Hawke's Bay: Pair of nesting kārearea delay Tūtira logging road

A kārearea, or New Zealand Falcon, taking flight to retrieve food for feeding time. Photo / NZME

A pair of birds that star on our $20 note are blocking the path of Hawke's Bay loggers.

Work has been suspended on a logging road in Tūtira Regional Park until about February after pair of kārearea were discovered nesting in the area cleared by the last portion of logging.

Hawke's Bay Regional Council forest management advisor Ben Douglas said the kārearea were first spotted when the male dive-bombed a Pan Pac staff member checking the site before the road construction.

"He then reported the sighting back and I went to the site to see at what stage the nest was at and found the nest with eggs and the female guarding them," Douglas said.

The site of the Tūtira logging project, this kind of plantation pine forest and the cleared out "cutover" left behind after logging are favoured nesting sites for the kārearea. Photo / Supplied

He said "cutover" pine forest is a favoured habitat of the kārearea, meaning forestry companies often have to change their plans around nesting birds.

"The Forest Owners Association and Wingspan have agreed on best practice guidelines for logging crews and forest managers to follow in working in areas where falcons may be present, and the national environmental standards for plantation forestry add extra protection for the birds," he said.

He said the delay will be until the kārearea's eggs have hatched and the chicks have grown enough to leave the nest, estimated to be about 75 days after hatching based on advice from the Wingspan National Bird of Prey Centre.

"In this situation, with log prices at a low point and there not being great urgency in building this particular road, delaying construction was an obvious decision and will not impact on financial returns," he said.

The kārearea's status with the Department of Conservation is "at risk-recovering" for its Bush and Eastern forms (found in the North Island) and "threatened-nationally vulnerable" for its southern form.

The Department of Conservation estimates between 5000 and 8000 birds remain in total.