Confirmed sighting of Kākā

Yesterday evening as Rākaunui rose above Te Raukūmara Ngahere a cheeky Kākā paid Little Awanui a special visit.

Kākā are a roaming bird and can travel hundreds of kilometres but were known to have been abundant in Te Raukūmara Ngahere in earlier times as referenced by Poverty Bay Herald in 1932.

"The district abounds with birds and the morning concerts from hundreds of bellbirds were an especially enjoyable feature of the trip.

North Island tomtits, riflemen (titipounamu), kaka, whiteheads (popokotea), tuis, long-tailed cuckoos (koekoea) and wood piegons were very plentiful and were not at all shy. Three rarely seen birds were also observed at close quaters. A blue-wattled crow (kokako) was watched for five minutes hopping from bough to bough and the male and female (toutouwai) and saddleback (tieke) were also seen. There seemed to be every hope that the birds in the Raukumaras were at least holding their own" - (Poverty Bay Herald, 1932)

Unconfirmed sightings of Kākā have been reported over the last couple of months by members of the public and we are aware of one other confirmed sighting of Kākā in Tolaga Bay on August 12th, 2024.

We are also excited to share that as a result of our Community Engagement Native Plantings, manu such as Kererū and Tūī have returned to our Marae - an aspiration come true for Project Pou, Wiremu Wharepapa.

Multiple sightings of threatened taonga species such as Whio have been recorded in the Raukokore, Haparapara and Mangatutara.

We are hopeful now with the successful application of 1080 over 115,825 hectares of Te Raukūmara Ngahere, that all of these taonga species have a chance to breed and return in volumes without the continuous predation of pests such as rats, mustelids and possums.

"E koekoe te tūī, e ketekete te kākā, e kūkū te kererū"

The tui chatters, the kākā cackles, the kererū coos

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Reference to Poverty Bay Herald article:

Holiday Tramping East Cape District . (1932, January 15). Https://Paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/Newspapers/PBH19320115.2.30; Poverty Bay Herald.