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RNZ News
8 hours ago
- Science
- RNZ News
Annual New Zealand Garden Bird Survey begins
A Kererū pair in the kōwhai. Photo: Manaaki Whenua/Meg Lipscombe Hundreds of citizen scientists are set for a stint of bird spotting as the annual New Zealand Garden Bird Survey gets underway on Saturday. It's the 19th time that Te Tatauranga o ngā Manu Māra o Aotearoa has been held. From now until 6 July people were encouraged to get out in their garden or go to a local park and look at and listen for birds for one hour, on one day, and record the highest number of each species they notice. The survey's co-ordinator, Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research senior researcher Dr Angela Brandt, said the ongoing data collection showed how the trends for each species might be changing over time. The survey reported on 14 different bird species that were most commonly seen in the garden to identify trends within those species. Pīwakawaka (fantail) about to take off in the backyard. Photo: Manaaki Whenua/Graham Murphy Last year's survey found that tūī and pīwakawaka continued to increase, while national declines in silvereye or tauhou lessened. But there were short-term declines for kererū both at the national scale and in seven regions, she said. "What we've noticed, especially in our last two reports, was that three species were starting to show these short-term, five-year declines. "That's the kererū, the goldfinch, and the house sparrow. It's not a cause for alarm necessarily, but it's something that we should pay attention to and we want to see whether those trends start to pick up again or if they continue on that kind of declining end of the spectrum." Brandt said the survey not only provided information about birds and the environment generally, but it boosted participants' wellbeing by getting them outdoor and observing and thinking about nature. "We had people saying it was a good opportunity to slow down. Participants talked about feeling curiosity, joy, fun, wonder and a sense of connection." A Tūī (kōkō) interrupted from its feed. Photo: Manaaki Whenua/Colin Keast It also complemented the monitoring undertaken in conservation areas, she added. "We're asking people to count all the birds they see, so we get a lot of information on the common species [as well as rare and threatened species] and can then see if they're potentially starting to decline. "But also we're also getting information from urban and rural areas where people are, so that covers some different parts of New Zealand to the monitoring efforts going on by our science organisations and experts." For some species there was a lot of variation among regions, she added. "The fantail is a great example of a species that's quite consistent [everywhere] as we're generally seeing increases over the last several years." In contrast the korimako (bellbird) was "quite variable," she said. "Canterbury and Nelson for example, we've had pretty consistent increasing trends for bell birds over the last several years. "But then we actually have some strong decreases in the counts that we've seen in some of our North Island regions such as Gisborne, Hawke's Bay and Manawatu." It underscored why survey participation was invaluable, Brandt said. "What's really helpful for us to actually pick up those differences is to get enough people participating in each region, [to] give us that full picture." How to take part in the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey: 1. Visit the NZ Garden Bird Survey website to get started. 2. Select a garden or a local park. 3. Choose any ONE day between 28 June and 6 July. 4. Look and listen for birds on that day for ONE hour. 5. For each species, record the HIGHEST number seen or heard at one time. 6. Submit the results online via the NZ Garden Bird Survey website's Take Part page. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
3 days ago
- Science
- Scoop
The 19th NZ Garden Bird Survey Starts On Saturday 28 June
Thousands of New Zealanders have their pencils sharpened and at the ready for the start of the 19th New Zealand Garden Bird Survey | Te Tatauranga o ngā Manu Māra o Aotearoa on Saturday 28 June. As New Zealand/Aotearoa's longest-running citizen science project, the NZ Garden Bird Survey performs an invaluable role in tracking how our birds are faring, especially in urban and rural environments. Once submitted and analysed, the huge amounts of data provided by citizen scientists nationwide – more than 77,000 surveys since 2007 – shape the story of how bird counts are changing across the country over two timeframes – the past 5 and past 10 years. According to Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Senior Researcher Dr Angela Brandt, the ongoing data collection is showing how the trends for each species might be changing over time. The results from the State of NZ Garden Birds | Te āhua o ngā manu o te kāri i Aotearoa 2024 had good and bad news for four of our native species. While tūī (kōkō) and fantail (pīwakawaka) continue to show increasing trends, and the national declines in silvereye (tauhou) counts have lessened, we are seeing short-term declines for kererū at the national scale and in seven regions. 'In the latest report, we see a tapering off of national declines for silvereye and increasing trends in their counts in 10 regions, which is heartening. But short-term declines are emerging for several species, including kererū and three introduced songbirds,' Dr Brandt says. Because these bird trends often vary by region, it's beneficial to have more people taking part in the survey to enable us to detect when a regional trend is different to the national trend. 'We received a record number of surveys in 2024, and I'd love to see if each region can come out in force for their garden birds again,' Dr Brandt says. Now is the perfect time to create a birding memory, especially if you've never done the Survey before. The NZ Garden Bird Survey website has a whole host of bird identification pages, bird song examples, and tips on how to get the best out of your Survey experience. Doing the survey is great for people, too. Back in 2020, we asked participants about their experience taking part. Some people responded that they liked participating in a large collective effort like the NZ Garden Bird Survey because they didn't have time to join a conservation or nature group. Most people also reported a greater sense of wellbeing after spending time counting birds in the garden. 'We had people saying it was a good opportunity to slow down,' says Manaaki Whenua Senior Researcher Dr Gradon Diprose. 'Participants talked about feeling curiosity, joy, fun, wonder and a sense of connection.' Teachers and families can enrich the learning experience around the NZ Garden Bird Survey with a bilingual lesson plan, developed in partnership with the Science Learning Hub, which explores learning about birds through a te ao Māori lens. Kairangahau Māori Yvonne Taura says the aim was to engage kura Māori in manu education and show they have a role to play in protecting their local environment. 'We've built a curriculum that will be a scaffold for learning opportunities in kura. By showing manu in the environment and how they are impacted by urban development, we can encourage kaitiakitanga and an understanding of our manu taonga.' It's easy to take part in the Survey: 1. Visit the NZ Garden Bird Survey website to get started: 2. Select a garden or a local park 3. Choose any ONE day between 28 June and 6 July. 4. Look and listen for birds on that day for ONE hour. 5. For each species, record the HIGHEST number seen or heard at one time. 6. Submit the results online via the NZ Garden Bird Survey website's Take Part page:
Otago Daily Times
11-06-2025
- Science
- Otago Daily Times
Pests curb deer repellent trial
Possums are interfering with a trial to find out if white-tail deer avoid bait laced with a deer repellent. The trial, taking place on Stewart Island, is designed by Manaaki Whenua — Landcare Research, which will analyse the data while Zero Invasive Predators (ZIP) staff do the field work. Non-toxic cereal bait, with and without deer repellent, is being placed in front of trail cameras to observe how white-tail deer interact with it. The trial is being carried out on public conservation land at Halfmoon Bay. Last year, the Department of Conservation (Doc) announced plans to drop 1080 cereal bait to reduce the feral cat population endangering the southern New Zealand dotterel/pukunui on Stewart Island. About 43,000ha of Rakiura National Park will be poisoned between June and September. The park, including bookable hunting blocks, will remain open during the operation but bait laced with deer repellent will be used within bookable hunting blocks only. ZIP operations director Duncan Kay said progress in the trial had been slower than expected, due to the thriving population of possums on the island. "They seem to be faster at finding these baits than the deer, reducing our chances of recording deer interactions." The trial, requested by hunters, aimed to find out if deer repellent reduced the impact of aerial 1080 on Stewart Island's white-tail deer population, Mr Kay said. It would also show if adding deer repellent reduced the effectiveness of 1080 cereal bait on key target species such as ship rats, Norway rats and kiore. So far 20 deer had interacted with the bait and none had eaten it, Mr Kay said. "We need to record at least 100 interactions, where a white-tail deer approaches close enough to see and smell the bait, to form a statistically meaningful data set." The trial would continue until sufficient data was collected, which could take several more months, he said. A second trial would run during the aerial 1080 operation, when bait containing deer repellent would be dropped in the bookable hunting blocks. Deer repellent had been used in aerial operations elsewhere in New Zealand and had been shown to reduce impacts on deer species including red deer, he said. It is estimated the six-year Predator Free Rakiura project to eradicate pests will cost between $85 million to $90m. New Zealand Deerstalkers Association president Callum Sheridan said his group advocated for the use of deer repellent in all 1080 bait. "The excuse is there is not enough budget for it." Each year the association met groups, including Doc, which planned to use aerial 1080 poisoning to discuss where deer repellent would be included in bait drops. However, the area where deer repellent was used was very small compared with the total area where 1080 was dropped, he said. "You would think it was a public safety risk, especially in the areas where people are going to harvest game meat, that you would just put deer repellent in it as a matter of course because that's the intelligent thing to do."
Otago Daily Times
04-06-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Pests impede deer repellent trial
Possums are interfering with a trial to find out if white-tail deer avoid bait laced with a deer repellent. The trial, taking place on Stewart Island, is designed by Manaaki Whenua — Landcare Research, which will analyse the data while Zero Invasive Predators (ZIP) staff do the field work. Non-toxic cereal bait, with and without deer repellent, is being placed in front of trail cameras to observe how white-tailed deer interact with it. The trial is being carried out on public conservation land at Halfmoon Bay. Last year, the Department of Conservation (Doc) announced plans to drop 1080 cereal bait to reduce the feral cat population endangering the southern New Zealand dotterel/pukunui on Stewart Island. About 43,000ha of Rakiura National Park will be poisoned between June and September. The park, including bookable hunting blocks, will remain open during the operation but bait laced with deer repellent will be used within bookable hunting blocks only. ZIP operations director Duncan Kay said progress in the trial had been slower than expected, due to the thriving population of possums on the island. "They seem to be faster at finding these baits than the deer, reducing our chances of recording deer interactions." The trial, requested by hunters, aimed to find out if deer repellent reduced the impact of aerial 1080 on Stewart Island's white-tailed deer population, Mr Kay said. It would also show if adding deer repellent reduced the effectiveness of 1080 cereal bait on key target species such as ship rats, Norway rats and kiore. So far 20 deer had interacted with the bait and none had eaten it, Mr Kay said. "We need to record at least 100 interactions, where a white-tail deer approaches close enough to see and smell the bait, to form a statistically meaningful data set." The trial would continue until sufficient data was collected, which could take several more months, he said. A second trial would run during the aerial 1080 operation, when bait containing deer repellent would be dropped in the bookable hunting blocks. Deer repellent had been used in aerial operations elsewhere in New Zealand and had been shown to reduce impacts on deer species including red deer, he said. It is estimated the six-year Predator Free Rakiura project to eradicate pests will cost between $85 million-$90m. New Zealand Deerstalkers Association president Callum Sheridan said his group advocated for the use of deer repellent in all 1080 bait. "The excuse is there is not enough budget for it." Each year the association met groups, including Doc, which planned to use aerial 1080 poisoning to discuss where deer repellent would be included in bait drops. However, the area where deer repellent was used was very small compared with the total area where 1080 was dropped, he said. "You would think it was a public safety risk, especially in the areas where people are going to harvest game meat, that you would just put deer repellent in it as a matter of course because that's the intelligent thing to do."
Scoop
28-05-2025
- General
- Scoop
How Have Our Garden Birds Been Tracking Since 2014?
Press Release – Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research Some of our introduced species are also showing larger declines in the short term compared with their long-term trends. Pahirini (chaffinch), tiu (house sparrow), and kurarini (goldfinch) counts show moderate declines of 21 28% over the past … Things are looking up for the tauhou (silvereye), according to the results from the 2024 State of New Zealand Garden Birds | Te Āhua o ngā Manu o te Kāri Aotearoa report, which have just been released. The national declines for the species that were reported in previous years have tapered off and they are showing increases in 10 regions in the long- or short-term. A record number of people joined in the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey in 2024, with more than 17,000 New Zealanders spending one hour counting the birds they could see or hear to contribute to Aotearoa New Zealand's longest-running citizen science project. Their efforts added more than 7,000 surveys to this valuable dataset that helps researchers track how our garden birds are faring. The report also shows that pīwakawaka (fantail) and kōkō (tūī) continue to show increasing trends, both nationally and in many regions across the motu. The picture gets a little more complicated for kererū, however. While their counts show a shallow increase nationally over the past 10 years (39%), over the past 5 years they show a shallow decline nationally (7%) and moderate to rapid declines in seven regions. Some of our introduced species are also showing larger declines in the short term compared with their long-term trends. Pahirini (chaffinch), tiu (house sparrow), and kōurarini (goldfinch) counts show moderate declines of 21 – 28% over the past 5 years. This is just the type of early warning that the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey was set up to detect, says Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research senior researcher Dr Angela Brandt. 'The short-term declines we see for kererū, and for some other species, are not an immediate cause for alarm. But they are a signal that we should be paying attention to what's happening in our bird populations, including what may be behind these trends.' 'Birds are important indicators of the health of New Zealand's environment, and many perform important ecosystem functions, while others have inherent value as taonga species. If we see birds begin to decline, that suggests something has changed in their habitat, perhaps an increase in predators or a decrease in available food and shelter, which could also be affecting other species,' Dr Brandt says. In the 2024 survey, we asked participants 'what more needs to be done to care for birds in Aotearoa New Zealand?' Of the 4,652 responses to this question, 66% indicated that managing predators and other pests, such as weeds, was important. Dr Gradon Diprose notes that this response is consistent with previous years, in which managing predators and pests were considered the most important action to help care for our birds. The NZ Garden Bird Survey founder, Dr EricSpurr, says he looks forward to the survey every year and is delighted at the increasing number of people who take part. 'The results show the value of long-term citizen science monitoring. None of these data would have been collected without the help of everyday New Zealanders – who have made more than 77,000 bird surveys since the survey began 18 years ago. We expect short-term changes in bird numbers from year to year, and only by collecting more data will we be able to see whether these same trends continue.'
