Stacey Balich

Over two days in early April 2004, four catching teams in the Hunua Ranges Auckland Council Regional Park area caught 32 miromiro/North Island tomtits, Petroica macrocephala toitoi, for transfer to Tiritiri Matangi. All birds were weighed, banded, individually boxed, and then transported by car to the Helitranz base at Albany from which they were flown by helicopter out to the motu. This was the culmination of over a year of study in the field and many hours habituating the birds with meal worms by a team of Tiritiri Matangi Supporter helpers, and a Massey University international student; co-ordinated by myself. The translocation was overseen by DOC manager Richard Griffiths. The scientific support, advice and capture specialists were Dr Tim Lovegrove (ARC Heritage Department scientist) and Dr Kevin Parker (Reintroduction Biologist). Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi for the study and translocation costings had the financial benefit of Barbara being on a fully funded Royal Society Teacher Fellowship year to carry out the programme.

Follow-up monitoring was carried out after the translocation and occasional authentic sightings of banded birds continued up to March 2006. There was no evidence of breeding pairs and the possibility of a population of miromiro establishing on the motu didn’t occur.

One bird known to the miromiro team as Mr RG was found back in his Hunua territory over 56 km away nine weeks after the translocation. This caused much fuss with the media in that his story made the front page of The NZ Herald, interviews with BBC and Radio NZ, a scientific paper written, 18 in total magazine/newspaper articles and an illustrated 43 page book on Mr RG’s flight home. This is a unique Tiritiri Matangi story and a translocation that’s part of the list of translocations to the motu.

The flight back to the original habitat proved beyond doubt that miromiro are able to fly some distances and across long stretches of water.

The answer to the question as to why a population of miromiro did not establish may be due to the competition from a bird of the same Petroica genus; toutouwai, the North Island robin, Petroica australis, that are well established on Tiritiri Matangi plus other resident competing birds. Barbara observed a strong reaction from a robin to a miromiro where the robin won that interaction, along with a fantail chasing a translocated miromiro round in a circle on the ground.

The present science thinking is that tomtits are difficult to translocate due to being good dispersers. No other strategy would be more successful. The best strategy now will be to let the island mature for miromiro to arrive by themselves if the motu is to their liking as they have done in many other places. Pays to keep in mind that not everything can be translocated and that natural colonisation is always preferable.

Both male and female vagrant miromiro are observed periodically on Tiritiri Matangi. One day they may establish when the habitat is more mature. Keep a look out for these delightful birds. Māori speak of an observant person as “ he karu miromiro” – “having a tomtit eye” due to miromiro being able to pick up a small item of food from 10m distance. Another Maori name for them is “torotoro” (scout) due to their habit of appearing on a branch or perching from a trunk from nowhere in the forest then vanishing.

Tiritiri Matangi Island is a scientific reserve as defined in the Reserves Act 1977. Section 21 of the Act states that ‘The principal purpose of these reserves is the protection and preservation in perpetuity of areas for scientific study, research, education, and the benefit of the country.’

One of these activities is the titipounamu (rifleman) survey which begins in late August or early September and continues to around the end of January. The purpose of this survey is the long-term collection of data about the titipounamu population on the Island. Through this survey, Simon Fordham, with help from his wife Morag and other volunteers, has been collecting data about the longevity and dispersal of these birds.

During the initial survey, a team of volunteers walked both the public and research tracks over the Island, listening for the titipounamu’s high-pitched calls. All sightings of the birds are recorded, along with any information about the sighting, e.g. location, number of birds seen and their gender(s), whether they were banded, and any band combinations identified.

If weather conditions allow, mist-netting may also take place. This generally targets un-banded pairs. Any birds caught are banded with a metal band, which contains a unique identification number, and up to three coloured bands, which allow for visual identification of the individual bird. The birds are also weighed, and their gender recorded, along with the location where they were caught. Soon after, Simon will enter this information into the Department of Conservation bird banding system, FALCON.  

After the initial survey, nest boxes are then monitored for activity. This gives insight to titipounamu nesting habits. Although nest building can begin in August, the first eggs are not usually laid until early October. The first fledglings emerge around the third week of November. Soon after this, Simon begins catching birds again. By catching and banding juveniles, birds of a known age can be identified. On the Island, Simon knows of three birds, two male and a female, who have exceeded ten years of age. 

Titipounamu were first introduced to Tiritiri Matangi in 2009 (31 birds), with additional birds translocated in 2010 (14) and 2011 (15). Simon estimates the current population to be in the mid- hundreds.

Imagine this – what if one day someone told you that you would get the opportunity to travel 18,456 km to a small island lost in the pacific, to uncover multiple bird species that most people on the planet, even those living nearby, have never seen? And what if you could get the opportunity to work with a specific species, the hihi – a cute little bird fiercely fighting extinction, to observe their behaviour daily, while gathering a massive amount of field experience? My response to this proposition was a resounding yes. A few weeks later, I found myself on a plane, ready to explore Tiritiri Matangi and delve into the world of hihi. And the least I could say is that Tiritiri Matangi did not disappoint. 

I remember my first few days on the island, following Emma (who is the official hihi herder on Tiritiri Matangi) around and trying to keep up with the shower of new information pouring onto my overheated brain. The list of discoveries was extensive, from the bunkhouse, the kitchen dance, and the occasional snoring roommate; to the recipe for sugar, the feeding of hihi and opportunistic korimako (under the watchful eyes of tūīs guarding the feeders) and the hungry impatient takahē following us to their feeder. I remember going off track for the first time, discovering the scientific paths leading to cryptic nest boxes hidden in the bushes and my first encounter with freshly hatched hihi chicks chirping in their boxes in the hopes of seeing their helicopter mums and occasionally attentive dads coming to feed them. What a blast. Emma made it look effortless, gracefully flipping sugar feeders and hovering over scientific paths, as if no puddle of mud, tree root, or overgrown bush held any secrets from her.

My experience was slightly less romantic in my first few weeks on site. My initial attempts at preparing sugar water could be summarised as bathing my whole body in sugar water, while enjoying the company of a colony of ants permanently residing rent-free in my wet shoes, saying “hi” to my cold feet every morning. Discovering the bushes of Tiritiri Matangi once Emma was off Island was also an interesting experience. I basically spent my first few weeks on a constant treasure hunt, following my instinct and constantly checking my maps in the hopes of finding a nest box at one point or another.

Today is my last full day on Tiritiri Matangi, I am about to go check nest boxes for the last time and have already said goodbye to quite a few people that I won’t see until I leave. Although it is a quite emotional day, I am happy to say that I have officially (kind of) mastered the craft of working with hihi. Yesterday, and for the first time, I did not use my maps while checking nest boxes, and I am getting better at flipping sugar feeders although the occasional shower is still a part of my daily life on Tiritiri Matangi. 

My experience here has been incredible. I have learnt so much and I have a few special people to thank for all this: Mhairi and John Ewen for having given me this opportunity, the Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi without whom the island would not be what it is, particularly Kathryn, who has helped me during my first week here, Christine also, John Stewart and Kay, for the opportunities to work with diving petrels, and Keith and Talia (Department of Conservation) for their amazing work and the awesome vibe that they bring to the Island. Last but certainly not least, thank you, Emma, for your patience and everything you’ve helped me discover while I was here. Sorry for leaving now that you have officially finished training me… Until next time, maybe?