UNSUCCESSFUL SEARCH FOR THE N.Z. NATIVE THRUSH IN S. TARANAKI

Wanganui Chronicle, 6 May 1949, Page 6

UNSUCCESSFUL SEARCH FOR THE N.Z. NATIVE THRUSH IN S. TARANAKI

(Special to “Chronicle.”) Wild cattle and pigs which showed no fear of man, a shag rookery on cliffs surrounding a picturesque waterfall in the bush, and the discovery that the native robin had increased amazingly in the last 25 years —these were some of the experiences of an expedition which returned from th e Rawhitiroa State Forest, South Taranaki, last month, after an unsuccessful search for the native thrush, believed by ornithologists to be extinct. Members of the expedition intend to make a further search at a later date. The area searched by th e party was in the headwaters ot the Waitotara river, in heavy bush country which is almost unexplored. Many thousands' of acres in this area have not been revisited since the country was surveyed in the 80’s. The native thrush, which originally inhabited the North and South Islands in the early days, decreased rapidly in the 70 s and 80’s, and there are no verified reports ol one having been seen in the North Island since 1900. The last definite record of the bird’s occurrence in the North Isiand pertained to four specimens in th e Dominion Museum, obtained at Waitotara before 1900. The expedition comprised Messrs A. R. Annabell, VV. Cowan, O-, F., R., and M., Matthews (all of Waitotara Valley), E. H. Annabell (Hawke’s Bay), and J. .R. Annabell and J. Manoney (Christchurch). In the diaries of the late Mr. J. R. Annabell, ol Ngamatapouri, formerly a Government surveyor, reference was made to native thrushes being “more plentiful than anywhere els e he had been” in the Pokeka valley in 1887.

The Pokeka stream is a tributary of the Waitotara river. Th e expedition took supplies by packhorse to the base camp, a whare on the last sheep station in the Waitotara valley, about three miles up the Pokeka stream. From there supplies had to be packed on foot, through country where stinging nettles and supple jacks grew so profusely that a track had to b G cut tor eight miles up the side ot the stream. The party had to travel light, and lived mainly on wild beef. They shot a heifer calf and a young bull in the bush. THE ROBIN’S INCREASE They found that the native robin, once thought to be on the verge of extinction, had increased amazingly, and was very plentiful in the area visited. Sixteen robins were seer) or heard on one day during the trip. The birds wer e often seen in pairs, and were once seen in threes. One member of the party was brushed in th e face by the wing of a robin as it flew across his path. Sir Walter Buller, one of New Zealand’s greatest ornithologists, said in his book “History of the Birds of New Zealand,” published in 1888, that the native robin was then dying out rapidly. “It requires no prophetic vision to forsee its utter extinction within a very short time,” he said. The party also saw tour blue or mountain ducks (Whip), now fairly rare. While exploring the littleknown Omaru stream, three members of the party drove two blue ducks down stream for live miles. Whio inhabit the remote mountain gorges, and rarely if ever come into the lowerreaches of rivers. Dr. Robert Cushman Murphy, chairman of the department of birds in the American Museum of Natural History, who accompanied the expedition into Fiordland recently, was reported to have been very pleased when he saw two blue ducks on the Caswell and Stillwater rivers.

The party h>ard the strident call of kiwis at night, and on a high bush ridg e they found the remains of one. Further along the same ridge, they found a fresh piece of kiwi skin, apparently dropped by some denizen of the bush the night before. Other birds seen included kakas, tuis, bellbirds, grey warblers, bobby whiteheads (bush canary) tomtits, fantails, bush hawks and riflemen. LITTLE FEAR OF MAN

The party found that wild cattle and pigs in the remote bush areas showed little or no fear of man. When Mr. A. R. Annabell approached a wild cow with loaded rifle, expecting her to bolt, she showed no signs of alarm, and merely sniffed at him curiously. He stood still, and she came so close to him that he toucred her on the head with the barrel of the rifle. She showed no fear until he waved his rands and jumped about, when she trotted away into the bush. A wild sow stood and watched the party swagging through the bush within 25 feet of her, and received a bullet in the head for her indifference. A wild boar refused to budge from the track when two of the men were following the tracks of cattle through the bush. They could not shoot for fear of disturbing the/ cattle, and had to walk warily round the boar, while he stood champing his jaws defiantly. The robins too, seemed very tame, and came close to the parly whenever swags were downed lor a “smoko.” One robin hopped on to a pack placed on the ground, and investigated a smoking cigarette which a member of the party had put down while trying to photograph the bird. SHAG ROOKERY FOUND

One of the most interesting finds was a shag rookery in the cliffs surrounding a picaresque waterfall in the bush. The native shag has had a price on its head for many years, but in this remote bush area the birds must have nested undisturbed for centuries. The party counted at least 25 young shags in nests on the cliffs, and many adult birds were seen flying up and down the stream. A 201 b eel seen swimming in the pool at the foot of the waterfall was killed with a slasher, and dragged out by Mr. E. H. Annabell. Roasted over a fire in camp, it made a welcome change to the wild beef on which the party had been subsisting. Commenting on the expedition, Mr. A. R. Annabell said that the trip had been a memorably one, even though they failed in their object—the re-dis-covery of the thrush. “We had a wonderful trip, with interest packed into every inch of the way. As we visited only the fringe of a vast area of bush, the thrush could still survive without our having seen it,” he said.