A kākā captured on a stone wall in Auckland's Epsom late last year. Photo / Malcolm Stapleton
Increased sightings of the kākā in central Auckland suburbs are being hailed as an encouraging sign for conservationists and could suggest decades of work is paying off.
Local conservation group Urban Ark-Manawa Taiao said late last year, and again this month, it had received reports and evidence of the native bird, rarely seen in urban Auckland, in places like Epsom, Grey Lynn, and Point Chevalier.
Ecological restoration adviser Phil Simpson was sceptical at first, until he saw the video footage.
“I was like, ‘Oh my god it really is one’. Then it turned out there was actually a pair of them.”
He said kākā were known to be in the wider area such as the Waitākere Ranges and some offshore islands but it was very uncommon to see them in the central Auckland area.
“It feels like they’re moving in. Possibly from areas where the population has grown, and they’re finding the urban environment an all right place to hang out.”
A report published in 2025 in to the changes of bird populations around the Auckland Domain between 1987 and 2020 recorded an increase in “forest specialist birds” like tūī, kererū, and grey warbler.
Report co-author, and Auckland Museum land vertebrates curator, Josie Galbraith said it pointed to Auckland’s urban environment becoming better at supporting these kinds of birds.
She said the urban bird community was incomplete but there was still ample opportunity for more species to settle and thrive in Auckland with enough conservation effort and spillover from projects outside the city.
“We could start to see things like kākā in more numbers ... also species like bellbird ... and the other thing I reckon we could definitely see back is tomtit or miromiro.”
She said the greatest strength in urban conservation was the people power.
She said locals could contribute in many ways to improving urban birdsong, like pest control, planting native trees like kōwhai, weed control, or even a waterbath.
“But the caveat there is keeping [the waterbath] super, super clean because the spread of disease is a big problem for our birds.”
Urban Ark is responsible for pest trapping, weeding, and tree planting throughout the city covering the Waitematā and Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa local board areas.
It has some 3500 traps in the community with nearly 21,000 catches reported since forming in 2019.
“But we reckon the real number is likely to be massively higher than that,” Simpson said, “possibly five or six times higher than that.”
“The biggest challenge I think all trapping groups across the country face actually is getting the data from the trappers.”
He said growth in bird populations was also thanks to neighbouring groups like Eastern Bays Songbird Project, Maungakiekie Songbird Project, Pest Free Waitākere Ranges Alliance, and Pest Free Kaipātiki.
“The fact that kākā seem to be returning to our area is a really positive sign that the combined efforts of thousands of community volunteers is really helping to create healthier habitats for native wildlife.”
Simpson said, unlike Wellington, Auckland didn’t have a fenced predator-proof area in the central city and had more fragmented habitats.
But he said the city did have stream corridors to connect habitats with the many maunga which act as “stepping-stone habitats” for birds.
“So over the coming years we’re planning to focus on enhancing wildlife corridors to create more ecological connectivity through increased planting, pest plant control, and predator control.
“And we’ve got a volunteer base that’s getting stronger so we’re really confident more and more people will come on board with that.”
Jordan Dunn is a multimedia reporter based in Auckland with a focus on crime, social issues, policing and local issues. He joined Newstalk ZB in 2024 from Radio New Zealand, where he started as an intern out of the New Zealand Broadcasting School.