A little while ago I was invited to take photos of the banding of the first tītipounamu /Rifleman chicks to hatch at Zealandia Ecosanctuary, of course I said yes, and was given the most amazing opportunity to witness rangers banding these little birds. Tītipounamu are our smallest native bird and these chicks were absolutely tiny, even the parents looked big in comparison to these little babies. I have been volunteering at Zealandia helping to track these birds in the valley since their translocation earlier this year so it’s been so exciting seeing how well the birds have settled in, and especially exciting to find out they were nesting and hatching chicks.
I feel it’s important to say that banding is done with the utmost care to the birds, they are kept warm and handled as little as possible during the process, then placed back in their nest so their parents can keep feeding them straight away. Banding is vital to tracking the life cycles of our precious birds as many species are endangered and declining. Since the birds are new to Zealandia, banding will help understand where the birds disperse to and essentially help Zealandia staff to track their survival. Here are some photos… they’re pretty adorable even if I do say so myself!
