Auckland's Urban Kokako - Glendowie

[tim]

I hav'nt seen anything like that either, though at Boundary Stream when the first lot of kokako where brought in most of them travelled back to the TUMI mainland island, they did have to cross over a lot of farmland etc. pretty sure they were tracked too.

[Neil Fitzgerald]

Cats, roads... How did it glide over the motorway (how many times?) without ending up as a hood ornament?

[Suzi]

It seems unlikely that a Kokako which are very poor fliers, could make its way unassisted across 31km of city streets, avoiding not only detection by anyone along the way, but also cats, dogs, cars, and other hazards.

I don't think I'll be alone in my disbelief that this Kakako arrived in Glendowie entirely under its own steam. I'm sure there will be plenty of people ready and willing to believe it. I'm not one of them. Kokako typically fly by climbing high in a tree and gliding downwards to the next tree. They have short, rounded wings, evolved for short flights.

I reckon its journey was human assisted. If it was Parnell not Glendowie, I'd assume that DunoKeyo had simply paid DOC to have his own personal native icon. Maybe DOC were transferring it to Rangitoto/Motutapu and it escaped along the way !?

Suzi

[Neil Fitzgerald]

Of course that thought had crossed my mind too, but I'm not sure hand of man in relocating the bird is any more believable.

[Ian Southey]

Isn't wildlife wonderful. I know the blindingly obvious isn't always true but some unlikely fliers are great travellers look at the colonising ability of Fernbirds or the flights of Pukekos. Wasn't there a weka once liberated in the Waitakeres that managed to get right through Auckland into the Waikato somewhere before it succumbed to a car?

I'm curious about how long this bird might have been in the neighbourhood. Is he moving around the coast trying to find back to his territory or has been settled there for a while?

Ian

[Suzi]

Yes, I was perhaps too hasty in my disbelief !

My Mum lives in St John's Park right beside the Remuera Golf Course and not far from Waiatarua Reserve. Over the years with my encouragement she's reported her local birds to me and learned to identify quite a variety. About a month ago she reported a large grey bird that wasn't a dove or heron or anything she knew. I was busy so didn't push for a full description. Not expecting a Kokako, I remained mystified about what she could have seen and left it at that. Now I wonder if she didn't see the Kokako as it was heading for the coast.

I've just asked her via email to write down a description of what she saw (without looking at a bird book). She's quite a good artist, so if it looks promising, I'll ask her to do a sketch.

Suzi

[simon.fordham]

If the sighting is genuine, (and that Kokako in the photo could be anywhere) ...................

Suzi

Suzi

If you read the original posting, you will note that both Morag and I saw the bird. The person who wrote the report (and took the photo) is a long-standing visitor to Tiri, as is a neighbour of his who is also a long-standing F&B member, so I don't think that your doubt is warranted.

We will never know how the bird got there but I think that human assistance is extremely unlikely. Catching a kokako can very difficult, even for those with experience in this field, and one has to ask the question, 'why would anyone want to do this?'.

A direct route from the Ark to Glendowie would take this bird thru suburbia, well south of the city, and I bet that there are still too few people who would recognize a kokako if one bit them on the bum.

I am also now aware that the last sighting in the Ark was in 2011 so the bird has had plenty of time to undertake his journey.

Simon

[Davidthomas]

Simon, any idea whats going to happen to him if anything?

[Neil Fitzgerald]

Likely to be marched back to the Ark.

[Suzi]

I've heard the intention is that DOC may catch the Kokako and return it to the Ark which seems pointless, if it is going to then head south again.

I went off translocations of Kokako when I saw the impact of a forced separation of a juvenile from a pair of Kokako on Tiri. The parents were quite obviously distressed and grieving over the loss of their offspring. It might be scientifically legitimate, but birds feel pain - quite evidently, emotional pain too.

The determination of this Kokako to return to its home territory bears that out too. Only a very strong attachment instinct could drive this bird to risk life and limb, to try and return home.

Suzi