Rare birds return to New Zealand pest free islands

First kukupa sighting in 30 years

May 2010: Rare and endangered birds are returning to the islands of Ipipiri, or Eastern Bay of Islands, in New Zealand, after a project to clear them of pests.

FLYING BACK: The kukupa

"It's a great sign," says Adrian Walker, the biodiversity manager, Bay of Islands Department of Conservation (DOC). "Banded rail and kukupa - the New Zealand wood pigeon - have been seen on Motuarohia/Roberton Island. This is the first time in 30 years for the kukupa. A flock of more than 20 New Zealand dotterel have also been sighted at Otehei Bay (Urupukapuka Island). Native plant life is starting to recover as well. Now that the rats are gone, the coprosma seeds are not being eaten and there are carpets of seedlings shooting up under the canopy."

Corbett, chairman of the Guardians of the Bay of Islands Trust, is also delighted at the success of the project, called Project Island Song. "This is fantastic news. It looks as if the pest-control efforts on the mainland of Te Rawhiti Enterprises, the local hapu at Te Rawhiti and the Eastern Bay of Islands Preservation Society, are helping keep the rats from swimming across to the islands. But we can't

WELCOME RETURN: The dotterel

afford to be complacent, as three Norway rats were caught on Urupukapuka Island between December 2009 and April 2010."

Risk that rodents will return

"This summer was the first real test of how well our biosecurity work on Project Island Song has gone. With hundreds of campers and thousands of boaties enjoying Ipipiri in the Eastern Bay of Islands - there is great potential to bring rats back. We knew the risk that rodents would turn up. What's great is that the community helped catch them," says Fleur.

PEST FREE: Project Island Song has cleared the area of rodents

It is most likely that it was transported by boat from somewhere further away than the Te Rawhiti mainland," says Rachel Fewster from the University's Statistics Department. "Our rodent invasion project is aimed at assisting island restoration projects around New Zealand by analyzing rat DNA to determine how rats arrive on islands. It is most useful to know that these animals are likely to have arrived by boat," says Rachel.

The first rat crawled under a tent groundsheet during the night and was stood on by a surprised camper when they got up in the morning. The second, also caught in Urupukapuka Bay in a trap left set by a camper, was too decomposed to undergo DNA testing. The third was caught in Otehei Bay in a DOC trap and reported by a young visitor.

Angela Newport, a DOC biosecurity ranger said: "As soon as we confirmed rats had been caught we set up extra traps and tracking tunnels at each sighting point. These have been checked weekly since January and it looks like we'll need more traps set at these arrival points each summer."