Te Haukerekere will fly
Kārearea chick prepares to sit ‘pilot's licence'
The odds are stacked against him, but with the Lawless lads in his corner, you can bet he’ll come out swinging. Te Haukerekere is a kā rearea chick and the offspring of two injured, permanent residents of the Wingspan National Bird of Prey Centre in Rotorua.
His parents will never see the wild again because of their injuries but their fledgling will get the chance to spread his wings above Mt Tauhara in Taupō.
It’s a chance for even permanently disabled birds to contribute to the survival of the near-threatened species, said Wingspan director and founder Debbie Stewart.
A major step towards independence took place at the base of the mountain last week when Te Haukerekere was placed in a predator-proof nesting box in the lower branches of a sprawling old pine.
For the second year in a row Tane Lawless — a well-known Taupō street artist — has taken a kārearea chick under his wing.
Lawless and his sons Kori and Keanu, will take on the role of guardians, feeding dead mice, chickens and other favourites down a tube until the bird is ready to take off.
He chose the bird’s name because it means “to defeat, to empower, to succeed”.
“This falcon gives hope for young men, youth, to succeed in life. He is a symbol of strength in my eyes.”
And Te Haukerekere will need all the help he can get: only one in four karearea chicks make it to their first birthday.
The falcons Tane looked after last year — Pikirangi and Whairoa — both made it through their first year and it is hoped they are now breeding in the area.
Lawless has given the birds extra protection by trapping and ridding the area of predators.
Stewart said karearea were apex predators before introduced predators such as cats and stoats came along, but they still acted like they were top of the food chain.
They also tend to perch on powerlines so electrocution is a common cause of death, and while they don’t typically feed on road-kill, they often fly into cars and also windows in buildings. They have also been deliberately killed by humans, possibly because of their aggressive nature when defending their nests.
Karearea protect their nest by screeching a loud warning and those who get within 10m can expect to be attacked from above with the birds raking their talons across the top of an intruder’s head.
The shape of Te Haukerekere’s tree, with its wide, low branches and strategically placed platforms in the immediate area means when the box is opened in two weeks, the bird will get an advantage. Lawless will keep an eye on his charge, and continue feeding it until it is ready to fly the nest. After that he will continue to monitor its whereabouts, in the same way he did with last year’s pair. Lawless said there were some nerves when the box was opened last year to let the birds out to fly for the first time.
“It got to the point where they jump out naturally and fly into another tree on day one and then onto another one and it’s like ‘oh, wow’.” Lawless has a special affinity for the karearea and he has prominent art featuring the bird on walls of shops in the Taupō CBD.