Morepork in Auckland city

[David Lawrie]

I have had advice from Richard Hadfield that he has a Morepork roosting in a tree outside his lounge window in Mount Eden in Auckland City. He has advised me that he would be happy to host people to have a look at suitable times. contact him on 021846231.
this does raise a number of interesting questions
like how common is this species in Auckland, or other cities for that matter? are any regions still doing Morepork counts as pioneered by Waikato a couple of years ago? Are there any students studying city Moreporks? I know Brent Stephenson did his research on this species but that was in a rural context.

morepork2.jpg (38.04 KiB) Viewed 3514 times

[RussCannings]

Hamilton is still doing annual surveys and they seem to be quite numerous given the low to moderate number of volunteers doing the surveys.

As a side note, I found it very peculiar that Moreporks were so irregular--even rare--in Dunedin despite the city having great tracts of bush hosting Tomtit, Riflemen, Brown Creeper, and both Tui and Bellbird....yet no Moreporks! Even where I live here just outside of Cambridge, I get them almost nightly despite being surrounded by extensive paddocks and only having 2 trees on the section.

I absolutely love owls--wish we had a few more here!

Russ C

[Studio Pajaro]

We used to hear Morepork calling now and then when we lived in Mt Eden a few years ago. Theres plenty of food available as theres no shortage of tree Weta and small birds and lizards etc.
We hear them in suburban West Auckland now too. So they are definitly around and about in Auckland.

[Jan]

Unfortunately there are no Moreporks in Christchurch though I believe a group is
listening for them on Banks peninsula, where they do occur.
A dead one was once found on the Summit Road, in the section from The Sign of the
Kiwi to Gebbies Pass, so they are fairly near Christchurch, but the one found dead
in the Botanic Gardens is thought to have been imported, probably as a carcass.

[SomesBirder]

the one found dead
in the Botanic Gardens is thought to have been imported, probably as a carcass.

Why?

[TheBirderman]

Mount Eden is a good place for Morepork, as there is a lot of forest-type environments for them there. They are rare in East Auckland since land has been cleared. I believe the only place in East Auckland you can see them is Selwyn Bush. They are common in West Auckland, and I know nothing about North Auckland, South Auckland they are common.

[Steps]

We believe have one take up in residence in the last week, at night on our huge banksia tree in urban Manurewa. Still have to actually sight it in the foliage.
This has been a new addition to the now resident tuis, fantails, rosella and occasional wood pigeons and kaka passing thru.
Also of note the elusive possum that appeared some time ago, had been found on the road a couple couple months back. This resulted in the return of fantail numbers and their young flitting around the place.