Sixty titiponamu moved from Egmont National Park to Lake Rotokare Sanctuary

Friday, 26 April 2019

New Zealand's smallest bird has a new home in Taranaki 

A flock of sixty rifleman (titiponamu), which have been thriving on a 1000 hectare block on Egmont National Park, were moved to the Lake Rotokare Sanctuary near Eltham in a multi-day operation which started on Wednesday, April 24. 

Monitoring showed there were several hundred of the birds in the national park, which is part of a pest control programme, and the numbers meant there was a good case for moving some of them.

'It's great to receive these native birds from the Mounga,' Rotokare Sanctuary manager Simon Collins said.

**READ MORE:

* Self-sustaining endangered hihi population grabs foothold at Taranaki sanctuary

* Endangered North Island robin release increases population in Egmont National Park

* Endangered hihi bird thriving in Taranaki after 130 year absence**

The addition of the titipounamu will be a boost to the reserve already teeming with birdlife including hihi (stitchbird), kiwi, kārearea (New Zealand falcon), kererū, toutouwai (North Island robin), and tieke (North Island saddleback). 

The birds are safely caught by skilled contractors and volunteers using a mist net. They are given a health check and unique bands are attached to their legs so they can be identified. Then they are safely transported to Rotokare to be released the same day.

The Rotokare Scenic Reserve Trust had been working for two years to reintroduce the birds to the sanctuary, which is a collaboration with the Taranaki Mounga Project.

The aim is to establish another secure and highly productive Taranaki population of Aotearoa's smallest forest bird.

'This titipounamu translocation is a perfect example of how biodiversity projects in Taranaki are working to support each others' aspirations and restoration goals.

'We hope that in the future, species such as tieke and hihi that have now been returned to the region and are thriving at Rotokare can one day be released on the Mounga,' Collins said.

The 230 hectare Rotokare Sanctuary is now home to five of the six endemic New Zealand bird families, and all four surviving new Zealand songbird families.