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October 2007
Chick season…
We are receiving about four chicks each day, a sign that the chick
season is definitely here. Quite a few are very young native pigeons
that still have down on their backs and at this age they are just
learning how to fly. The strong winds are causing them to crash into
trees and houses, which is why many of them are ending up here. What
a way to start life! Cats love this time of the year, with lots of
little birds being blown out of the trees, making easy prey.
Kiwi news…
Last week I was getting Sparky (the kiwi) out of his house to take
him on a visit and I noticed that his bed area had lots of dead
leaves. Robyn and I clean his nest box and we have found that if we
put straw or leaves in it Sparky removes them at night and by the
next morning it’s all cleaned out. Over the last week Sparky has
been calling every night just after dark, an indication that he may
want to breed. We will contact the Department of Conservation (DOC)
to see if there is a female kiwi in captivity we can pair up with
Sparky. This could potentially be a great opportunity for the Centre
and DOC to jointly study the kiwi on its nest. This could be done
with night cameras which would mean we could also load the footage
to our website and share it with our many viewers.
Please remember, this is time of the year when kiwi hatch their
young so if you take your dog for a walk in the bush or in areas
where you think there may be kiwi, please keep it on a leash. We see
it happen all too often when dogs catch kiwi, the dog gets the blame
instead of the owner. Dog owners need to be more responsible. If you
are unsure if there are kiwi in the area where you want to take the
dog for a run, take a few minutes and contact DOC or the Centre for
advice.
We still get requests from the people wanting to see Sparky when
they visit the Centre. However we are not allowed to show him onsite
but we are working on a way to get around this. I feel the public
have a right to see and touch our national icon. I also believe that
it is a good way to make people more aware of what we can do to help
the kiwi.
Other bird news…
The light-mantled sooty albatross we were caring for here at the
Centre has died; sadly it looked like it may have been the victim of
a long line hook.
On a more positive note, the giant petrel is almost ready for
release. There have been reports of another giant petrel landing
near boats and looking for a free feed. If you see it, just be
careful. While they may look very tame, one bite from that big beak
will do a lot of damage to a hand or finger. Old food caught in
their beaks can also turn a wound septic very quickly. Believe me it
can take quite a while to heal.
It won’t be much longer and we will start to see the little blue
penguins appearing on the beaches again. Please call us before
touching them or removing them from the beach. Many will only need
rest and in most cases removal will result in them dying when they
really don’t have to.
With the silly season fast approaching, Centre costs will be
increasing. Your donations will help us to get many birds back into
the wild where they should be.
Robert & Robyn Webb |
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August 2008
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June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
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December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
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