2011 May NewsLetter | www.nbr.org.nz

May 2011

Last week I was contacted by a lady who received a phone call from a person stating it was the Bird recovery Centre and we were collecting funds to get rid of possums to save the Kiwi. The caller asked for a Donation by the way of her credit card and wanted to know the pin number as well.

If you are asked for funds by phone, email, or someone calling at your house it will be a scam. NEVER give your pin number to anyone no matter how good a tale they tell, this is NOT how the Centre is run.

At times you may read in the Northpower Column when I say we need something for the Centre but even then give the Centre a call and see what it’s all about first, it’s better to be sure than sorry.

We have been getting a few Birds with fish hooks caught in them, if you find a Bird in this condition let us know, the line can be very hard to see and you may wonder why the Bird can’t fly or is having trouble flapping a wing. If you catch the Bird and can see the hook and line you can try removing it. The barb on the hook needs to be cut off with side cutters; this will make removing the hook very simple. If the hook is down the Birds throat then cut the nylon off close to the beak and get the Bird to us.

There are still quite a few Sea Birds being found on the beaches, like the Penguins, these birds are looking for a safe place to have a rest and re-oil their feathers. The best idea is to contact the Centre before removing it from the Beach.

Be very careful when picking up a Shag or Gannet as they may look very sad but they can react very quickly and can do a lot of damage to your hand or face. If you get bitten by one of these Birds make sure you wash the wound to stop any infection setting in. These Birds get a build-up of old food on their beaks which can be very toxic to Humans.

The two Moreporks that we hand reared over the past 3 months are ready to go down into our Kiwi pen, at this stage they are still quite tame and too early to release so a few more weeks being outside should see them ready for freedom.

Thanks to Kiwi North for an outside house that we can put into the pen for them. Now they will have something dry to sleep in, perhaps I should just put them in the new Kiwi House then they would have 10 star accommodation.

Robert and Robyn Webb

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Feature Bird

Woof Woof

Woof Woof was our semi-tame Tui, he would sing and if you were patient he would talk back to you too. He would often startle visitors with his very deep male voice -- an exact match for centre manager Robert Webb.

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Snoopy

“Snoopy” our one legged North Island Brown kiwi died on Wednesday 20 June 2007. Snoopy was 15 years old and had lived with Robert and Robyn Webb at their home since he was only 3 months old.

Snoopys death was a real shock for Robert and Robyn as Snoopy was like a member of their family. Snoopy would call out to them when they arrived home at night and wait to be let out on the grass to probe for worms and grubs. The Webb’s have not had a holiday in years as they couldn’t just leave Snoopy with anyone.

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Sparky

Sparky will now follow in Snoopy’s foot step and take on the role of Kiwi ambassador travelling around schools and other public forums to promote wildlife conservation. Sparky is another one legged kiwi who lives at the Whangarei Native Bird Recovery Centre. He came to the Centre as a young bird in 2002, his leg injury was also caused by a “Gin trap” that had been set on the ground to trap possums.

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Story of an egg

Fertile eggs are recovered from the burrows of wild kiwi approximately 45 to 50 days into the 75 day incubation. Incubation, hatching and rearing of the young kiwi is completed in captivity.

Of all the kiwi hatched and reared in the wild only 5% make it to adulthood. Most of the 95% of birds that are killed, die within the first 6 weeks of life. Many of these birds are killed by predators such as stoats, ferrets, weasels, ferrel cats and roaming dogs.

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Bitty the Bittern

“The neighbour phoned me to come over and have a look at this strange looking brown and white bird. She said it was trying desperately to get into her chook house!”

Mr & Mrs Gregory rushed next door and immediately recognised the bird as a young Bittern. Bitterns fledge at 7 weeks (approx.), somehow the “teenaged” bird must have got lost and decided that any type of bird was a good bird to hang around with – even the chooks.

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Royal Albert the Albatross

On 24 December 2005 a Southern Royal Albatross was picked up from Ripiro Beach near Glinks Gully on the west coast of Northland, New Zealand.

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Gone wandering

This bird was found on Ninety Mile Beach by surfcasters on Friday 23 April 2007. The albatross was transferred to a small bird centre in the Far North. The bird was very skinny and they could not get him to eat so they sent him to us at the Whangarei Native Bird Recovery Centre on Monday 26 April 2007. It appeared that the bird had been caught in the recent storm, battling gale force winds from the east and he was absolutely worn out, unable to stand or hold his head up.

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Kotu the white heron

The white heron had flown into the back yard of a family in the Ruakaka area where he ate all the fish in the goldfish pond. The family let him as they were so amazed at having such a beautiful visitor. They could also see that the bird had an injured left foot and was not weight bearing on that leg.

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Little Blue Penguin Moult

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Morepork Chicks Too Hot In The Nest

The 2010 / 2011 chick season has seen quite a number of Morepork chicks come into the Centre. Robert Webb, Centre Manager, says that the very hot summer conditions are the cause of the problem.

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