This week’s photo shows an erect-crested penguin on New Zealand’s subantarctic Bounty Islands.
The image celebrates Seaweek 2014 (1–9 March 2014) — a national celebration of our marine environment with hundreds of events taking place around the country.
It also represents the wildlife now protected as a result of the three new subantarctic marine reserves established this week.
Photo copyright Tui de Roy | DOC use only
This week’s photo shows a white-capped mollymawk sitting on a nest in one of the planet’s most unique and special places — New Zealand’s subantarctic Auckland Islands.
On Monday, 12 young New Zealanders set off on a 13-day voyage to the Auckland Islands, where they will help to plan the building of a world-leading research station.
They will be joined on the Young Blake Expedition by a crew of leading New Zealand marine scientists, representatives from the Department of Conservation, NZ Navy, NIWA and the Sir Peter Blake Trust.
The Young Blake Expedition programme aims to follow in the footsteps of Sir Peter Blake and to mobilise and inspire the next generation of kiwi leaders, adventurers and marine environmentalists.
Join us as we follow the expedition.
Antipodean wandering albatross chick atop Hapeka on Pitt Island
By Dave Houston
For 5 years Kenny Dix was DOC’s ranger in New Zealand’s most remote community – Pitt Island. Situated 25km south of Chatham Island, the 6,000 ha Pitt Island is home to around 30 people – and one pair of Antipodean wandering albatross.
Now working on the “big smoke” of Chatham Island, Kenny recently took the opportunity to return to Pitt to band the wandering albatross chick atop Hakepa, one of the islands high points. This is the sixth Antipodean wandering albatross chick to be raised on Pitt Island and the fouth for the Hapeka pair. Taking almost a full year to raise, this chick will hopefully fledge in January and commence wandering the Southern Ocean. It may be up to 10 years before the chick settles down and breeds for the first time.
As the name suggests, the primary home of the Antipodean wandering albatross are the Antipodes Islands, some 700km to the south. Having visited the Antipodes myself, I can see why Hakepa’s windswept plateau, tussock and fern vegetation and magnificent views seem like home to the albatross.
Kenny with one of the proud albatross parents
Another pair of albatross at the Southern end of Pitt produced a chick two years ago, however failed to return this year to breed. We’re hoping that they might show up next year so than Kenny can keep up his banding skills.
Pitt Island
You’ll hear the dance of the kakatark before you see it.
Ever wondered what you’d be or do all day if you were a New Zealand native species? Well, just recall your name and date of birth, and follow the guide to create your own ‘species sentence’! For example, if your name is Sirocco Kakapo and you were born on the 23rd of March 1987, your sentence would be ‘I’m in love with fairy terns and my head grows bulbous because I snap my hairy pincers in the air and wave my feelers like I just don’t care.’
All parts of the sentences are based on characteristics and traits of New Zealand species, so mix and match them around to come up with your own ultimate Kiwi character.
Step one—what month is your birthday in?
January: I can’t stop thinking about
February: I look like
March: I’m in love with
April: I want to adopt
May: My feet smell like
June: I’m scared of
July: My laugh sounds like
August: My best friends are
September: My hair style resembles
October: I have the brains of
November: I compare myself to
December: I dance like
Step two—what day of the month is your birthday on?
Never get between an Albaru mother and her bulbous-headed hunting chick
1 – Elephant seals
2 – Kauri snails
3 – Whio
4 – Long tailed bats
5 – Great white sharks
6 – Takahē
7 – Tuatara
8 – Archey’s frogs
9 – Koaru
10 – New Zealand fur seals
11 – Humpback whales
12 – Giant bullys
13 – Pīwakawaka
14 – Kākā
15 – Tīeke
16 – Kārearea
17 – Yellow eyed penguins
18 – Mohua
19 – Kōkako
20 – Grand skinks
21 – Albatrosses
22 – Weta
23 – Fairy terns
24 – Maui’s dolphins
25 – Little penguins
26 – Kākāpō
27 – Eels
28 – Pāteke
29 – Kakī
30 – Ruru
31 – Rowi kiwi
Watch out for the God of all ugly things.
Step three—how old are you?
0–5: and I can never be tamed because
6–10: and I keep replacing my teeth because
11–15: and my head grows bulbous because
16–20: and I like elaborate ritual courtship because
21–25: and I call out ‘zeek zeek, zonk zonk’ because
26–30: and I’m God of all ugly things because
31–35: and I butt males with my tusks because
36–40: and I mate when it rains because
41–50: and I lick my eyes because
51–60: and I sing sweet songs to my partner because
61–70: and I’m heard before I’m seen because
70+: and I wear two coats of fur because
Step four—What is the first letter of your name?
Hey girls, d’you like my boom?
A–C: I’m too busy scoffing my face with hoho—Mmm.
D–F: I’m trying to attract the ladies with my boom hole in the ground.
G–J: I deserve an Oscar for my ‘pretending to be hurt’ performances to predators.
K–M: I’m actually a dinosaur—200 million years old!
N–P: Me and my harem girls flick sand over ourselves to keep cool.
Q–S: I snap my hairy pincers in the air and wave my feelers like I just don’t care.
T–V: Clever’s my middle name—I can swim and hunt within hours of being born. Boom.
W–Z: I get to sleep all winter and can use my wings as legs.
Harry the Hooker lays down the house rules in the harem.
Tell us what your conservation style is below and remember to share your style with your friends and family for Conservation Week 2012.
By Lyndon Perriman, head ranger at Taiaroa Head Nature Reserve
Taiaroa Head/Pukekura, at the end of the Otago Peninsula, is home to an impressive number and diversity of seabirds. With nearly 10,000 birds, the area has significant populations of gulls, shags, penguins and shearwaters, but is most well known for the iconic albatross.
Toroa, Taiaroa Head’s 500th chick (hatched 2007) with his dad
Weighing 6-8 kg and with a 3 metre wingspan, the northern royal albatross are one of the largest of the albatross species. The small population at Taiaroa Head is significant as it is the only mainland breeding colony for any albatross species in the southern hemisphere.
For the northern royal albatross, the beginning of autumn is the start of a phase we call ‘post guard’, where both parents forage at sea for food, leaving the chick alone for several days between meals.
There are many questions about foraging adults that we would like to know the answer to: Are longer trips at sea more productive for the adults? Do foraging areas used by males differ from females? Do the foraging areas change throughout the season?
Ranger Lyndon Perriman monitoring an albatross nest
Junichi Sugishita, a PhD student with the University of Otago, is studying the foraging strategies of the breeding adults at Taiaroa Head and, for the first time, adult birds are being tracked during the post guard stage. The research involves a number of devices situated on land at Taiaroa Head, and also attached to birds.
The rangers have a good working relationship with (most) of the albatross at Taiaroa Head, so we were able to attach GPS and radio transmitters to the back feathers of the adult birds without the need for restraint. The combined weight of these two units attached to the feathers is less than 0.6% of the adult’s normal body weight.
Albatross carrying a GPS unit
Weight platforms were also installed at selected nests. These platforms consist of electronic scales connected to a data logger situated under a plywood base. We had hoped to monitor changes in the weights of adults throughout the breeding season but the albatross had other ideas.
During installation of the scales the birds on the nests showed absolutely no interest, with some adults even choosing to sleep throughout the installation process. However, when they returned from sea to change nest duty with their partner they reckoned there was something decidedly fishy about the platforms. They avoided standing on the scales by choosing an alternative access to their nest.
Skylark on the albatross weighing platform
We then thought we could dupe them by painting the plywood so that it blended in with the surroundings. However, they still weren’t convinced and continued to choose an alternative route into and out of the nest which avoided crossing the scales.
Next we tried coercion by erecting a plastic mesh fence around the nest, so that the best option for access would involve walking over the scales. However, the albatross decided they would rather climb over the fence than cross those scary looking scales.
We finally realised that the albatross would continue to outsmart us. We removed the fences and let them be. It was a gentle reminder to us that what we perceived as non invasive wasn’t considered so by the albatross!
The royal albatross is a slow breeder, with only one chick raised every two years.
Breeding takes a full year — from mating in October, to incubation of the egg from November to January, followed by nine months of feeding until the chick fledges in September.
Chicks that fledge successfully won’t be seen on the headland again for another five years, when they return to find a mate — and they can be quite picky, taking 2–3 seasons to make a choice. They finally start to breed at around eight years old.
It is this naturally slow breeding biology, coupled with complexities of life on a mainland site, that has restricted the population growth at Taiaroa Head which by 2011 was around 160 individuals.
Over-handling and restraining of albatross can affect their behaviour and trust of people. As conservation managers we need to weigh up handling, research and manipulation against the negative effects on the bird and their breeding success. This is particularly important at Taiaroa Head as a huge part of management involves manipulation of eggs and chicks at the nest to achieve a high success rate. The success rates are due, in part, to having adult birds tolerant of staff while they inspect their egg or chick.
One of the greatest threats to newly hatched chicks is fly strike. Flies can lay maggots directly onto the hatching egg. Of the 21 chicks hatched in the 2011/12 season, only one died and this was from fly strike. Our best protection against flies during this vulnerable time is to move the hatching eggs into an incubator during the day, returning them to the nest at night.
Hatching eggs in the incubator
Like most years, the hatching/guard stage this season hasn’t been without issue. Three chicks lost significant weight. This indicated a microbial infection in the gut, which a course of antibiotics fixed. All three chicks are now several weeks old and growing rapidly.
One of this season’s sick chick’s in a brooder
