Hello!

Encounters, news, science - all continue to give us hope and encouragement.   

Read on for news of the latest reports, a study highlighting the 126 lost birds and how citizen science, including ours, is helping find them, and our work with students and academics on a fascinating and diverse range of useful topics.  

Find out about our pledge, joining thousands of others as part of the first World Species Congress last month, and we share some thoughts on how we rate reports of kōkako-like calls without a sighting, plus more curious and wonderful stuff. 

Thank you for your much valued interest and support. 

Inger Perkins

Manager, South Island Kōkako Charitable Trust

We have received 23 reports of possible encounters since our last newsletter in early February.  The top two - rated as Encouraging - were from Abel Tasman and Kahurangi National Parks.  The next best three were rated as Possible in West Matukituki Valley in Mount Aspiring National Park, in the Forest & Bird Lenz Reserve, Southland and near Knight's Point in South Westland. 

Encouraging is a new rating, added between Possible and Probable, giving greater strength to Probable - or Likely/Presumed, and acknowledging that some follow up is desirable.  

Read about the latest reports here as well as our rating system.

Check our map of encounters here.

Photo: Cascade Hut, Matukituki valley, with red beech forest behind, Danilo Hegg, NZ Alpine Club

We know there are sceptics out there, we know not everyone believes we could still find and conserve the South Island kōkako, and we know that group includes some scientists who, despite some scepticism, are willing to help us develop and apply tools that could confirm the presence of this cryptic bird. 

The Trust is immensely fortunate to be working with leading scientists across the fields of bioacoustics, environmental DNA, extinction modelling and mechatronics.  

Find an update here about all of those fascinating and exciting projects.

One of 126 birds lost to science

Science underlies our search for the South Island kōkako but also confirms that 126 birds, including the SI kōkako, have not had a documented sighting in at least ten years.  

A new study, entitled "Global gaps in citizen science data reveal the world's 'lost' birds," was published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment last month.  

This study is part of 'The Search for Lost Birds', a collaboration between our partners at Re:wild along with the American Bird Conservancy and BirdLife International.

Find out more here.

A note on kōkako-like calls

Many of the reports of possible encounters we receive are based on a bird song that is different, not part of the usual set of forest sounds, perhaps with a haunting or flute like quality.  

Even when our experts are convinced they have heard a SI kōkako, calls cannot be verified without a sighting.  Perhaps bioacoustics and AI will help confirm that a recording is from a SI kōkako one day, but, for now, we have to proceed with caution.  

Find out more here.

Learning more about bird songs and calls

Often, a forest sound comes to your attention because you don't recognise it - perhaps it was a South Island kōkako!

Although with an American focus, this article and associated resources from the Cornell Lab encourage you to learn more about bird calls.  By maximising your bird listening skills, you can experience more of the nature around you. There are simple tips as well as more in depth information such as how to interpret spectrograms and even a bird ID game. 

Learn more here.

Worldwide summit and pledge to "Reverse the Red"

On 10th May, the Trust took part in the first World Species Congress, joining a national event hosted by Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo.  

On 15th May, an historic globe-spanning event was hosted by Reverse the Red, a global movement to ignite strategic cooperation and action to ensure the survival of wild species and ecosystems.  

We were proud to present our story and commit to working to protect, conserve and recover the South Island kōkako, one of over 3,750 species pledges made around the world.

Find out more here.

Success in the Hunua Ranges gives us hope

We congratulate the Hūnua Kōkako Recovery Project, which began back in 1994.  At the time, there was just one breeding pair and today, 30 years on, there are more than 250 pairs.

Auckland Councillor Mike Lee was instrumental and recognises action was just in time: "That's a tribute to everyone who believed it wasn't too late and that they could make a difference".

Read the story in Our Auckland here.

Photo: NI kōkako, Oscar Thomas. 

Don't forget the wonderful takahē rediscovery story

An American evolutionary biologist featured the South Island takahē in a blog recently and it is a great reminder that persistence pays off. 

Writing in Forbes.com, Scott Travers of Rutgers University, wrote about two examples of species presumed extinct and then rediscovered in the wild. 

Read the piece here

Photo: South Island takahē, Oscar Thomas

AI and a bit of a melancholic acoustic folk song!

Or - now for something completely different!

Brenton Milne was inspired by the search to ask an AI app to create this ethereal short song about the grey ghost.  Song, lyrics and voice are all AI generated.  

Have a listen here

Photo: NI kōkako, Martin Sanders (edited to grey)

Have you sorted out your will?  This can help!

Every year, thousands of New Zealanders choose to include a gift to charity in their will.  This can be called 'legacy giving' because these people are creating a long-lasting impact that can be felt for years after they've gone.

We have partnered with Gathered Here to offer you the opportunity to write your free online will and receive unlimited updates for life.  Get rid of that nagging worry, the one that was hanging over me for over 30 years, the one that says you really should have done it by now!

Find out more here - one click from that page takes you to the template and gets you started.  There is absolutely no obligation to include our charity or any other, however a gift in your will could help maintain the search by:

• spreading the word with traditional and social media, posters etc;
• receiving, exploring, rating, mapping and sharing reports of possible encounters;
• collaborating with scientists in NZ and overseas; 
• supporting volunteers to follow up the best reports.

We invite you to add a splash of orange-wattled joy to your life!

There are few ways you could make a donation to help us maintain this important search effort, via a credit card donation here, or find out about a bank payment donation here. 

How about making a donation in lieu of a gift for someone - perhaps the person who has everything and doesn't need more stuff!  Find out more here. 

Alternatively you could become a Friend of the Trust with an annual donation.  

However you can help, small or larger, once or regularly, all donations will help us continue to work hard, collaborating with others, following up encounter reports and supporting folk to keep looking, so that we can find the South Island kōkako - so that it can be conserved appropriately. 

Thank you very much! 

Need more information? 

There's plenty on our website including all you need to know if you're heading out on a search and the latest news in our Search Blog and encounter reports on our map. 

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