By ANNE BESTON
Yet more good news on the breeding front for native birds, this time for another endangered parrot, the orange-fronted parakeet.
In a breeding season already the best on record for the critically endangered flightless parrot, kakapo, a pair of orange-fronted parakeets on Hurunui Mainland Island, in Canterbury, have
built not one nest, but two.
The first nest, containing eight eggs, was an exciting find for Department of Conservation staff because the clutch size of orange-fronted parakeets in the wild has never been recorded. These chicks have now fledged and their mother has re-nested nearby and laid five more eggs.
A DoC technical support officer, John Kearvell, says the two nests are the first evidence that the critically endangered birds produce a second brood.
The orange-fronted parakeet or kadiäkadiäriki is found only in Canterbury, in two valleys - the Hawdon Valley, Arthurs Pass National Park and the south branch of the Hurunui River, Lake Sumner Forest Park.
It has recently been bumped up the endangered list into the top nationally critical category, along with kakapo, black robin and takahe.
The next highest category is extinction. The total population is put at fewer than 250 breeding adults.
Low stoat numbers in the Hawdon and Hurunui Valleys have contributed to the parakeets' breeding success, but staff continue to trap stoats and rats, and check the amount of beech seed available.
The abundance of the seed is thought to have triggered breeding of orange-fronted parakeets in both valleys. The young take at least 40 days to fledge, and birds are thought not to expend the effort involved unless there is plenty of seed around.
DoC staff are now monitoring two orange-fronted parakeet nests and 10 yellow-crowned parakeet nests.
Department of Conservation
Kakapo Recovery
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