Bringing bellbirds back
After decades of absence and two years of planning, bellbirds have returned to Hamilton City and three other North Island sites due to the hard work of staff from Landcare Research as well as Waikato University, Auckland Regional Council and Environment Waikato.
But, sourcing 200 birds from two sites and delivering and releasing them successfully at four separate destinations was always going to be an immense logistical activity.
Landcare Research scientist John Innes said the bids were trapped at sugar-water feeders and in mist-nets at Tiritiri Matangi Island and Tawharanui (a fenced mainland peninsula near Warkworth), then were held on-site in temporary aviaries awaiting shipping. Fifty were to go to each of Hamilton, Motuihe Island and two sites on Waiheke Island.
‘However, plans went a little astray on the day before the planned release ceremonies,’ Mr Innes says.
‘The disease-screening lab phoned to say that at least one bird on Tiritiri Matangi had yersinia, an unwelcome bacterium that required treatment. A week’s antibiotics later, and with wild weather, we fitted transmitters to 52 of the 200 releasees over three days, the birds were boxed up and then released as planned.’
Fourteen of the released Hamilton birds had radio transmitters on and monitoring has located all but three of these, with repeated sightings of some of the individuals. Additionally, there have been a few records of birds without transmitters, including a regular visitor to a monitored sugar-water feeder outside Environment Waikato’s offices in Hamilton East.
Most of the bellbirds have been seen in private gardens in and near Hamilton feeding on exotic flowers such as eucalypts, banksias and bottlebrush.
One spectacular exception was one of the banded birds released in Hamilton that has since been sighted on Tiritiri Matangi Island near Auckland, where it originally came from. This is probably a long-distance homing record for a native bird in New Zealand.
‘That’s pretty impressive as it’s a long way for a little bird to fly,’ says Mr Innes.
‘However, we’re hopeful that the vast majority of the birds will have stayed around in Hamilton. Public vigilance and reporting of bellbird sightings can help us better determine whether that’s what’s actually happening. Now that the transmitter batteries are running out we are reliant more than ever on the public to report sightings of bellbirds to help us judge the success of our project.’
One transmittered female bellbird was found dead inside a sparrow’s nest up a banksia tree near Te Awamutu, probably taken by ship rats.
‘This is a reminder of why bellbirds disappeared from the northern North Island decades ago,’ said Mr Innes, ‘and a reminder of why we will need to protect early nesting attempts if we can find them.’