KEY POINTS:
Staff at the Cape Kidnappers and Ocean Beach Wildlife Preserve are celebrating a milestone - the breeding of North Island robins re-introduced to the peninsula this year.
Seven months after the release of 35 of the tiny birds into the enclosure in May, two young robins were found last week in a forested gully, happily flying about.
Preserve manager Tamsin Ward-Smith the two birds were not wearing the ankle bands which the released birds carried.
This was clear evidence of breeding.
This is big news for those involved with the sanctuary as the North Island robin had been extinct on the Cape Kidnappers Peninsula for many years.
Since the re-introduction, 21 of the robins, including at least three pairs, have been re-sighted.
But those spotted last week were the first hatched chicks seen since the 35 birds were transferred from the Maungataniwha PineForest.
Ms Ward-Smith said robins were naturally charismatic and inquisitive birds, and the youngsters were attracted to staff and volunteer workers and came down to feed on mealworms thrown to them.
"It was a bit of a thrill to be wandering along, hear a robin, chase it up and discover that it was unbanded, and then have a second turn up too," she said.
"We think a third was also lurking nearby."
Several volunteers involved in the original robin release were there as well.
"It was a real buzz for them to see what all that work was about."
She said robin pairs could produce two clutches of up to four eggs each breeding season from August through to January.
With few predators, the robins were likely to breed successfully and numbers were expected to rapidly increase. It looks as though this had begun. Their distinctive call would add a new sound to the forested areas on the peninsula, Ms Ward-Smith said.
"These chicks are a special milestone for the project."
An intensive pest control programme operates within the 2500ha preserve, which is protected by a 9.5km predator-proof fence, stretching from the northern edge of the peninsula near Clifton to encompass a significant proportion of the Ocean Beach sand dunes.
Cape Kidnappers is owned by American businessman Julian Robertson, who has partnered with the Hanson, West and Lowe families, owners of the adjacent Ocean Beach Wilderness block, to create the wildlife preserve.
- Hawke's Bay Today
