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June 2007
Farewell to Kotu the Kotuku…
We recently relocated the white heron (Kotuku) we had here at the
Centre to the Auckland Zoo. I would like to thank the local iwi and
the Department of Conservation for their support in relocating the
bird we named Kotu. Permits must be obtained to do such a transfer,
so the support from these groups is much appreciated. We first got
involved with Kotu in November 2006, when he had a broken middle toe
which made it difficult to perch at night. Since then he has been
released three times but has continued to end up back at the Centre.
Kotu became very tame. His friendliness and eagerness comes as a
result of exposure to people and easily accessible food. The sad
part is that for the interim he will be kept in a cage at the zoo
for his own safety. It is very hard when a bird like this starts to
visit the public wanting food, this is when the trouble starts.
While at Parua Bay he tried to catch some chickens and grab food
from a child’s hand, eventually he would have caused harm to someone
or something. Everyone he visited offered him food; he got to the
stage where he found that receiving food was easier than looking for
his own. This is dangerous for wild birds because they develop a
dependence on the easy food source. If anyone is in this sort of
situation with a bird please remember ‘do not feed them’. I know
it’s hard to do this but we must remember they are wild birds.
Centre round up…
Thanks to a donation from NAC Insurance we will be able to finish
our water feature in the public area.
The Bayer sponsored webcams are proving worthwhile. We are getting
lots of hits every day from throughout New Zealand and many
countries around the world. Peewee the little kiwi chick has both
webcams on him, which means he can be viewed feeding at night.
Peewee’s weight is now 645 grams and he will eventually be sent to
Limestone Island.
The funding for the education program at the Museum has come to an
end. This is very unfortunate. However, we have started to visit
local schools again. It has been three years since we last visited
schools. School groups can also visit the Centre as we still run an
education program on endemic and native birds.
Injured birds…
We have a procedure for people handing in injured birds. The reasons
for this being the welfare of the birds and the efficient running of
the Centre.
If you find an injured bird, please
Place the bird in a box with something soft for it to sit
on. It needs to be somewhere comfortable because when we first
get an injured bird its stress levels are very high. Therefore
we will leave it 5-8 hours before working on it. If the bird is
bleeding bad let us know when you phone as this may affect its
treatment time. Never put food or water with the bird as all birds can go
without for at least 24 hours. If a bird is fed before
treatment, there will be a good chance it will regurgitate the
food and choke. If a wing is broken, don’t tape it up as this will do more
harm to the wing when we try to undo it.
Unfortunately some people don’t understand the reasoning behind
our procedure and have a tendency to get upset if our response is
not as quick as they would have liked. Our Centre is run voluntarily
and we have to manage our limited resources effectively which means
that at times other birds and items will take priority. Also, we
rely on donations to pay fuel, food and medication bills so planning
a day and even a ‘pick up’ at the Centre is a very important aspect
to ensuring we can actually continue to function as efficiently as
we do.
Robert & Robyn Webb |
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December 2007
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