First fluttering shearwater chicks arrive at Cape Farewell sanctuary

Thursday, 20 January 2022

The first 50 fluttering shearwater/pakahā chicks have been translocated from the Long Island - Kokomohua Marine Reserve in the Marlborough Sounds to the Wharariki Ecosanctuary at Cape Farewell.

Sardine smoothies were part of a warm welcome for 50 fluttering shearwater/pakahā chicks transferred to a fenced sanctuary at Cape Farewell where it’s hoped they will help establish a breeding colony.

Still covered with soft grey down, the pakahā chicks arrived at the Wharariki Ecosanctuary at the top of the South Island late on Saturday after being flown via Picton by charter plane to Tākaka from the Long Island – Kokomohua Marine Reserve in Queen Charlotte Sound.

They are the first chicks to be translocated to the sanctuary in a project driven by the HealthPost Nature Trust in partnership with the Department of Conservation and Manawhenua ki Mohua, which represents Ngāti Tama, Te Ātiawa and Ngāti Rārua in Golden Bay.

The arrival of the chicks follows hours of work building artificial burrows and predator-proof fences along with trapping pests and planting at the site to ready it for the reintroduction of seabirds, which were once abundant on the mainland coast.

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One of 50 fluttering shearwater/pakahā chicks that have been moved to Wharariki Ecosanctuary at Cape Farewell in the hope they will help establish a breeding colony on the mainland site.

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HealthPost Nature Trust chairman Peter Butler said he was “absolutely chuffed” with the translocation of the fluttering shearwaters, which went perfectly on a beautiful day.

The chicks have burrows that were made for them at Wharariki Ecosanctuary.

“It's a big deal for us,” Butler said. “It’s nice to be able to do something absolutely positive.”

The trust hoped to translocate another 200 pakahā over the next few years along with other seabirds.

Trust ecological adviser Tamsin Ward-Smith, of Wild Solutions, acknowledged the predator control work and “efforts of HealthPost Nature Trust and community volunteers, iwi and DOC to make this all possible”.

The translocated fluttering shearwater chicks are still covered with soft grey down.

“With the restoration work taking place, the Wharariki coastline will once again flourish with seabirds on the land as it once would have been before mammal predators eliminated mainland populations,” Ward-Smith said.

The pakahā that arrived on Saturday would be hand-fed sardine smoothies daily, via a crop feeding tube. They were chosen specifically by their wing length and weight, “which tells us how old they are and importantly how far away they are from fledging”.

“Our preference is for chicks that are two to three weeks away from when they would naturally fledge from their natal burrows on Kokomohua Island,” Ward-Smith said.

Many seabirds, such as pakahā were “extremely site faithful” and tended to return to the place from which they fledged when they were ready to breed.

“The young chicks imprint on their surroundings when they first emerge from their burrows to take a look around; they may use a number of cues such as the landform, wind, stars, smell,” Ward-Smith said.

That “locked-in programming” meant it could be difficult to establish new colonies.

“Just making it predator free doesn’t mean that seabirds will just arrive and make it home,” she said. “By selecting chicks that have not emerged from their natural burrows, we can translocate them to a new predator-safe site like this at Cape Farewell and hope that they will imprint as this being their new home when they take their first peek of the world.”

After the pakahā transformed from fluffy grey chicks into sleek birds ready for life on the ocean, it could be three years or more before they returned “to prospect and even longer before breeding, and so it can be some time before the investment in a chick translocation is known to have been successful”.

“It will be a very special day when the first adult that fledged as a chick returns to the area to breed,” Ward-Smith said.

Butler acknowledged the “hard core” of volunteers who would be hand feeding the chicks, especially given the remoteness of the site. Volunteers were crucial to the trust.

“They do a heap of work,” he said. “I also want to give my heartfelt thanks to iwi and DOC.”

Wharariki Ecosanctuary was officially opened in January 2020.