avian translocations

Monitoring terrestrial bird populations on Tiritiri Matangi Island, Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, 1987–2010

Tiritiri Matangi Island is a Scientific Reserve located in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand. In 1986, two years after the start of a ten-year planting programme on the island, members of the Ornithological Society of New Zealand, Auckland, began a monitoring programme of the bird populations. A biannual survey scheme commenced in April 1987, counting birds on predetermined transects and at listening posts. This paper focuses on the spring dataset (November) to provide an overview of changes in relative abundance of birds from 1987 to 2010.

Avian translocations to and from Tiritiri Matangi 1974–2013

Translocation has played a key role in modern New Zealand conservation. This is particularly evident on Tiritiri Matangi where 12 species of bird have been translocated between 1974 and 2013. Eleven of these species have successfully established on the island, six as large self-sustaining populations, one large managed population, two small managed populations and two small establishing populations. Several of these populations are sufficiently fecund to sustain harvest for translocation to other sites, with six species being translocated in >33 translocation events since 1997.