Nankeen Night Heron Upokongaro

[Peter Frost]

Michael O'Shea and I checked the Nankeen Night-herons|Umu kotuku at Upokongaro this afternoon. We located four birds in the Holm Oak above the old carport, now an outside covered seating area at the café, the site where others have recently been seeing them. (We also checked the other known roost sites, to the extent possible given the dense canopies now developed as the trees come into full leaf; no other night-herons were seen.) We were keen to check for the nest that Byrd, Steve Purdon and Jim Norris thought might be there. We found a platform of sticks with a bird perched in or just above it, with a second bird further up above that. The attached photographs show what we could see.

Two Nankeen Night-herons (arrowed) with the lower right-hand bird perched almost out of sight on a platform of sticks, the edge of which can be seen just below the bird (cropped).

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Adult Nankeen Night-heron perched on or immediately above a platform of sticks which presumably is its nest (cropped).

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I am familiar with Black-crowned Night-heron nests in Africa and certainly what we saw at Upokongaro fits my memory of a night-heron nest, an untidy lattice of fine twigs, denser towards the centre than the edges. It also fits with the HANZAB description of Nankeen Night-heron nests in Australia, "Loosely constructed, flattish platform of sticks." (p. 1034), as well as the description of the only confirmed nest observed in New Zealand, a nest found on 2 November 1995 on the Mangoihe stream 600 m upstream from its confluence with the Whanganui River at Hiruhārama (Jerusalem). Norm Marsh and Gábor Lövei (Notornis 44, 152-155) described it using Hancock & Kushlan's The Herons Handbook (1984) depiction of it as "a loose construction of sticks". I'm unaware of any other confirmed nests of this species in New Zealand since then, although on 20 October 2019 I saw a bird carrying a a thin twig, about 2-2.5 bill lengths long, into the canopy of some trees at the confluence of the Kauarapaoa Stream and the Whanganui River (eBird checklist S60777637), and a recently fledged chick was photographed at Pitangi on the Whanganui R in March 2013.

We will be keeping an eye on this nest to see what happens. There is no indication that the bird on the nest is incubating eggs at this stage, even though the nest looks well built. Given the birds' proximity to the café garden and their long-term presence there, they seem to tolerate the movement and sounds of people nearby quite well. Whether this toleance extends to when they are properly breeding remains to be seen. It would be good to minimise any additional disturbance as much as possible. Contact me if you have a pressing need to see the nest and I'll try to arrange for someone to show you its position.

Many thanks to Byrd, Steve Purdon and Jim Norris for this exciting find.

Peter

[jimmifinn]

I slipped out to Upokongaro this evening at 8.00pm. The intention was to see the Nankeen Night-herons that roost behind the café during daylight hours, fly out for their night's foraging. Sunset was at 7.48pm and the Nankeens usually leave their roosts approximately 20 minutes to 30 minutes after sunset.

In earlier reports in this string, both Byrd and myself have recorded seeing six Nankeen Night-herons roosting in the Holm Oak that grows above the former café carport. We also noted the possibility of nest construction having been started in this tree.

At 8.05pm, a pair of Nankeen Night-herons flew from the Holm Oak and went on up the Whanganui River. At 8.13pm a Nankeen walked out of the Holm Oak canopy and stood on a branch until 8.15pm, when it also flew, with another bird, up the Whanganui River. At 8.21pm, a single Nankeen Night-heron left the Holm Oak and flew downstream, above the new Cycle Bridge and on down the river.

The first two pairs of birds were seen in relatively good light, with both, their plumage colours and their form, clearly visible. The last bird to fly was seen only in silhouette, but was undoubtably also a Nankeen Night-heron.

No other Nankeen Night-herons were seen leaving their roosts this evening, despite it being known that in three different trees used as roosts, there are in total, several more than five of these birds at Upokongaro. I believe there are at least seven and perhaps eight birds in the Upokongaro Nankeen Night-heron colony. They usually disappear in late October and return, sometimes with young birds, in early January.

It will be welcomed if they stay this year and might possibly breed locally.

Jim Norris

[jimmifinn]

2022-10-27 Nankeen nest Upokongaro IMG_7067.jpg (446.39 KiB) Viewed 1532 times

Nankeen top right, roosting near the nest, bottom left.


Yesterday afternoon while enjoying a coffee and nibbles at the Upokongaro Café, I counted four Nankeens roosting in the Holm Oak. One of the birds was on a branch very near the structure of loose twigs that we have been assuming was an intended nest. It was in almost the same position as the bird in a photograph posted by Peter Frost earlier in this string.

I was later able to confirm that a pair of Nankeen Night-herons have constructed a nest of loose twigs and appear to be incubating on this nest. After being alerted by hearing a couple of 'quaraks' from the Holm Oak, I saw a Nankeen leave the nest and walk out on a branch where it settled in a similar position to where I had seen one standing earlier. (photograph attached). As it left the nest, I was able to see another bird shuffling down as it settled down onto the nest structure. It seems likely that the birds were changing duties but it is also possible the bird that was earlier nearby had visited the bird on the nest. It had not been away from the tree, so it is unlikely that feeding was involved.

Later that evening, with Paul Gibson, I saw five Nankeen Night-herons fly from the Holm Oak. They flew across SH4 to the Whanganui River. The first pair at 8.08pm and the second pair at 8.10pm, flew upstream and the final bird, alone at 8.19pm, flew across the road to the Cycle Bridge and on down the river.

Jim Norris

[Jan]

Wow, Jim, wow!

[FraserGurney]

Two adults in the holm oak this afternoon, plus the nest. The cafe staff were brilliant, letting us in to see the birds even though they'd been shut for half an hour.

[Chris Bindon]

Thanks for these exciting updates everyone, this is really excellent news regarding the nesting and in such a fortunate location for monitoring their progress. Would seem to be a rare gift for anyone wanting to make a detailed study on the breeding biology and nesting specifics of the species from a NZ perspective especially in comparison to Australian data for instance. Speaking of nesting, does anyone know if there is any predator control already in place down there around the immediate nesting area? With such limited numbers of NZ birds, every one is significant and every effort should be made to help try to ensure there's no loss of any eggs/chicks to mammalian predators. Thanks, Chris

[jimmifinn]

Thanks Chris, The café at Upokongaro has a license to supply food to the public and of course must have a monitored vermin control programme. In the case of the café 'Behind the Door On 4' the vermin control is undertaken by an independent vermin control company which regularly monitors vermin activity at the bait stations. One of these stations is in the former carport beneath the Holm Oak tree. They also have opossum traps.

The two properties either side of the café also undertake intensive vermin control. On the northern side is Avoca Hotel, which being a public hotel with bars and a restaurant must also have a monitored and recorded vermin control prigramne that satisfies MPI.

On the southern side is a private property known as the Goose's Roost. The owner is very conscientious about vermin control and has multiple monitored bait stations for rodents as well as multiple opossum traps on her extensive garden area. She tells me that this year the number of opossums being caught has dropped off markedly and she hasn't seen a rat for a long time.

Because of the public, food sales businesses and the personal determination at the privately owned Goose's Roost, this area is undoubtedly the most vermin secure of all the known areas of Nankeen Night-heron roosts.

Having said that, it is still not confirmed that eggs are being incubated or even have been laid, in the nest at this Nankeen Night-heron colony. We live in hope!

Jim Norris

[jimmifinn]

On Tuesday 31 January 2023, the café staff at 'Behind The Door On 4' café at Upokongaro, noticed some intense and unusual daytime activity in the local Nankeen colony. Several birds were flying from the Holm Oak to the Poplars and appeared to be excited as they flew back and forth. Looking up at the nests, Shannon and Nicole saw a little chick peering at them, over the edge of one of the nests.

On Wednesday morning, the café put a notice on Facebook to let us know about the chick. I went out with Paul and Jane Gibson to see if we could verify a sighting that would confirm a successful breeding for the first time at Upokongaro. We didn't manage to see a chick, but noticed the Nankeens were quite fractious, with hackles raised in a manner we had not seen before. In one of Paul's photos the neck is stretched, the neck feathers are ruffled and the head plumes are rising erect fom the head.

While we were enjoying a coffee, Jane noticed a Morepork roosting in one of the Poplars, not more than 40 metres from where the Nankeen nests are sited in the Holm oak. I now understand from information passed on by Peter Frost, that the activity, which the café staff observed on Tuesday and that which we saw on Wednesday morning, is consistent with a Nankeen Night-heron who sees a nearby avian predator as a threat, in this case perhaps to their chicks.

We have made several visits to the café and the Nankeens since the café notified us of their sighting of a chick. We have found at least five broken teal/green egg shells on the ground beneath the Holm oak. One of the shells that I measured, is 48mm x 40mm.
We haven't yet repeated the chick sighting, but have heard chicks in the nest, several times and I have a recording of the chicks chattering. The recording is somewhat compromised by raindrops falling from a saturated tree onto the iron roof of the former café carport, but the chicks are clearly audible.

We now have confidence in reporting that there has been at least one successful chick raised from the five eggs that lay discarded beneath the roost tree. We continue to monitor activity and hope shortly to have more detailed news of the number of chicks that are being brooded at Upokongaro.

Many thanks to the staff at 'Behind Door On 4' café for for their prompt notification of this sighting.

Jim Norris

'

Three egg shells, one complete and two part shells beneath the Holm oak.

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[Paul Gibson]

It is nearly 11 years since I put the first post on this thread, and our pleasure in viewing the Nankeen night heron over the years has been satisfying. However, this summer, for the first time, we have seen nests and eggs, an exciting new development, as reported by Jim Norris in the previous post on this thread. In past years there have been juvenile birds seen, but we had no idea where they nested. For some unknown reason they have decided this season to nest in a tree behind the cafe at Upokongaro, 10 km upriver from Whanganui city. Only once before, and nearly 30 years ago, have Nankeen nests been seen in NZ. Their nests are high up, well away from the diners below, but now and then a glimpse of them is possible. The last two days we have heard chicks and seen adult birds coming and going from the nests. We have also found five eggshells below, discarded once the chicks have hatched. The eggs are more or less the size of a hens egg. This afternoon we were fortunate to see a bird fly up from the stream below and sit on an open branch for an hour or more, in teeming rain. Some 300 photos later I seem to have pictures of the bird in nearly every pose possible. Care must be taken to not unnecessarily disturb the birds, but having lived alongside a busy cafe all these years they seem to have adapted to their environment.

http://www.upics.co.nz

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[jimmifinn]

At the café in Upokongaro, we have beenspoilt with another pair of Nankeen Night-herons having established a new nest. This nest is in the Macrocarpa tree, a known roost of at least two Nankeens and this new nest has been built where it can be seen from the café grounds and the activity of the nesting pair is able to be observed much more easily than is the case with the nests in the Holm Oak.

The pair of birds appear to have been incubating for about four or five days and we have seen them change incubation duties a couple of times, when the bird attending the nest from a higher branch moves down and pushes underneath the incubating bird on the nest. The bird that has been on the nest, then climbs up to the higher branch where it commences to stretch and preen while it's mate settles down on the nest.

We have not had the same opportunity to observe the Holm Oak nests, which are high in the tree and able to be seen only from directly beneath the nest site.

A pair of nesting Nankeen Night-herons changing incubation duties on their newly established nest.

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Jim Norris