Plan to bring robins to Tararua treetops
The stars are aligning for an ambitious project to bring a North Island robin back to the Tararua range.
A large bequest, new self-resetting trapping technology and a group of dedicated volunteers may make it possible to expand a 90-hectare area of intense predator control near the Mt Holdsworth road end into a 1000ha haven for the birds, also called toutouwai.
The proposal is the brainchild of a group of volunteers who have been trapping the 90ha block from Holdsworth base to Donnelly Flats for the past eight years.
This has been in support of the wider Department of Conservation initiative Project Kaka, which covers a vast area of bush in the middle of the forest park.
DOC ranger Sandra Burles said reintroducing species has always been part of the long-term vision of Project Kaka. ‘‘It’s where all the visitors go and where the visitors would see the benefits of that pest control.’’
The high traffic areas of the forest park were already home to species such as tui, tomtit, bellbirds, rifleman and whiteheads. ‘‘The robin would be another cool species to have out there.’’
In March, a large-scale 1080 drop was carried out over 30,000ha of the Tararuas as part of Project Kaka. It spanned Otaki Forks on the west of the range to the Holdsworth road end in the east.
The Wairarapa-based volunteer group to support Project Kaka is now trying to drum up more support for the 1000ha Atiwhakatu Valley Trapping Project.
There is still a lot of work to be done before any birds are moved in, but in theory, if trapping gets rat numbers down low enough, the North Island robin would have a good chance of thriving in the bush.
A $100,000 bequest to be used in the Holdsworth area is providing a major funding boost to the project. The money will be largely spent on monitoring equipment and traps.
The first stage of the work would be a network of monitoring tunnels and lines to track rat and stoat numbers.
More than 400 self-resetting Goodnature traps would then be installed to reduce rat populations to an acceptable threshold – below 5 per cent of the tracking index – before introducing the robins.
The toutouwai is a sociable and curious bird. It is known to follow people, and will come and investigate for insects if humans disturb the leaf litter on the ground.
‘‘They’re very friendly and very visible,’’ Burles said. ‘‘It’s an awesome species to have where there are groups of people that will see them.’’
There is an Atiwhakatu Valley Trapping Project meeting at the Wairarapa DOC headquarters on South Rd, Masterton, on Tuesday, May 16 at 6pm.