Rare birds return to Bay
An ambitious plan to restore the flora and fauna of the eastern Bay of Islands took another leap forward on Saturday with the release of 40 popokotea (whiteheads), a gregarious, noisy little bird absent from Northland for more than a century, and 40 tieke (saddlebacks), a rare and striking black-and-orange bird about the size of a tui. The birds were caught on Tiritiri Matangi in the Hauraki Gulf and transported to their new homes – Motuarohia Island for the popokotea, Moturua and Urupukapuka for the tieke – by helicopter. Waiting to welcome then were conservation workers, volunteers, schoolchildren, hapu members, three Members of Parliament and a couple of TV stars. The release was part of Project Island Song, which is a combined effort by community group Guardians of the Bay of Islands, Rawhiti hapu, the Department of Conservation, and island land owners. Photos by Peter de Graaf.
Image 1 of 20: Sisters Marino, 8, and Jovan Haunui-Tawhiao, 10, are piggy-backed to a Fullers boat at Rawhiti.
