New Zealand Kokako wins Bird of the Year title

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New Zealand Kokako wins Bird of the Year title

• Posted by Carmen Elsa Irarragorri Wyland 

The Kokako [wattled Crow] has been crowned in Forest & Bird's Bird of the Year contest.

This is some footage took of Kahurangi, a hand-reared kōkako living at the Pukaha Mount Bruce National Wildlife Centre in New Zealand. I had the privilege of hanging out with her in her enclosure - she's too tame and dependent on humans to fly free. It gave me an incredible opportunity to get close to a bird most New Zealanders will never even hear, let alone see. 

Before Europeans arrived, kōkako were very common across New Zealand. Each main island had a distinct species. Thanks to predation by introduced mammals, the South Island kōkako is now extinct and the North Island kōkako survives in just a handful of forests. The evening after I met Kahurangi, I sat in my garden and thought how much richer New Zealand would be if it was kōkako, not blackbirds, heralding the dusk!

Find out more about Pukaha Mount Bruce and their involvement with kōkako conservation: http://www.mtbruce.org.nz/kokako

This year just under 20,000 people voted for their favourite bird. The kokako attracted 3614 votes, followed by the Kea with 2608 votes and the fantail (piwakawaka) with 1508 votes.

Once threatened with extinction, kokako numbers were down to 660 in 1999 but are now over 3000, Forest & Bird said. Populations were recovering thanks to predator control and translocation programmes.

"Like many of New Zealand's native birds, the Kokako is vulnerable to predation by introduced mammalian predators such as stoats, cats, possums and rats that kill eggs, young birds and adults."

Oscar Thomas, 16, from Auckland, was prominent in the campaign to win the vote for the kokako for the first time.

"It has the most beautiful call of all New Zealand's birds and it's the loudest in the forest. It sings with a deep, five-note call that makes the Tui sound like an elaborate train wreck," he said.

Thomas became interested in birds after his class visited Tiritiri Matangi Island when he was 10.

He is one of the youngest guides on the island, helps run a club for young birders, and has volunteered to count rare birds on the Chatham Islands.

"I wanted to show people how special all our native birds are and what we stand to lose. Eighty per cent of New Zealand's birds are classified as at risk or threatened and if we don't do anything to help them, they could be gone forever," he said.

Thomas' kokako campaign was backed by the Rotoehu Ecological Trust in the Bay of Plenty. The trust manages 750 hectares of land in the 3500ha Rotoehu Forest Conservation Area, in partnership with the Department of Conservation.

Cheeky yet distructive NZ Kea

It particularly looks after one of five category one sites in the country of North Island kokako. About 150 of the birds live in the forest.