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T here was a time, not that long ago, when commercial and
recreational fishermen looked upon seabirds as a pest. Rather
than saving the birds, they were likely to take measures to dispatch
any birds that swooped down on longlines as they were being set.
Thankfully those days have largely gone. For years, conservationists
have been concerned about decreasing numbers of sea birds. One in
particular, the taiko or black petrel, is very much endangered. This bird
originally nested on the mainland of NZ but is now confined to Great
Barrier and Little Barrier Islands, where it nests and breeds in burrows.
Two adult birds are required to rear a single chick which, once fledged,
flies huge distances across the Pacific mainly to South America, where
it grows to becomes an even greater navigator by flying between the
two countries for 4-5 years before returning to New Zealand to breed.
Should one adult bird die the chick will almost certainly die, while the
other adult may take several years to nest again. With an estimated
remaining population of 2500 breeding pairs, this places the species in
the highly endangered category.
Elizabeth ‘Biz’ Bell (right) has been
studying the black petrels on Great
Barrier Island for 19 years as part of a
long-term conservation management
project for the Department of
Conservation in relation to fisheries
interaction. She often hosts fishers to
help with leg banding throughout the
breeding season – in December and
February – when adults are incubating
eggs or guarding chicks...and in April
when chicks are coming out of their
burrows to learn to fly.
“We have banded over 2500 adults and nearly 3000 chicks during
this project”, she explains. And she notes that many of the visiting
fishermen have reported seeing the chicks walk to a prominent ‘launch
rock’ and jump off on their first flight to South America as “mind-
blowing”. Comments from various fishers have included, “Five minutes
after meeting Biz, I was up to my armpit in a black petrel burrow!”
Bell’s work also includes monitoring the breeding success of black
petrels in the study area at the main colony around Mt. Hobson/
Hirakimata. And, she notes, “We can even obtain foraging behaviour
information using GPS and geolocator tracking devices and dive
depth devices.” And what has she found? Surprisingly, these flying
machines can dive “down to 34 metres to target fish and squid”. To
nab a fisherman’s submerged and baited hook? No problem for this
bird! But that is exactly the problem. The fishers have developed some
techniques to minimize this from happening.
Search online for more about Bell’s work. You’ll find a schoolgirl’s
description of the long hike up the Great Barrier Island’s rugged
mountain, and Bell helping her and getting to hold a chick!
THE ENDANGERED
BLACK PETREL
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It takes both black petrel parents to raise a chick,
not in a nest in the branches, but in a burrow underground.