Hello

In this latest newsletter, we focus on feathers.  Have you ever heard of an 'after-feather'?  I hadn't until very recently.  It is a feature of our native bird feathers which help us distinguish them from the feathers of introduced species.  Why does matter?  Because, like every other bird, kōkako shed feathers, commonly when preening. Occasionally our eagle-eyed searchers find a promising feather in the bush.  It could be the very evidence we need to locate our birds.  But is this a kōkako feather or a blackbird's?  Our articles introduce after-feathers and explains how they can help with identification. 

We also share the global interest in the 25 Most Wanted Lost Species List.  This project has introduced our South Island kōkako to a huge new audience.  And back home, we respond to Ngaio's questions about this precious bird. Ngaio is a wonderfully curious 5 year old. 

And of course we summarise the latest reports of encounters. 

I'd like to acknowledge the kind readers whose feedback on our social media is helping us to do better with our messaging - still more to be done there.  

Thank you so much for your continued interest.  We'd love it if you might consider donating or becoming a Friend!  We need all the Friends we can get!

Inger Perkins

Manager, South Island Kōkako Charitable Trust

We have received 16 new reports of possible encounters since our February newsletter.  Our experts have rated two of these 'probable' and six as 'possible'.  The two 'probables' are from the Milford and Dart River Tracks.  We plan to have cameras and audio recorders installed at these sites in the spring.  

Five of the remainder have just been received and are still to be rated. All are from the north west of the South Island, mostly in Kahurangi National Park (Graham Valley, Mount Stevens Track and the Leslie-Karamea Track).  The last is a curious call heard from the Old Ghost Trail. 

Find out more here and have a look at our interactive map here. 

A sighting of a large grey bird near Flanagan's Corner on the Heaphy Track created excitement for our intrepid team of searchers recently.  Bruce Reid reported on his encounter, shared with Peter Shaw. 

"Before my eyes this bird flew upwards into the middle of this tree. I was stunned as I saw a large grey bird, in full sunlight, flap a laboured wing beat to ascend this tree. Its back was displayed to us both. I did not see its head. The body was light grey in colour and large while its tail was long with a curved end."

They carefully considered all possible birds and "With a lot of caution we have both concluded that it could only be a Kōkako."

The following day, with Don Sullivan, they decided to scramble down a steep slope for a closer look and to install a trail camera.  While there, they took time to look for any feathers or droppings.  

"Good fortune favoured the brave as Peter found a feather close to the dead tree lying in a gentle mossy gutter."

They carefully collected the feather and sent it off to Wilderlab who have kindly analysed the DNA.  

Read the full story here.

Back in June 1988, Ron Nilsson gave a presentation to a North Island kōkako workshop - in the very early days of the Department of Conservation. (Photos of Ron above are from our 'Searcher Workshop' in 2017, and a search effort in the Granville Forest, south of Reefton, the same year.)

Ron, a founding Trustee of the South Island Kōkako Charitable Trust, had worked for the Wildlife Service before DOC came into being and gave his presentation to the workshop that was jointly sponsored by DOC and by the then Ministry of Forestry.

Ron appealed to the group:

"Let's make 1988 the year we started in earnest so that in a decade from now we can look back on some of the decisions we made at this workshop with a sense of pride."

Sadly, there was no follow up action back then.

In his presentation, Ron reported on a feather found on Stewart Island.  Otago Museum examined the feather, and, based on the 'afterfeather', concluded that it must have come from a South Island kōkako. 

Find out more about the report and the feather here.

All this talk about feathers has reminded us of their value to the search effort.  Feather searching provides a constructive additional search method for trying to validate reports of encounters with South Island kōkako, especially where credible kōkako reports keep occurring. 

The key things you need to know are in our search blog, including what to look for and how to collect the feather, whether you're enjoying a tramp and come across an interesting feather or whether you want to carry out a ground search much like a police finger tip search. 

Find out more here.  

In our last newsletter, we were very excited to share the announcement from Re:wild that the South Island kōkako is one of eight new wild species from around the world to have claimed a spot on their top 25 most wanted lost species list. 

The list is part of the organization's Search for Lost Species program - the Guinness World Record-setting quest to find and protect species lost to science and part of their singular and powerful focus: "the wild as the most effective solution to the interconnected climate, biodiversity and pandemic crises". 

Disappointingly, most New Zealand media were not as excited as we were. 

However the New Yorker and the Washington Post took an interest, as well as the UK's Daily Mail in Australia. We even managed a mention in the Borneo Bulletin!

Back here, we're delighted that the Otago Daily Times did take an interest, following up with volunteer Joyce Kolk who heard what might have been a South Island kōkako on the South Coast Track.  Joyce is now maintaining trail cameras and acoustic recorders at the spot to try and record the call she heard so that it can be analysed and hoping against hope to capture a photograph of the bird.

Members of our team will be meeting Dr Barney Long, Senior Director of Conservation Strategies at Re:wild, soon, on zoom.  We're hoping to learn new methodologies or techniques that may help our search.  We'll update you in the next newsletter. 

Ngaio Breen from Canterbury, aged 5, wanted to know more about the South Island kōkako, so she drew a wonderful picture, added one of a family of kiwis for good luck, and then asked her mum to write the questions out for her.

What a lovely surprise to receive this in the post and great to see a wonderfully enquiring mind and no doubt a budding conservationist.

Find out what Ngaio's questions were and my answers here

10 reasons to keep looking, to keep hoping

There are some who believe we are wasting our time, and some might argue that the very small amount spent on the search for the South Island kōkako could be better spent on species we know are alive and struggling. 

Our search is driven by the desire to prevent another extinction and to retain an element of the extraordinary ecosystem of Aotearoa New Zealand that humans have been degrading for so long in so many ways.

So coming across this story about ten species that have been rediscovered after they were believed to be extinct was like a shot in the arm.  

Our own takahe are there at number 10 and the coelacanth is top of their list. 

Read the 'world atlas' article here (and apologies for the adverts).

Photo credit: Albert Aanensen from nzbirdsonline

In another article, Ecowatch introduce five 'extinct' species that have been rediscovered and note that a quarter of all species are threatened with extinction. 

Go wild - Re:wild your life!

Inspired to do more in your life to connect with and support the wild?  Check out the Re:wild Your Life guide, a living resource for us all to build deeper connections with the wild in our lives.

Re:wild have compiled resources to rewild yourself, your home, your community, and even your fridge!

You'll be familiar with 'drop, cover, hold' - how about trying 'stop, drop and listen'?! 

Get the toolkit here.

Need more information? 

There's plenty on our website including all you need to know and our Search Blog 

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