White Heron Colony
The white heron colony near Okarito (Westland) at present has 12 pairs of birds nesting, according to the Director of the Dominion Museum, Dr R. A. Falla, who recently inspected the colony. The nests when he saw them contained 19 chicks and six eggs yet to hatch, ha said. Usually there were only 14 to 17 young birds in the colony. During the last 60 or 70 years the Okarito colony has been ths only nesting area in New Zealand for the white heron, which is a tropical bird. New arrivals at the colony this year were two royal spoonbills, Dr Falla said. These are large white birds of Australian origin. If they nest at the colony it will be the first record of these birds doing so in New Zealand.
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Bibliographic details
Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 79, Issue 7139, 30 November 1949, Page 6
Word Count
134White Heron Colony Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 79, Issue 7139, 30 November 1949, Page 6
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