Welcome to the Midnight Collective Broadsheet 104
Actively
supporting NZ’s endangered wetland birds
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| Keruru -grassed, on Kapiti Island |
One of the more intriguing aspects of a
visit to the predator free island of Kapiti is the sight of native birds grazing on the ground in the
open grassland areas. This includes not only the more familiar native birds you’ll
spot on the Mainland, including keruru (native pigeon) and tui...
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| Tui -on path below Red House |
but also the
rarer korimako/bellbird...
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| Spot the korimako |
and the kakariki. This red crowned native parrot has now virtually disappeared from the North Island, as has the yellow crowned kakariki from the South.
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| Kakariki grazing on Kapiti Island |
Kakariki are very vulnerable to rats,
because they nest close to the ground; though even in the 1970’s you could
still see the odd pair in Wellington. They have now been reintroduced in the city,
thanks to Zealandia, the predator controlled reserve in Karori; though it is
unlikely they will spread far into the unprotected areas. Blame for the demise
of these native parrots is usually placed upon introduced mammalian pests, like
rats, stoats, possum and ferrets but gun-happy, forest razing humans must shoulder the
prime responsibilty.
Paekakariki, just south of here is translated
from the Maori as many kakariki, a
fact Charlotte Godley described in her letters home to England in the early
1850’s. She was riding in a horse and cart, north along the coast and noted how
these indigenous parrots gave New Zealand so much of its exotic flare. Then in
the next sentence she detailed how her husband was sitting at the back of the
cart with their four year old son, teaching him how to shoot them.
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| Kakariki pair - female in foreground |
There must be rich food pickings in these
grassy areas for the birds all looked in very good condition; keruru in particular being
the plumpest in the country. They are also very visitor friendly. We took a party of visitors over to the
island a few years ago in dampish weather. One lifted off a nearby bush but
found it difficult to get airborne. She sailed over the top of the tour leader
(from behind) then got some extra lift by pushing off from the top of his
(hatted) head.
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| Roosting out of the rain...birds dislike inclement weather just as much as we do. |
Track we were listening to while posting
this. Well its a dreamy post-Christmas now, and one of the sunniest Xmas spells for many a year - so we're going with -The Lovin Spoonful -What a day for a daydream
I been havin' a sweet dream
I been dreamin' since I woke up today
It's starring me and my sweet dream
Cause she's the one makes me feel this way
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