|
 On
April 12th I got a call from Amelia Geary at the Department of
Conservation. Amelia is the new Biodiversity Ranger, replacing Halema. A
Cook’s Petrel with some downy back feathers – thus a juvenile which must
have been born on the island – had been reported from Okupu, where it
had stunned itself flying into Julie Bowers-Rakatu’s glass door. Julie
had it in a box at Claris store and did I want to see it? I said yes.
Sure enough it was exactly as reported. I took some photos – that’s it
above being held by Amelia. Once fed with micro-waved pilchard it seemed
happy enough so it went back into its box to be released at Okupu on
dark.
Back in 2008 (Environmental News 13) we
reported Cook’s petrels being killed, probably by a cat, at Tryphena.
Once on the ground these seabirds are not very agile, and make easy prey
for cats. Cook’s Petrels are increasing on Little Barrier following
feral cat and rat eradication there in 2004, and the increasing number
of dead ones on Great Barrier (See Graph above) might represent new
colonists attempting to breed. Although there are still a few Cook’s
petrels nesting on Hirakimata (Mt. Hobson) and elsewhere, Julie’s
juvenile is the first real evidence of fledging on Great Barrier for
some years. Cook’s petrels nest in burrows, which they visit only after
dark; they can often be heard (“ke ke kek, ke ke kek”) in summer as they
fly over the island at night on their way to their main nesting colony
on Little Barrier. Despite the increase on Little Barrier, overall the
species is regarded as ‘declining’. The Little Barrier evidence clearly
shows that rats were the main cause of the decline there. Biz Bell
reports that in 2009-10, four Cook’s petrel chicks in burrows on
Hirakimata were all dragged out and eaten by rats in one night. That is
the sad reality of continuing biodiversity loss on this island. |
