Tweets from radio bugs show kokako settling in

Five more kokako have been released in Puketi Forest in the hope of re-establishing the endangered bird in one of Northland's biggest tracts of native bush.

Last Friday three kokako - known for their haunting call and bright blue wattles - were caught at Mataraua Forest, near Waipoua, and taken by helicopter to a clearing on the forest plateau west of Kerikeri.

Puketi Forest Trust chairman John Dawn said three more were caught and transferred on Wednesday and another pair early yesterday morning.

They had been fitted with radio transmitters and were being followed by a team of monitors, who reported the birds were in good health and moving around the release area.

The trust, which has been trapping pests for the past nine years to make the bush safe for re-introduced birds, has permission to move 10 kokako this year and 10 more in 2013.

A bird census in 2010 at Mataraua, home to the only viable population of kokako in Northland, showed numbers were high enough to allow the transfer.

Mr Dawn said conditions at Mataraua deteriorated yesterday so experts hoping to catch the last pair would have to wait up to a week for the next suitable weather window.

Next to be caught and transferred would be two males, originally from Puketi, who had been placed on a pest-free island in Bream Bay for safekeeping. Trustee Gary Bramley said the group was trying to transfer pairs in the hope they would stay together and breed.

Recorded kokako calls were being played to persuade the birds to stay in the core pest-trapping area. If the birds moved the volunteers would have to expand the trapping area, with rats and possums their main threat.

The kokako project is led by the trust with help from the Department of Conservation, Te Roroa and Piki Te Aroha Marae. About 1400 kokako survive in the North Island

The number clinging on at Puketi before Friday's release was not known but could be as low as two. Go to www.puketi.org.nz