South Island Kōkako Charitable Trust

Hello!

Spring is here and warmer weather and longer days are tempting us out to enjoy the beautiful natural places we are so fortunate to have access to again. And while overseas travel may be a distant memory or a hope for some time in the future, we kiwis have a fabulous opportunity to remember why we love New Zealand!

Analysis of our early database of reports suggested that there are peaks of kōkako activity in May and October - the latter being the breeding cycle when greatest activity, particularly song, is expected before nesting. So spring is getting us out and about and we hope it is encouraging any remaining South Island kōkako to sing in the dwindling hope of finding a mate.

New Zealanders are taking the opportunity to tick off Great Walks from their bucket lists and, in the opening week of bookings, numbers were significantly up on last year and places are filling up fast. It was wonderful to read that the numbers of native birds in the lower Heaphy Valley are on the rise due to intensive predator control (see below) and we have several reports of possible encounters there and in the Gouland Downs area of the Heaphy Track - so if you're keen on following up on those reports - get planning, check our map and make your booking!

Also below is a link to a summary of the results of 20 years of searching by the inimitable Rhys Buckingham at Venture Creek, South Westland. A few signs over the years still give Rhys hope, but for now he has turned his attention to Abel Tasman National Park, prompted by a report of possible kōkako song in the Buttress Stream area.

Find out about the latest encounter reports, great news about the North Island kōkako, Bird of the Year and Save our Lost Species campaigns below. Keep your eyes peeled, your ears tuned and your camera at the ready to photograph the bird or record unusual bird song whenever you are in the South and Stewart Island's native forests, and please share any possible encounters with us. We look forward to hearing from you and have a wonderful and safe spring.

Inger Perkins

Manager, South Island Kōkako Charitable Trust

New reports and updated map

With limited opportunities to explore forests due to the lockdown, and then with forests a lot quieter in winter, there have only been a handful of new encounter reports. Four of them were from several years ago but we have rated them possible or even probable. We have also reviewed our database and updated some of the ratings. All of the reports are available on our interactive map.

Read more here

Hope remains after 20 years

Founding Trustee, ornithologist and probably the most enduring and experienced searcher for the South Island kōkako, Rhys Buckingham, has focused much of his search effort in a small area in South Westland, Venture Creek.

Rhys has recently completed twenty years of searching at Venture Creek and has written a summary of his work and his findings.

Focus remains on the Heaphy

DOC has been monitoring birds in the lower Heaphy valley in Kahurangi National Park since 2015 to assess whether management is making a difference for wildlife. Results show a trend of increasing numbers of nine native species, but, so far, they haven't seen a South Island kōkako.

We have several reports of possible encounters from this area, so the Heaphy Track remains on our list of key sites and the intensive predator management is surely helping.

Read more here

Vote SI kōkako in BOTY 2020

Yes, Bird of the Year is back and we want your vote to raise awareness of our missing bird!

Voting opens at 9am on Monday 2 November and closes at 5pm on Sunday 15 November.

Put it in your diary to vote for the South Island kōkako in November and watch out for our campaign!

Find out about Bird of the Year here

NI kōkako thriving with help

Auckland and Howick Tramping Clubs have been contributing to pest control operations in the northern Pureora, helping to protect threatened native birds including the kōkako.

Together with DOC's predator control programme, numbers have increased from just seven pairs in 1995 to over 1,000 individual birds today. Phenomenal success!

Read more here

Search for Lost Species

Global Wildlife Conservation has a Search for Lost Species programme covering 1,200 species around the world. Of their top 25, four have been found and confirmed and a further three found and are yet to be confirmed.

We're hoping that Global Wildlife Conservation will help tell our story soon - watch this space and have a look at an introduction to the programme with Daniel Craig - watch to the end!

Watch the video here

Friends needed

Rhys Buckingham writes: "while I and others believe that scattered, isolated kōkako remain, their "rarity and furtive behaviour make confirmation and subsequent recovery a very challenging task".

We're sticking with the challenge and we invite you to become a Friend of the Trust for $100 a year, or a Friend for Life at $1000 to help us continue this important project.

Read more here

Need more information?

There's plenty on our website and we have put a few facts, figures, ideas and advice together so you can see the whole story easily and quickly here.

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