titipounamu on te ahumairangi hill
If you need a good news story today here’s a pretty special one! For the first time in 100 years titipounamu / rifleman have been seen on Te Ahumairangi Hill in Wellington.
Earlier this week I was at Zealandia Ecosancutary, looking for titipounamu / rifleman with the amazing conservationist Kari Beaven when a message came through from Bronwen Shepherd that she’d found titipounamu on Te Ahumairangi Hill.
For me this was very exciting as Te Ahumairangi Hill is very close to my home, and I walk there regularly, so naturally I was keen to investigate further. The very next day I met Brony and she kindly took me to the spot where she’d discovered the birds. Upon arriving we immediately heard the distinctive peeps - there they were, two little titipounamu high up in the tree canopy, seeing them was such a special and exciting moment! Now the challenge was to see what sexes the birds were and if they had leg bands, which would provide invaluable information about the birds’ history. After waiting patiently for the birds to come closer to us they eventually came down to ground level, and I could see clearly that one bird was an unbanded female and one bird was a male, and he had leg bands!
PuM-WW on Te Ahumairangi Hill
His leg bands read purple over metal on the left leg, and white over white on the right leg, he is known as PuM-WW! This was incredibly exciting as from his unique band combination I immediately knew he was banded in Zealandia and even the family he was from.
PuM-WW and siblings earlier this year
One of Pum-WW’s siblings
As luck would have it, I had first met PuM-WW on the day he fledged from his nest back in January this year, here he is snuggling up to his siblings. Despite my best efforts I have hardly seen PuM-WW all year. As titipounamu chicks become independent from their parents they venture off into the world quietly and don’t really make a peep unless they are in the presence of other titipounamu. Because of this they are incredibly hard to find during the middle of the year.
It’s highly likely that PuM-WW met his female bird in Zealandia and they traveled to their new spot on the hill. This is an incredible feat, the distance between his hatch site and his new territory is around 4km. These two tiny birds would have travelled through residential gardens and possibly even across roads to get to where they are now. I for one am extremely impressed, these little birds continue to amaze me.
Pum-WW on Te Ahumairangi Hill
The unbanded female on Te Ahumairangi Hill
For Wellington this is incredible news, titipounamu haven’t been seen on Te Ahumairangi Hill in 100 years. The hard work of Kari and the Zealandia team could mean that this is the beginning of a new population outside the sanctuary. It’s early days yet but we’ll be keeping a close eye on the birds to see if they breed, I have my fingers crossed for them! Brony who first spotted the birds runs Te Ahumairangi Hill Ecological Restoration and the facebook page https://www.facebook.com/teahumairangihill. Her discovery will hopefully bring a lot of awareness to this area, which is often overlooked but is such an important habitat for native wildlife and has such rich biodiversity. The story has bought more attention to my favourite little birds which is always welcome, and made for a happy news story.
The Te Ahumairangi Hill titipounamu pair fresh from a bath!
Naturally, Zealandia were very excited about the discovery of these birds and issued a media release (read it here) and since I’ve had the most luck spotting the birds in the sanctuary they approached me for photos and videos to share this milestone. Excitingly, 1News picked up on the story and shared my videos on prime time news!! It was honestly quite surreal seeing my videos on tv, especially because they’re of the birds I personally know so well! You can watch my birds on 1news here.
My time monitoring the titipounamu at Zealandia has been so rewarding and has been the best experience I’ve ever had. I’m honoured to be a part of this conservation story. Be sure to follow me on social media for updates about this record breaking pair!
