December 4, 2009

New Zealand dotterels nesting in Wynyard Quarter

The discovery of a pair of New Zealand dotterels nesting on the vacant Shell site on the corner of Gaunt and Daldy streets brought a temporary halt to work digging up drains and piping, to protect the chicks of the nationally vulnerable species.

The New Zealand dotterel is a nationally vulnerable species found only in this country, and was once widespread and common but now there are less than 2,000 birds left. The serious decline in numbers is due to a combination of habitat loss, predation by introduced mammals and disturbance during breeding.

Fletcher Construction, which was doing remedial work on the Shell site, recognised the birds and contacted Boffa Miskell senior principal of ecology Dave Slaven, who had worked previously on the conservation of New Zealand dotterels.

Mr Slaven approached Shell and Fletcher Construction, who readily agreed to a wide ‘no go’ zone around the nest on the site until the two eggs the pair had laid had hatched, and then to down tools for three weeks after that until the chicks were mobile and could avoid the danger posed by heavy machinery moving about the site.

The chicks have now fledged but both they and their parents are still hanging around the site. It is not hard to see why they were attracted to nest there, says Mr Slaven. For the birds it was a safe site because it was fenced so people or predators such as cats would have difficulty getting in, and for added safety their nest in the middle of the site they had a 360-degree view.