Kōkako clan make a surprise move from Waikato to Taranaki

Jul 17, 2023

A family of kōkako have been found living in the remote Waitaanga forest in north-east Taranaki, surprising Department of Conservation staff who think the secretive birds moved there from the Waikato.

Songs from the at-risk birds were heard at Waitaanga recently for the first time in more than 25 years, and analysis of a recording of the calls brought another surprise.

The bird's call was of a dialect from Pureora Forest in Waikato, biodiversity ranger Brandon Kingi said.

"Kōkako populations have distinct and identifiable local dialects in their calls."

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It seems the kōkako, which have limited flight capabilities, had managed to travel about 28km from Parininihi to Waitaanga, an unusually long distance for the species, Kingi said.

And the kōkako had added a new song to their Pureora call – possibly one derived from original Taranaki birds living in the area, which the department had not been aware of.

Five more birds have since been identified at Waitaanga, all but one of them with leg bands, which were fitted for their translocation from Pureora to Parininihi in North Taranaki in 2018.

Waitaanga is a safe habitat for the birds, thanks to ongoing pest control, he said.

The DOC team will continue to survey Waitaanga for other kōkako in partnership with Tiaki Te Mauri O Parininihi Trust of Ngāti Tama.

Traps will be set in the area where kōkako have been found to target rats, stoats and possums in between years when 1080 bait is aerially distributed throughout the forest, Conrad O’Carroll, Tiaki Te Mauri O Parininihi Trust operational partnerships manager, said.

"We also want to get our rangatahi involved as Waitaanga is a special place for us and we want to connect the people of Ngāti Tama back to the whenua."

For Ngāti Tama, the discovery of kōkako at Waitaanga is connected to the story of Tamanui – the last known kōkako of Taranaki.

"In 1999, Tamanui was moved from the Moki Forest in North Taranaki to Tiritiri Matangi Island, a sanctuary in the Hauraki Gulf that provided a safe haven for Tamanui and other kōkako to breed, with the understanding that his progeny would be returned once the damaged eco-system was restored," O’Carroll said.

Descendants of Tamanui were successfully returned to Taranaki in 2017. There are now about 10 breeding pairs at Parininihi and some single birds.