Kereru News 76 (30th July 2010)

[Dave Houston]

Here is another issue of Kereru News.  I’ll be on leave for 5 weeks, back in early September.  My search engine will keep collecting interesting kereru/kukupa/kuku/parea stories which I’ll compile on my return.  Please feel free to send in or contribute any stories.

Astrid van Meeuwen-Dijkgraaf  astrid@wildands.co.nz
Phone 04 2377341 Skype: astrid.van.meeuwen.dijkgraaf

Hospital for the Birds
Given their penchant for fermented berries, it comes as no surprise that our kereru is one of the more accident prone birds. In fact,  they get in into so many scrapes that a small hospital has been set up in Dunedin to care for these injured birds.
http://blog.forestandbird.org.nz/hospital-for-the-birds/

Kereru on the menu?
Eating off the endangered menu
http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Eating-off-the-endangered-menu/tabid/452/articleID/14327/Default.aspx

Comment from Kereru News recipient
We wish to differ with the expert quoted in Kereru New 75 as saying the kereru get hit by cars because they are drunk on berries.  In Otatara the roads are frequently surrounded by bush on both sides, the birds are merely flying across or along roads to get to their feed sources, whatever the food is.
When they're full of any type of food they are heavy and dive and often fly low for some distance before increasing height again.

Drought is killing kereru
DELWYN DICKEY - Rodney Times 24/06/2010
MANY kereru - native wood pigeons - face starvation because of the long-term effects of Rodney's near-record drought.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/rodney-times/3844604/Drought-is-killing-kereru

Bounce-Back - July 12, 2010
Due to the summer/autumn drought, the berries on our native trees didn’t ripen. There’s no food for the beautiful NZ kereru (wood pigeons), and we’ve had lots of skinny, starving kereru brought in to The Sanctuary.
http://www.animalsanctuary.co.nz/news/bounce-back

Hamilton Zoo’s relationship with the Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust (MEIT).
Presented by Cheridan Mathers and Adrian Peterson.
http://www.zooaquarium.org.au/ArticleDocuments/169/Hamilton%20Zoos%20relationship%20with%20MEIT.pdf.aspx.

Abstract
Due to the relative proximity of Hamilton Zoo to the Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust Reserve we have had the privilege of assisting with the rehabilitation of some of the reserves injured wildlife. The assistance of New Zealand zoo’s in programs like the Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust is a rewarding and important part of our role as advocates for conservation, giving us the opportunity to put back in. We will present some of the experiences of our cooperation with Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust (MEIT).

How can the development of a functional habitat corridor for Kereru and the White Faced Heron drive the design of urban landscape ?

www.catalystlandscapes.co.nz/emeraldnecklace.php

•   To gain an understanding of the habits and habitats of the White Faced Heron and Kereru.
•   • Develop an ecological habitat corridor for the White Faced Heron and Kereru that traverses the Auckland isthmus from Titirangi to Meola Reef.
•   • Make amendments to the Auckland City district plans open space rule and regulations to accommodate the implementation of this corridor.
•   • To show how this ecological entity could work at a site scale using birdlife analysis data and integrating this with human processes; which drives the production of a design that provides unique, exciting open space that meets all current and proposed zoning requirements.

Video, Audio and photos

Painted boxes
There are quite a few transformers and other such boxes that have been disguised with paintings including kereru.
http://auckland-west.co.nz/?p=3047
http://auckland-west.co.nz/?s=kereru
Kereru photos can be found on DigitalNZ at http://search.digitalnz.org/

Radio Live interview with Alan Tennyson and Stephanie May about kereru
Alan Tennyson from Te Papa on when it arrived in New Zealand
Stephanie May – ecology and management of kereru PhD
http://www.radiolive.co.nz/NZ-wood-pigeon-and-its-secret-life/tabid/506/articleID/14776/Default.aspx

Kereru shower
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcnA-M2Vo4E
YouTube Video of a nice bit of kereru behaviour.  Quite intriguing how the bird nearly turns itself inside out to get water under that wing

Kereru chick being fed
Awesome photo and very dorky looking chick
http://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/Science-Stories/Conserving-Native-Birds/Sci-Media/Images/Kereru-chick-being-fed