Little owls thought to be heard in region

Birdwatchers in Wairarapa are hot on the trail of the little owl, a German import that may have migrated here from the South Island.
The owl was introduced to New Zealand between 1906 and 1910 - along with other exotic birds - by acclimatisation societies operating mostly in Otago.
Until now it was thought confined to the mainland, but Aalbert Rebergen, lower North Island field officer for Forest and Bird, believes he heard the bird in a tree
outside his Masterton home last week.
"Just after 11pm - I was working behind my computer and the music had just stopped - I heard an owl calling behind our Renall Street house," Mr Rebergen said.
"I went outside and heard it calling in a tree at the corner of our garden; it then flew to the other side of the garden where it continued calling."
When Mr Rebergen came back with a torch, the bird had gone.
"I recognised the call immediately as a little owl, but checked its call a few minutes later on the Internet," he said. He describes the noise as a loud call, 'kew' or 'kiu' and quite different from a morepork.
At least twice in the past six months, Mr Rebergen has seen dead owls on the roads that, by their grey-brown colour and feather pattern, might be little owls.
"I'd like to confirm the presence of little owls in Wairarapa and
would like to ask your readers if they have heard - or better still have seen - little owls in Wairarapa," he said.
Colin Miskelly, conservation analyst for the Department of Conservation, said there had been occasionally reported sightings of the owl in the North Island, but nothing confirmed.
"Aalbert is someone I know and put a lot of faith in what he said, if he went on the Internet soon after hearing it," Dr Miskelly said.
"That's pretty close to being a completely acceptable record."
Dr Miskelly said, in his DOC role, he needs to keep an eye on population changes.
"In general another exotic species extending its range would ring alarm bells, and they are a predatory species, but there is no direct evidence of impact on native species," he said.
"You tend to suggest a delineating service. Find out how extensive is the 'infestation' if you want to use that term, and is there motivation to do anything about it."
In the case of the little owl, however, "it doesn't currently feature on our radar".
Little owls eat mice, some large insects and small birds.
Dr Miskelly said little owls were occasionally kept in captivity and the birds probably had some human help crossing Cook Strait, "whether deliberately or maybe trapped in a truck container or something".
Dr Miskelly said Wairarapa is "ideal habitat" for the bird, similar to Otago, Canterbury and Southland where it now ranges, and as a birdwatcher and Ornithological Society member, he is keen to find out more.
"I've specifically asked Aalbert to do what he can."