Ducks Unlimited NZ

Displaying items by tag: Aviary

Monday, 22 July 2019 14:35

Whio care pays off

A successful breeding season for whio included 16 juveniles that arrived safely in the North Island from Peacock Springs. They were collected from the airport by DU member and Palmerston North aviary keeper Peter Russell.

Peter said that 33 captive birds have been bred this summer.

“It’s also been the best season in the wild that we’ve had.”

The birds had been hardened to fast flowing water at Peacock Spring ready to be introduced to real fast flowing rivers.

A hardening facility is planned at the National Trout Centre (see story page 12) which means less travel for North Island birds.
Each of these new birds has been micro chipped so they could be identified if found again.
 
The birds were released on the Manganui o te Ao River in an area protected by the Kia Wharite biodiversity project.
 
 

 

Published in Issue 159
Tagged under
Friday, 16 February 2018 20:45

Free flight aviary at Pukaha Mt Bruce

At Pukaha Mt Bruce staff have been delighted with the way the birds have settled into their new home in the free flight aviary. The whio and pateke are loving their new areas and are not difficult to spot. The whio are in an ‘internal aviary’ with a new river run while the other birds are all together in the bigger aviary space.  Both the pateke and whio are breeding pairs.

The korimako seem to spend all day singing  and while the kaka and kereru took a little while to settle in, they have been busy exploring their new space and are almost oblivious to the visitors who walk through the aviary.

If you are lucky enough to be at Pukaha at the free flight aviary at around 4pm there could be a ranger talk at the “Final Flight” area. It tells the story of the restoration project for the Pukaha forest and how captive breeding can help to protect and grow our endangered species 

Published in Issue 168