A little bird named Maddy may have just completed the longest return journey of its species
In less than a month, Maddy the shore plover flew from her home on Motutapu Island in Auckland to Foxton and back - an 800km journey. A shore plover named Maddy recently flew from her home on Motutapu Island to Foxton and back - an 800km journey and possibly the longest to be completed by the species in under a month. The 800km round trip may be the longest return journey ever by a shoreplover in just one month, according to the Department of Conservation. Maddy is one of about nine shore plovers on the island, where conservationists have been carrying out pest control to allow native species to thrive. However, efforts to increase shore pl Dover numbers and create a self-sustaining population on the islands have proven tricky, as a lot of the birds just disappear. To do nothing to help the species survive would be “signing off their bloody death warrant” if nothing was done.
gepubliceerd : 2 jaar geleden door Caroline Williams in Environment
Maddy the shore plover recently flew from her home on Motutapu Island to Foxton and back - an 800km journey and possibly the longest to be completed by the species in under a month. Here she is pictured at the Manawatū Estuary.
A shore plover named Maddy may have broken the record for the longest return journey for her species.
According to the Department of Conservation, Maddy left her home on predator-free Motutapu Island in the Hauraki Gulf sometime between September 3 and 11.
She was photographed by birdwatchers on September 20 at the Manawatū Estuary in Foxton, on the west coast of the lower North Island.
The little bird, identifiable by the white, blue and red coloured bands on her legs, was found back home on Motutapu on September 29.
The 800km round trip may be the longest return journey ever by a shore plover in just one month, DOC shore plover recovery programme member Dave Houston said.
“It’s a long distance for a little bird to go,” he said, adding that it was “remarkable” she had survived the trip.
While most shore plovers keep their trips short and one way, some go on their ‘OE’ before they settle down to breed or possibly to look for other birds to settle down with, Houston said.
Birds were surviving longer outside pest-free islands, possible thanks to the efforts of conservationists.
The species, endemic to Aotearoa, is classified by DOC as nationally critical – just one step away from extinction – with about 250 birds left.
More than half of these birds live in the Chatham Islands, where the species managed to survive after the introduction of ship rats to New Zealand saw them disappear from the mainland.
Maddy is one of about nine shore plovers on Motutapu Island, where DOC, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki and the Motutapu Restoration Trust have been carrying out pest control to allow native species to thrive.
However, efforts to increase shore plover numbers and create a self-sustaining population on the island have proven tricky, as a lot of the birds just disappear, Houston said.
In 2022, 26 juveniles were released onto the island. Only 30% remain, while 30% were found dead and 40% are missing – meaning they likely flew off the island and were killed by predators somewhere else.
Billy Brown, chairperson of Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, which has mana whenua (indigenous authority) over Motutapu, said it was a very safe place for birds generally.
However, the shore plover was predated by “almost everything”, including other native bird species like the ruru, black-backed gull and kāhu.
“They’re probably all going to be wiped out soon.”
To do nothing to help the species survive would be “signing off their bloody death warrant”.
Brown said it was a small win and heartwarming to have Maddy the shore plover decide to come home to Motutapu after her big journey.
“It’s the sort of energy that makes you keep going.”