A Whangarei ornithologist who rediscovered the rare Chatham Island taiko may have discovered a new way of attracting the endangered birds for research - via their keen sense of smell.
David Crockett, who rediscovered the taiko on the Chatham Islands on New Year's eve, 1978, after they were thought to be
extinct, is working on a "taiko fast-food outlet" designed to attract the birds through their extraordinary sense of smell.
Mr Crockett is working on a smell to lure the taiko to a secure breeding area on the Chathams so research aimed at securing their future can be carried out.
He has recently returned from a seven-week trip to the islands to catch up with efforts to build a sustainable breeding colony of the taiko, which had been declared extinct for 111 years before 1978.
Mr Crockett, who helped establish the Chatham Island Taiko Trust in 1997, said the birds had a strong sense of smell and he wanted to know whether this could be used.
"Work done this season confirms that the taiko population is only 120 to 150 birds," he said.
Researchers had hoped there would be more.
"Last year's 10 fledglings was a positive boost, but the species is still critically endangered. We need to reach a sustainable population of between 300 and 500 birds."
To help the situation, a secure breeding area was being set up using an innovative stainless steel link fence to keep out almost all predators, including baby mice.
Mr Crockett is also working on using the smell of a taiko's favourite food as the lure to attract birds to the colony.
"I'd like to come up with a mechanism that will send out fatty smells to attract them.
"They love squid, and it could act as a kind of taiko takeaway site in the middle of their breeding ground."
Another new strand of research was storing DNA samples of taiko so that it can be checked against the DNA of any new birds discovered.
"DNA will tell us if they are from new families of taiko that we were not aware of or if they are descended from the ones we know about," he said.
The taiko were the Moriori mutton birds and their remains make up between 48 per cent and 52 per cent of bird bones found in middens on the Chathams.
- NZPA
Herald Feature: Conservation and Environment
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