Follow the Hutton’s Shearwater

Following a three-year trial period of translocating Hutton’s Shearwater chicks from the mountains to the man-made colony (Te Rae o Atiu) on the Kaikoura Peninsula, monitoring of bird numbers began by the Hutton’s Shearwater Charitable Trust.

A predator-proof fence around the colony was completed in 2010.

After fledging from Te Rae o Atiu, the chicks fly to the coast of Australia and return around three years later to this new colony to breed. Within 10-15 years there should be enough birds returning to make this a sustainable colony.

Nicky MacArthur, a trustee, holds a Hutton’s Shearwater chick.
Young Hutton’s Shearwater.
bird-in-box
A Hutton’s Shearwater chick settles into a nesting box at Te Rae o Atiu.
The graph is updated each year.
The graph is updated each year

It is thought that this is the largest transfer of seabird chicks from the wild to create a new colony anywhere in the world.

chick-on-grass

All photos supplied by Nicky McArthur.

Related SmartStory: Geoff in the Mountains

For more information visit www.huttonsshearwater.org.nz/