Rare NZ stichbirds breed chicks

WESTIE CHICKS: One of New Zealand's rarest birds, the hihi or stichbirds, are now producing chicks in west Auckland.

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One of New Zealand's rarest birds is now producing chicks in west Auckland.

News that the hihi or stichbirds (Notiomystis cincta) are breeding at the Ark in the Park in the Waitakere Ranges has created excitement among birdwatchers here in NZ and overseas.

It is also tribute to Tiritiri Matangi Island where many Auckland children over the last 30 years have planted trees.

British based Birdlife International today hailed the hihi breeding and New Zealand's Royal Forest and Bird Society say the new birds are the first to hatch on the Auckland mainland for more than a century.

"We are absolutely thrilled with the arrival of our first 'Westie chicks'," said manager of Ark in the Park Project, Sandra Jack.

"The fact that the first generation of 'immigrants' brought to the Waitakere Ranges from Tiritiri Matangi Island is breeding successfully is a good sign that they have adapted well to their new home and are thriving."

Hihi are readily detected in dense forest by their strident call, which has been likened to the word "stitch" or two stones being repeatedly struck together. They also have a low warbling song that can last several minutes.

Earlier this year 59 juvenile hihi were transferred to Cascade Kauri Park, home of the community restoration project Ark in the Park, following an intensive programme of pest control that means the birds are more likely to survive on the mainland without being preyed on by possums, rats and stoats.

The transfer was the first time hihi had lived on the Auckland mainland since predators wiped out their populations in the late 1800s.

Hihi were reduced to one population on Little Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf but recent conservation efforts have seen new populations established on Tiritiri Matangi, Kapiti and Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in Wellington where they are safe from predators.

"It's a very exciting stage in what is basically an experiment to see if hihi can thrive in an area with low predator numbers," said Jack.

"If chicks fledge successfully and survive through to being able to breed themselves, then it's looking very promising for the future of these rare and special birds. If they can survive at the Ark, they may have a future in other areas on the mainland, where they were once common".

Hihi have distinctive large, bright eyes, an upright tail and long cat-like "whiskers" around the base of the neck. Male hihi are more colourful, with a jet-black head and white "ear" tufts, bright yellow shoulders and breast band, a white wing bar and mottled tan to grey-brown body. Females are smaller and are a more sombre olive to grey-brown colour.

They were believed to belong to the honeyeater family along with the tui and bellbird, but genetic studies suggest they are more closely related to the family of birds that includes the saddleback and extinct huia.

Although the population on Tiritiri Matangi is gradually expanding, at least half the young produced each year die of starvation, due to the shortage of mature forest habitat on the island.

Tiritiri Matangi, 30 kilometres north of central Auckland, and four kilometres off Whangaparaoa Peninsula, it has become one of New Zealand's most important and exciting conservation projects.

The 220-hectare island lost most of its vegetation over 120 years of farming but between 1984 and 1994, volunteers planted between 250,000 and 300,000. Much of the planting was done by Auckland school children.

The forest at Ark in the Park is botanically similar to the hihi's main habitat on Hauturu/Little Barrier.

Ark in the Park is a partnership between Forest and Bird and the Auckland Regional Council.

- © Fairfax NZ News