Source: Auckland Council
In human years she wouldn’t quite qualify for a Gold Card but in kōkako years, Ruahine is a living legend.
At around 21 years of age, Ruahine is believed to be the oldest known active breeding female kōkako in New Zealand and this season she’s once again doing what she’s done best for decades: raising chicks in the Hūnua Ranges. Two fledglings currently trail closely behind her and her long-term mate, a quiet but powerful symbol of how far kōkako conservation has come.
Ruahine was translocated to Hūnua in 2006 as an adult bird of unknown age from Māpara, making her at least 21 today, although she could be older; a remarkable achievement for a species that was once perilously close to disappearing from the ranges altogether.
Principal Ranger and lead of the Hūnua Kōkako Restoration Project Miranda Bennett says that when Ruahine arrived, Hūnua would have looked very different through kōkako eyes.
“There were just 23 adult kōkako in the entire ranges, all descended from a single remaining matriarch. Ruahine is part of the generation that helped turn that around.”
She was one of 14 Māpara kōkako brought in to boost both numbers and genetic diversity. Settling in the area known as Flat Bush – not flat, but flatter than most of Hūnua – Ruahine first paired with a Māpara male, Taranga. After his disappearance around 2010, she partnered with a local male and has held the same territory ever since. Whether it’s been the same male all these years remains one of Hūnua’s quieter mysteries.
Ruahine’s contribution goes well beyond longevity. More than ten of her chicks, banded as nestlings, have gone on to join the breeding population. In 2012, she also played a starring role in a conservation first, becoming the only kōkako to successfully foster eggs transferred between sites, from Tiritiri Matangi to Hūnua.
“That egg transfer was incredibly delicate work,” says Bennett.
“Ruahine sat patiently on plasticine eggs for a full day while her own eggs were relocated, before the Tiritiri eggs were flown in and placed under her. It worked and it’s still the only successful kōkako egg swap of its kind.”
Today, Ruahine and her mate are surrounded by more than 250 kōkako pairs across the ranges, a powerful indicator of sustained pest control, habitat protection and long-term commitment.
Councillor Richard Hills says success belongs to many hands.
“Auckland Council has proudly supported this mahi for decades, working alongside mana whenua, community groups and ecologists to restore the mauri of the Hūnua Ranges.
“Ruahine’s story shows what’s possible when we invest in nature for the long term.”
For mana whenua, kōkako are taonga; their return restoring not just biodiversity, but whakapapa connections to the ngahere.
And Ruahine?
She’s still out there, still singing, still raising the next generation. Not bad for an ‘old bird’ who’s nowhere near done yet.
