Source: Auckland Council
A conservation effort led by Auckland Council rangers to assist one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most treasured native birds is delivering groundbreaking results.
At least 55 rare hihi chicks have hatched in Shakespear Regional Park’s Open Sanctuary this summer – a first for the species in more than a hundred years.
Auckland Council Parks Committee chair, Councillor Ken Turner, says the commitment from staff, local iwi, volunteers, and the Department of Conservation to reintroduce hihi to the Auckland mainland is a significant step to secure the future of this distinctive forest songbird.
“I’m hugely thankful for the work that our rangers and others do to build on the conservation of our region’s flora and fauna. The success of this project will give hihi the boost it needs to flourish again, and Aucklanders an opportunity to experience these little treasures in their natural environment,” Cr Turner says.
The new chicks have emerged following a carefully managed journey in June 2024 for 40 adult hihi, also known as stitchbirds, from predator-free Tiritiri Matangi Island to a new mainland home at Shakespear Regional Park.
Senior Ranger of Shakespear Open Sanctuary Matt Maitland says the council’s Regional Parks northern team, Shakespear Open Sanctuary Society (SOSSI) and Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust, who all worked together on the translocation, have been thrilled to see so many of the birds breeding.
“The number of healthy chicks to arrive has exceeded all our expectations, given it’s the first breeding season in their new home,” says Mr Maitland.
“They are the first hihi – one of NZ’s rarest forest birds – to hatch and succeed in the area since disappearing from mainland Auckland in the 1870s.”
Mr Maitland credits an ongoing focus from partners involved in the project for its success, with translocation support provided by the Hihi Conservation Charitable Trust, the Department of Conservation Hihi Recovery Group, and Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi.
A couple of hihi were lost due to natural causes, but this is a great result compared with an unsuccessful translocation attempt in 2022, Mr Maitland says.
The hihi is nationally threatened, with Te Hauturu-o-toi Little Barrier Island holding the only naturally-surviving population since the 1880s.
Recovery efforts have recently established small populations in pockets around the North Island, including at Tiritiri Matangi. Shakespear Open Sanctuary now brings the total number of hihi habitats to eight.
There are thought to be around 2000 hihi in the country, making it one of New Zealand’s rarest native birds.
The council and SOSSI volunteers will continue to closely monitor the new population at Shakespear Regional Park, while working with other partners to provide enhanced protection to their habitat alongside education initiatives.
SOSSI volunteer Maree Johnston and Auckland Council ranger Bruce Harrison carefully undertake the task of banding a hihi chick.
