references
2014 Nest monitoring
Tamsin Orr-Walker Funded by Dulux and the Wellington Zoo Conservation Fund (WZCF)
The Kea Conservation Trust has been monitoring kea nests at 7 survey locations for the past 1- 6 years. Locations include the St Arnaud, Raglan and Robert Ranges at Nelson Lakes (6 years), Kiwi Saddle, the Wangapeka and Mt Arthur in the Kahurangi National Park (4 years), the Hawdon Valley in Arthur’s Pass (5 years), Borland in Fiordland (2 years), Otira on the Western side of Arthur’s Pass (2 years), Aoraki/ Mt Cook (1 year) and Paringa in Westland (1 year). This year a record number of females were monitored across all sites, except for Borland and Aoraki. Of the 33 females followed throughout the breeding season, only 4 were successful at raising chicks – a total of 11 fledglings across all 4 nests. This is in comparison to 22 females monitored in 2013 who raised 7 chicks from 4 active nests. The KCT nest monitoring team (Corey Mosen and Tom Goodman with additional support from volunteers) visited known nest cavities at each site. Considerable effort was required to track kea fitted with radio transmitters to locate active nests in often inaccessible terrain and freezing
winter weather. Motion sensor cameras were placed at sites that were considered to have high potential for nesting and were checked regularly for activity. Gathering this information across the breeding season (July 2014 – January 2015), constituted over 490 hrs. of field work time spread over 97 separate visits to nests. The results by site are as follows: Nelson Lakes In Nelson Lakes, 5 females were monitored, 2 of which, Ceejay and Aphrodite, raised 3 chicks each. This is double the number of chicks from previous years, and it shows that the
nest protection programme in the area is having a positive impact (our nest cameras showed that both successful nests were not visited by predators). Unfortunately Ceejay, one of the most productive females in the area, was found dead just before the chicks fledged, after ingesting 1080 poison. 1080 was dropped in this area in response to a major beech mast (production of beech seed) event in the area. Beech seed provides an abundant food source for rats and mice, which in turn are good food for stoats (which also predate on native species such as kea). A previous double
12