January 2009

Maud Island currently has 12 takahe and  thanks to some carefully controlled 'romantic introductions' these 6 males and 6 females are now happily spending their days as 6 couples or breeding pairs as they are known in scientific terms.

The names of the pairs of Takahe are The Captain and Rangi, Te Hoiere and Amazon, Chomsky and Asterix, Haggis and Hinewai, Tua Maria and Quammen, Abel and Mavora.

To date The Captain and Rangi are the only takahe to have become parents. In addition to their own chicks they have looked after and hatched Takahe eggs that have been given to them.  Some of their chicks such as Kuia and Wainui have been transferred down to Burwood when they were 4 months old for rearing by Abel and Te Hoiere; brother and sister takahe who seem to really enjoy training the young birds (or juveniles as they are called) to pick the tender shoots of grasses and build the rather clumsy and layered grass nests. Learning how to eat and build nests are vital survival skills when living in the colder climate of Fiordland.
 

Just after we arrived Richard took us to the  small enclosure that is used when the male and female takahe are first introduced to each other - Richard explains its easier this way as almost instantly takahe will indicate whether or not they have any attraction towards the other. "It’s quite soon after the initial 'look see ' that the takahe indicate their approval of each other and the show-off strutting and chirriping starts. ...then once the birds begin to display attachment to each other (usually after 2 days) by following each other along the wire fence the enclosed area is made larger.  It’s at this point that the male begins to act protectively about his female mate" says Richard.

In turn it’s not unusual to hear female takahe make little sounds so that the male always knows she is safe and close by.  According to Richard with Asterix and Chomsky,  Asterix  was very timid when she first arrived but now that she has big and bold Chomsky to keep intruders at bay she is much more inquisitive.  Watching Chomsky we noticed he seemed to know his role as protector well because as we watched he was always ensuring that Asterix was in the background and he stood between her and us.

 

Asterix and Chomsky

Protecting a female mate and keeping any single young male takahe away is a major concern for takahe in the wild. Sometimes male takahe will fight viciously to prevent another male from invading their ‘own’ large 50 hectare territory. This is why even on an island as big as Maud, DOC has to make extra certain that each pair has enough grassland to make their territory and habitat appealing. 

Takahe are also very happy to experiment with their diet, Te Hoiere for example seems to love figs and will strut into our garden when the figs are ripe to stretch his neck as high as he can to pluck juicy figs form the lower branches.

Leigh added that watching the parent takahe collect tasty morsels for their chicks and feed it to them with their big strong claw feet is really cute. "They have such powerful feet and yet they can balance and be quite dainty as they carefully lift juicy young shoots for their chicks to eat." she explained.

Maud Island has a weekly mail delivery by boat and DOC has an arrangement so that fresh food can also be delivered.  There is one large lodge on the island that can house up to 15 volunteers or research scientists who visit the island to study wildlife and the regeneration of native bush.

 

Weekly Mail Delivery Boat		Comalco Lodge