September the breeding season was underway and 7
pair bonds were identified, 3 residing in Kotuku Scenic Reserve, 2 in
Orama and 1 in Glenfern Sanctuary. On September 16th we banded our first
2 chicks and on the 27 th of September they fledged
to become the first of a new generation of Northern Barrier robins, 13
having fledged at Little Windy Hill last year.
In October a Master’s graduate in
Ecology was employed to monitor the robins throughout the
breeding season. Five breeding pairs continue to be monitored and to
date there are 9 banded fledglings. New to both Great Barrier and other
mainland island populations of robins was the discovery that one of the
breeding pairs had nested on the ground. After a first failed attempt
this unusual pair built a second nest also on the ground and
successfully fledged two healthy fledglings!
For further information
www.glenfern.org.nz
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