Te Rangatira the kārearea has been bringing food to a brood of ducklings in Rotorua. Photo / Lee Ormsby
Move over The Notebook, Rotorua has its own love story worthy of critical acclaim.
Kārearea (New Zealand Falcon), the country's most threatened bird of prey, are renowned for their hunting prowess.
An aggressive species of bird, which usually feeds on other birds which it catches in flight, the kārearea has even been reported to attack dogs.
When you take all of that into account, the case of a kārearea in Hamurana developing a soft spot for a brood of ducklings is truly extraordinary.
Bernie Kerr, who lives on a lifestyle block in the area, noticed a kārearea visiting his home a few times a day, often perching in a tree at the front of the property.
Kerr said he enjoyed having the visitor as it's not every day there is a threatened species in your backyard. However, he noticed the bird, which he has affectionately named Te Rangatira, was starting to exhibit some strange behaviour.
"It was about a month ago it turned up and just made itself at home really because there's lots of sparrows and other bird life round for it to feed on.
"But then it started to present food to some Muscovy ducklings that I had. It's quite strange but it set up this rapport with them where twice a day, morning and evening, he'd bring food in.
"I saw it kill blackbirds, sparrows, thrushes and a feral pigeon - it was a pretty capable hunter and very, very quick. He was catching way more than he needed and I think he was in an 'I've got a family to feed' sort of mode. Typically, you'd expect the ducklings to be gobbled up but he took a liking to them."
Kerr said, as the ducklings got bigger, Te Rangatira's urge to be a parent waned and he had not visited for a while.
"Hopefully he has a mate of his own now. I've actually never seen a falcon in the wild before, so to have one in your backyard is pretty special."
Wingspan National Bird of Prey Centre executive director Debbie Stewart said Kerr's observation's of the kārearea were so unique they were going to be entered in a scientific paper.
"It's a world first obviously, for a New Zealand Falcon, but for a bird to be triggered by spring time and not paired up with a female - it's responded to the fluffy ducklings and got a bit confused.
"It's lovely, on so many levels. It's great to see people looking after and taking an interest in the wildlife in their own backyard. Good on Bernie in the first instance for being able to see a threatened species so close. The New Zealand Falcon is rarer than the kiwi."
Stewart said birds in captivity at Wingspan would often foster other chicks and eggs but she had never heard of it happening in the wild.
"We can manipulate that in a captive situation but this has certainly opened our eyes to what happens in the wild as well."
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