Kākāriki karaka - A special bird named Floyd

A reminder on the background of the first kākāriki karaka translocated into the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary in 2021-2022: The birds were mostly raised at the Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust, with some also from Orana Wildlife Park and a few from Auckland Zoo. Most birds were a few months old when translocated; they were juveniles ready to spread their wings and claim new territory once given their freedom. A few were older birds who for one reason or another were being released into the wild. Perhaps they didn't form pairs and breed as was expected of them. Perhaps they didn't get on well with other members of their species in their aviary. Perhaps they were surplus males so couldn't be paired. Etc.

A quick note on life expectancy of kākāriki karaka. They've been known to live over 10 years in captivity. The oldest current living bird is 14, and in one case a bird almost reached 17. In original beech forest without predators (the Brook), who knows? [A principal reason for continuing to monitor our translocated birds (the birds with leg bands) is to ultimately calculate the life expectancy of this species.] Over the years some birds we commonly see don't return to feeders in spring, or don't return to their old nest holes ready for another season of breeding. Generally that means we won't be seeing them again i.e, they've probably passed away for one reason or another at several years old.

Anyway, the oldest bird translocated to the Brook was KV-S (left leg blacK over Violet - right leg Silver) but for the first few years of his life at Orana Wildlife Park he was known as Floyd. He was born about June 2018 and for his first year was paired up with a female named Fern, they bred successfully. He subsequently stopped breeding so at about 3.5 years old the decision was made to give him his freedom in the Brook. He quickly paired up with S-PW and they formed a nest. Unfortunately in February 2022 (a few months after translocation of the first birds in November/December 2021) we had a major rain event: 400mm over three days, and three of the eight nests we were following were abandoned (leaky-building syndrome)! Floyd and S-PW's nest was one of them. Our last watch of his nest indicated it was empty. S-PW poked her head in a few times, but she was clearly no longer nest-bound. Floyd made an appearance in the canopy, but made no attempt to contact S-PW at her nest as he would have known she wasn't there.

Two weeks later (5th March 2022) I went back to the vicinity of his nest in an attempt to find Floyd and S-PW prospecting (scoping out the territory nearby for a new nest hopefully). I found Floyd perched in a beech tree nearby chatting loudly: Still upset about the loss of his nest? Calling for his mate S-PW? Announcing himself as king of the forest? Who knows. Here's the last photo I took of him (with my old camera) and the last time anyone saw him.

Over the next months/years it became clear that he was one of the 'gone missing' birds who will probably never be seen again. [We do get the occasional surprise with a visit from a bird on this 'missing' list, where a bird not seen (either in person or detected on a feeder trailcam) turns up without warning 6-12 months after their last appearance. This didn't happen with Floyd.]

Until yesterday.

Precisely 3.5 years after I saw Floyd for the last time, I was walking along one of our monitoring lines (about 170m from where I last saw Floyd in March 2022) with a heavy load (camera not ready) and heard parakeet chatter above the track. I saw a pair feeding in the canopy. I also saw what seemed to be a leg band, so out came the camera as I wanted to know which of our birds was living here. I guessed it could be BG-S (who lives in the vicinity and is detected perhaps once per year). Or VO-S who also nests nearby, is seen more regularly, but can remain undetected for six months or more. Incorrect guesses, it was Floyd! I'm not often gobsmacked in the Brook, but this day I was. I must have quietly muttered "NFW!" twenty times while flicking through my photos not believing what I was seeing.

It took some time and quite a few photos to get the ID, first a silver band, then bare legs on the other bird. Here is one of the first shots of the pair, that's Floyd on the right (the silver band on his right leg is visible if you zoom in), and his unbanded mate on the left. Note that only one or two of the four legs are visible; identifying birds from underneath is notoriously difficult for that reason.

Floyd kindly hopped a little forward (he's now in the middle of the above photo) where his left leg bands are clearly visible. I'd already seen his silver band, but this shot removed all doubt as to which bird he was.

Floyd is 7.2 years old, looking healthy for his age!

So, the question (that will never be answered) is: what has he been doing and where has he been for the last 3.5 years? Did he go somewhere else (where we don't spend much time) and has decided to return to his home?

I think it's more likely Floyd has been here all along, and has been undetected for so long as he has little curiosity in those large bipeds passing below. He ignores the annual kākāriki karaka population counts (where we try to call in all the birds using playback and count them). He gets on with his life, feeding and nesting in his home territory. He has probably raised two broods per year (maybe more). He will likely have quite a few kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, great-great-grandkids etc. After 3.5 years in captivity he has now spent the next 3.8 years in original beech forest safe from mammalian predators.

It is worth mentioning here that for Floyd's 3.5 years in captivity his diet consisted of food (fruit and seeds etc) placed in his aviary by humans. He was also trained on auto-feeders (that distribute sunflower seed and/or parakeet pellets on a timer). Auto-feeders (with trail-cams recording all avian visitors) are placed near the release point for birds to use while they become accustomed to finding their own natural food. The feeders also assist with grounding the birds to their new location; we want them to decide their new home is a good one and that they don't need to go too far (over the fence) in search of food.

Floyd never set foot on a feeder once released into the Brook, not even once. Everything he has eaten since release has been food he found himself. Floyd was clearly destined to be feeding and breeding as a wild, free bird from the moment of his release from captivity. Live long and prosper, Floyd!