Richard Cuthbert

The biologist shares his three years in the field wi th Hutton’s shearwater.

What’s the book about? The conservation and natural history of Hutton’s shearwater, a threatened seabird endemic to New Zealand, and my experiences of three years (1996–1999) studying the species in the remote valleys of the Kaikoura Mountains where it breeds. The book also introduces the characters involved in the bird’s discovery and protection.

What drew you to study Hutton’s shearwater?

I’ve always loved natural history, climbing and wild places, and I wanted to study a species with real conservation outcomes. Hutton’s shearwater, being endangered and nesting in the mountains, was perfect. No one had studied the bird to find out if it was still declining, or why it only bred in two remote valleys when it used to be far more widespread.

What were the most challenging aspects?

The weather was tough – bitterly cold in early spring when snow covered the ground, and baking hot in the summer when the sunlight reflected off the dark rocks and turned the valley into an oven. Getting into some of the nesting areas and to the extinct colonies also required mountaineering skills and an ability to read the terrain and weather. Getting caught in a storm on the ridgetops is still a vivid memory.

What sort of daily tasks did you carry out?

Checking shearwater burrows, radio-tracking stoats and dissecting their scats. We also had many long nights ringing shearwaters as well as weighing chicks.

What did you discover?

It was thought that introduced stoats were the major threat to the shearwaters, but I discovered that the birds could withstand their impact. It was feral pigs that were the problem. Pigs are now hunted on the boundaries of shearwater territory.

How are the birds now?

The population was fairly stable when I was there, but took a hit after the 2016 earthquake, with 10,000 birds killed. Establishing more breeding colonies (in addition to that created on the Kaikoura Peninsula in 2005) will be vital.

GETTING CAUGHT IN A STORM ON THE RIDGETOPS IS STILL A VIVID MEMORY.”