Kakariki fledge in Wellington for the first time in a century

December 2010. Conservationists at Wellington's world-renowned wildlife sanctuary, Zealandia, are celebrating the first successful fledging of a wild red-crowned parakeet (kakariki) chick in the city in at least 100 years.

The first flight was captured on a remote camera. The chick can be seen being coaxed out of the nest hole by the dad, before bravely taking the plunge as his younger siblings watch on.

The two-month old chick is one of three kakariki to hatch in the nest (a natural hole in an old tree fuchsia). It is almost certainly the first kakariki chick to fledge in the wild in Wellington City for 100 years. Fifty-five kakariki were transferred to Zealandia from Kapiti Island in an attempt to re-establish a wild population in Wellington City. Small populations exist in Porirua and on Matiu/Somes Island but this is the first in the City in 100 years.