More nests

The kākāriki karaka began nesting en-masse for the season in September. Then second nests in November. Then perhaps a third nest in January/February. Then perhaps birds who fledged in November may be ready for their first nest sometime in autumn (they may breed within 3-4 months of fledging).

We (OFP volunteers) worked out that the easiest way to find a nest is to watch a previously-used nest hole. There is a good chance the pair who used it last season will use it again this season. Pairs commonly have about three nest holes in circulation. They may start with nest 1, move onto 2, then onto 3, then go back to 1 for their fourth nest.

If a pair don't reuse a nest hole there is a decent chance some other pair will. They may have confidence it's a suitable site (they'll see signs of previous use) and make themselves at home.

Anyway, here's a favourite photo of mine from a nest watch. This is an unbanded pair using a previously used nest hole. The male had called the female off for a feed, here they are overhead courtship feeding. This photo was taken a long way overhead, at midday on a bright sunny day. The birds are in deep shade, and the blue reflects chromatic aberration in a cheap lens. I still like it. 😊

A nest was discovered today. A keen volunteer, James Davies, had finished the ranger course at the Nelson Polytechnic. He was keen on kākāriki karaka, and spent some time with us (Brook kākāriki volunteers). Today we were trying to find new nests (or second nests). James instinctively followed a bird 200m away from where he was watching, and waited. I caught up with him while he was having lunch, and almost immediately heard the sound of nestlings downhill. James went on to another nest watch and I moved downhill to where I'd heard the sound and waited. An hour later I heard the nestlings again, this time uphill! I moved back up, next time (an hour later) I heard them they were off to the side, and I quickly sighted a male feeding nestlings at the nest entrance. I went straight for video, and got a 30 second hand-held clip. It rained for the next few days, three days later I went back up with my tripod intending to film them properly but the nest was empty (the fledglings were in the canopy). If James had not followed his instincts we'd not have found this nest.  A team effort. James was subsequently employed by the Department of Conservation on the Kākāriki Karaka Recovery Programme.

The end of the translocations

March marked the final translocation (for now) of kākāriki karaka to the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary. All up, 125 birds have made the transition from captive breeding facilities to their introduced-predator-free original beech-forest habitat.

The reaction of the birds to their sudden freedom varied somewhat from release to release (and amongst individuals). Roughly, it went as follows:-

• Release 1 - They spread far and wide initially. I put this down to the fact that there were no other parakeets in the sanctuary on release, they perhaps went looking for members of their own species. When they found none some returned to the aviaries (and feeders), some paired off where they settled (e.g., the Upper Valley) and got on with nesting.

From Release 2 onwards, translocated birds had the advantage over the Release 1 birds of knowing prior to their release that they were in a parakeet-friendly location. They had spent their two days in the aviaries seeing and hearing the wild, resident parakeets outside chatting and using feeders. 

• Release 2 - They paired off quickly and got on with nesting.
• Release 3 & 4 - They were reasonably well grounded to the vicinity of the aviaries, but were a bit slow to pair off and nest.
• Release 5 - This group of birds were the most grounded of all. They were quite happy to stay in the vicinity of the aviaries/feeders.

The summer of 2022/2023 involved a partial beech mast, almost all of the regular feeder users from previous releases departed the feeders for a few months and ate plentiful natural food in the beech canopy.

• Release 6 & 7 -  These birds had little interest in feeders. Likely they went straight into the canopy and fed on plentiful natural food alongside the established population.