Keep an eye out for robins
After 110 years there are now robins on Mt Taranaki, thanks to a Taranaki Mounga, a restoration project.
Now Taranaki Mounga wants Taranaki locals to report sightings of toutouwai/robin after 50 of the birds were released on Mt Taranaki last month. The robins were translocated from Pureora Forest Park to the northern slopes of Mt Taranaki.
Taranaki Mounga director Jan Hania said there had already been reports of toutouwai being seen near Holly Hut and the Ahukawakawa Swamp near the Pouakai ranges.
‘‘Locals can help us better protect the toutouwai/robin by letting us know where they see them.
‘‘Locals can help us better protect the toutouwai/robin by letting us know where they see them. ’’
Jan Hania
The best thing is the birds are really quite friendly, especially if you scuff your foot on the ground to unearth some tasty morsels, so you have a good chance of spotting one,’’ he says.
Monitoring teams, including volunteers from Rotokare Scenic Reserve Trust, have reported some of the birds have stayed near the release site, which has an intensive rat control network, and others seem to have dispersed throughout the national park.
‘‘An aerial predator control operation late last year has helped reduced predator numbers in the national park. This citizen science project to bring together bird observations is a way for the community to support the on-theground conservation work Taranaki Mounga is undertaking,’’ said Hania.
NatureWatch NZ’s Shane Orchard has helped set up the citizen science project.
‘‘The project is a great way for people to get involved in bringing the robins back to Mt Taranaki and tracking how well they are doing.
All the sightings also help build up a national picture of toutouwai in New Zealand,’’ he said. Go to http://taranakimounga.nz/getinvolved/toutouwairobinsightings/ for details about how to report a toutouwai/robin sighting.
❚ Taranaki Mounga is a collaboration between the Department of Conservation (DOC), eight Taranaki iwi and philanthropic investor NEXT Foundation, supported by founding sponsors Shell New Zealand, Jasmine Social Investments, TSB Community Trust and Landcare Research. The project will push the boundaries in landscape-scale ecological restoration over an area that includes the 34,000 ha of national park encompassing Taranaki, Pouakai, Kaitake and the protected Nga¯ Motu/Sugar Loaf Islands.