Forty hihi – one of NZ’s rarest forest birds – have been translocated from Tiritiri Matangi Island to Shakespear Regional Park’s open sanctuary.

They are fantail-sized and fast, and will often approach people. They have a white wing bar and a high-pitched whistle. The male birds have a black head with yellow on the neck.

Auckland Council, the Shakespear Open Sanctuary Society and Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust have worked in partnership over the past few months to achieve this significant conservation milestone, with support from the Hihi Conservation Charitable Trust, the Department of Conservation Hihi Recovery Group, and Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi.

The open sanctuary is already home to korimako (bellbird), kākāriki, kererū, ruru, kotare (kingfisher), pīwakawaka (fantail), tauhou (silvereye) and tūī.

More here.

Images: Janice McKenna