Kākāpō in Waikato: How to keep up with Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari’s bird trio

Ever since the first kākāpō to live on mainland New Zealand in decades arrived in Waikato last year, they have kept the team at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari on their toes. So how do they keep up with the kākāpō? Waikato Herald reporter Danielle Zollickhofer accompanied rangers Dan Howie and Craig Montgomerie on a mission.

It is a cloudy and drizzly morning in Pukeatua, a group of kākā are guarding Maungatautari from the skies.

At the foot of the maunga, Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari operations manager Dan Howie and biodiversity ranger Craig Montgomerie prepare for a journey off the beaten track to check on one of Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari’s celebrity residents: kākāpō Bunker.

Bunker and fellow resident kākāpō Tautahi and Taeatanga are true trailblazers who have been living in the depths of the Waikato forest for over a year.

Since then, they kept the team at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari busy, mainly because of their numerous escape attempts.

Besides ensuring their safety, the birds also need regular monitoring to check on their health and see how they adapt to their new habitat, over 1500km away from their homes on the offshore islands in the South Island.

Keeping up with the kākāpō is no small feat: the fenced sanctuary covers an area of 3400 hectares of thick bush.

This means locating the nocturnal and flightless parrots takes time. Even in the era of modern technology.

Google Maps won’t be able to help Howie and Montgomerie here.

Instead, a system called Noranet, which involves a network of receivers spread across the sanctuary, reports the bird’s location back to a central hub.

Out in the bush, kākāpō rangers need to use hand-held aerials and radio recorders to locate the bird. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

This location data can be accessed by the team at the Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari Visitor Centre and indicates in what part of the mountain the bird is.

Out in the bush, away from the walking tracks, Howie and Montgomerie need to use hand-held aerials and radio recorders to locate the bird.

Every two seconds, these devices pick up a radio pulse that is sent from transmitters that the kākāpō carry on their backs like a backpack.

It’s fiddly work, involving a lot of walking, stopping, holding the aerial in different directions to see which way the signal is strongest, then walking in that direction. And repeat.

At first glance, the forest is quiet, the only noise coming from the rustling of Howie’s and Montgomerie’s confident steps through the woods, mixed with the quiet, high-pitched beeping of the radio recorders which indicates how close they are to the bird.

Listening closely, it appears that the sanctuary’s other feathered residents, including a vocal kōkako, are providing the mission with a special soundtrack.

In searching for Bunker, Howie and Montgomerie use very few words. Once they know they are close to him, they only communicate by hand signs.

Suddenly, the call “bird on the run!” interrupts the silence.

Montgomerie is in pursuit, but not for long. After a wee growl, Bunker is safe and relaxed in his arms.

It didn't take Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari biodiversity ranger Craig Montgomerie long to capture Bunker safely. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

Being up close with this taonga species, which was once believed to be extinct, feels significant.

Bunker is one of just 244 of his kind.

He is calm, almost shy, as Montgomerie and Howie carry out the health check, yet his mauri and mana are omnipresent.

The check reveals Bunker is doing well: He gained some weight and shows no sign of disease, his legs, beak and claws are functioning properly and the transmitter fits as it should.

Aside from the health check, Howie and Montgomerie also change the battery of another device, called Ornitrack, that is currently being trialled to track the kākāpō’s location.

Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari operations manager Dan Howie carries out kākāpō Bunker's health check. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

Ornitrack is a GPS tag that sends the bird’s location every 10 minutes.

Howie says the device is very useful for checking if the kākāpō have escaped the sanctuary, as it gives a precise location.

However, it is not so effective inside the forest because the tags are solar-powered and have short battery power. At this stage, the team needs to replace it every month.

A kākāpō-specific GPS is currently being developed by the Kākāpō Recovery Team and Ornitrack in Lithuania. Once in action, it is hoped the battery would only need to be replaced every six months.

All kākāpō wear backpack-style GPS transmitters. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

Overall, Howie and Montgomerie are very pleased with how the kākāpō trial has been going at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, labelling it a “raging success”.

It has been a bit over a year since the start of the trial.

Since then, the number of birds has reduced from 10 to three.

But even with just three birds, the trial has given the team good info about how sanctuaries, like Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, may be used as a safe place for kākāpō in the future, Howie says.

“We learned so much. There has never been as much data as there is now.”

Bunker is calm, almost shy, as Montgomerie and Howie carry out the health check. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer

The recent climbing trials revealed the kākāpō barrier on the sanctuary’s fence is working and preventing the birds from climbing the fence.

Instead, they use vegetation as a method of escape, but the team doesn’t think the birds escape intentionally.

Further data revealed that the kākāpō adapt to new surroundings well and are capable of travelling great distances.

One bird even travelled 8km in one night, Montgomerie says.

Since April, Bunker, Tautahi and Taeatanga are “relatively” settled into their own, regular territories.

Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari covers an area of 3400 hectares of thick bush.

The data also showed that the birds are feeding themselves well, however, there are currently just theories around what their diet at the sanctuary actually looks like.

“We suspect that they like invasive species, like blackberry,” Howie says.

“GPS data showed that Tautahi spent many nights within a blackberry patch ... There are no blackberries on the offshore islands down south so this is very novel.”

Another important component of the trial is the relationship between Ngāi Tahu and local iwi.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Representative on the Kākāpō Recovery Group Tāne Davis tells the Waikato Herald: “The trial has offered an extremely special opportunity to strengthen iwi-to-iwi relationships.

“Ngāi Tahu are very protective of our taonga and we are immensely grateful to Ngāti Koroki Kahukura, Raukawa, Ngāti Hauā, and Waikato for welcoming the kākāpō into their rohe (area) and watching over them on our behalf.”

Kākāpō Tautahi is a good climber. Photo / Department of Conservation

A year into the trial, the birds’ personalities have also come to light a bit more.

Bunker is very stable and has probably only seen half the maunga, Montgomerie says. “He is known for his almost Oscar-worthy slow-motion getaways.”

Tautahi, 5, is the most adventurous and most mobile of the kākāpō trio. He is quite vocal, less calm in hand, best at running from the team and a great climber.

On a few occasions the team hasn’t been able to catch him for his health checks, because he was too high up in the vegetation, Howie says.

Meanwhile, Taeatanga, 10, explored the mountain widely but since settled into very regular territory high up on the maunga.

He is best at hiding, having found himself some “pretty amazing burrows”, Howie says.

Kākāpō Taeatanga is known for finding himself some "pretty amazing burrows". Photo / Dani Whitaker

Taeatanga is also the chunkiest bird of the three and the one who would be most likely to boom, with Montgomerie saying he has previously been found in near-booming condition.

If he does boom, it could encourage Bunker and Tautahi to follow suit.

“If it happens, it means that the habitat at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari would - in theory - allow for breeding to occur,” Howie says.

Currently, all breeding happens on Whenua Hou and Pukenui Anchor Island with all newly hatched chicks remaining on those islands.

However, one reason for the Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari kākāpō trial was that those offshore islands are nearing capacity.

The next kākāpō breeding season is expected in 2026/2027. Photo / Andrew Digby

The next breeding season is predicted for summer 2026/27 and Howie says it could be possible that a decision will be made to remove some of the older birds from the islands to make room for the chicks.

“The trial [at the sanctuary] will continue indefinitely, but the number of kākāpō will remain at three for the forseeable future,” Howie says.

“[Although] It would be wonderful if we could host [more of] these taonga in 2028, but this decision is up to the Kākāpō Recovery Team.”

This visit was made possible thanks to the partnership between Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari, DoC’s Kākāpō Recovery Team, Ngāi Tahu, and local iwi.

Danielle Zollickhofer is a multimedia journalist and assistant news director at the Waikato Herald. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.