JUNIOR SECTION*

Forest and Bird, Issue 153, 1 August 1964, Page 28

JUNIOR SECTION*

KERERU, THE NATIVE PIGEON

By the Wildlife Division, Department of Internal Affairs The New Zealand pigeon or kereru is one of the most beautiful of the native birds. Its head, neck, and upper breast are a shining golden green with coppery reflections; nape, back, shoulders, ami smaller wing coverts, chestnut purple; the back, rump, and tail, greyish and its wings, varying shades of green. Its bill is carmine at the base and yellowish towards the tip. The eyes are brownish red, the feet are pink, and the claws are black. There is no noticeable difference in the appearance of the male and female.

Besides being a very colourful bird, kereru is one of the most useful. Because its diet in summer and autumn consists almost entirely of fruits and berries of such trees and shrubs as the tawa, hinau, karaka, and porokaiwhiri (the pigeon wood), it spreads seeds, thus assisting the regeneration of the forest which provides its food, its protection, and its home. When, however, berries and fruit are unobtainable, it will eat the flowers and leaves of kowhai and wineberry, fruit blossom, tree lucerne, laburnum, and broom.

A forest dweller, kereru used to be very common and was found throughout the country and offshore islands, and, apart from the Maori in his search for food and feathers for cloaks, had no other enemy than the native falcon or karearea. Its previous abundance and its beauty so attracted the early explorers that it was collected by almost every scientific expedition from Cook onwards. Never very wary, it has always been easy to trap and shoot.

The pigeon’s flight has a characteristic noise, easily recognisable, and the bird is a strong flier, being able to cross great distances when changing from one feeding place to another. One would not place the pigeon amongst the songsters of the bush. His only call is a soft “coo”, which is why the Maori in some places called him “kuku”.

*Sponsored by J. R. McKenzie Trust

A pigeon’s nest is an untidy structure on a stout branch or cluster of vines usually between twelve and thirty feet above the ground. Only one egg is laid and for twenty-nine to thirty days the parents take turns at incubating until a young chick emerges naked and blind. Most young birds appear in December and January, when food is becoming plentiful.

At first the young pigeon is fed on a liquid from -its parent’s crop known as pigeon's milk, this unique way of feeding young birds being restricted to pigeons. The parent’s crop begins to produce this milk shortly before the egg is hatched. At first this so-called milk is the only source of food, but later the diet changes and regurgitated berries are fed with the milk and finally berries only. Soon after hatching the young bird is left alone in the nest except at feeding times.

To those interested in wildlife it is a shock to realise that a generation of New Zealanders has grown up most of whom have never seen a pigeon. This is unnecessary, as it is adaptable and where zealously protected can be found in closely settled areas such as town parks and suburban gardens. The easily grown tree lucerne provides leaves and buds readily eaten in the spring before berries ripen.

The kereru is one of New Zealand’s finest native birds and an indispensable part of our wildlife heritage. Although fully protected by law, the pigeon is still shot by irresponsible and selfish people. If it is to survive for future generations to see and admire, kereru needs now and always our full protection. Please do all you can to protect this beautiful bird.

Nature Unbalanced

Let us return to our island, that which we described in our last issue, to gain some understanding of the balance of nature. It had over centuries remained virtually unchanged while the various living creatures had lived out their own lives, were replaced by their own kind, and maintained their numbers. What factors then could make changes ? First, most obvious and devastating would be fire. If it were to sweep unchecked over the whole island all the plant life would be consumed, and what animal life could escape would not return as its food supply and shelter would have gone. If this happened in these times, seed carried by the wjnd and by other birds could grow and establish a different plant community, but the burnt area could not support the same community as before.

A fire which took the undergrowth or a part of it, while leaving the trees, could have a similar result, as could the removal of a few native plants from a reserve. Many introduced plant seeds are faster in germinating than the native ones, and the former can become established and take over before the natives retain their territory. Such plants could smother out the natural ones and may be of no benefit to the animal life. In the same way, other animals could be attracted and could compete for the existing food supplies. Also,

some of them might prey on the original inhabitants.

The first European animals to be released on the mainland of New Zealand were some pigs which Captain Cook gave the Maoris. They bred rapidly and are the ancestors of the wild one we know today. They feed on tree and fern roots and young plants and have a harmful effect on the forest and an equal, but indirect effect on the birds. And ships calling from the time of Cook, some being wrecked on the outlying islands, have unintentionally made it possible for rats to come ashore. Though a rat called the kiore was brought here by the Maoris, it ate only vegetable matter; but the European rat will eat almost anything. Rats on our island would play havoc with ground birds, their young, and their eggs. Not having developed a defence against such enemies and being curious rather than wary, these birds become easy victims. The birds of prey, such as the hawk and the owl, would take some rats but the rats would probably, because of the abundance of food supplies, multiply faster than the rat’s enemies (such as hawks) could deal with them. Then those birds which lived or fed on the ground would have two enemies and another competitor for their food supply.

Given these invaders (pigs and rats) and fire, the risk of which is ever present in dry weather, the island’s animal population and its cover of vegetation would change immeasurably.

One is inclined to think that most of the changes made on the islands around New Zealand are deliberate or caused by carelessness and stupidity. This is, however, the exception rather than the rule. Though many islands have been cleared for grazing, others have been changed greatly merely by placing lighthouses on them. One cannot dispute the necessity of lighthouses to a country which depends on overseas trade and shipping and on ships making a safe landfall.

Much as we regret its necessity, then, we shall erect a lighthouse on our island. Firstly, it must be placed on the highest point so as to be seen from all directions and as far as possible. To get the materials to build it, tracks must be cut through the

bush. When it is erected the keepers will require houses and fresh meat, milk, eggs, and vegetables. A certain amount of land will have to be cleared for these purposes. If it were only a small area that is needed and affected it might not matter greatly, but, as has happened elsewhere, the area required is ever increasing, so that the bush area dwindles and the food area for the birds gets smaller. Those birds that can leave do so and the remainder get weaker and become easier prey for the predatory birds and animals. Further, the bush tracks have let the wind and salt spray into the young trees and the undergrowth. They die off at the fringe and the tracks become even wider. Many of the islands are only areas of rock covered with a thin covering of soil, and the hooves of sheep and cattle in wet weather turn the soil into fine mud that soon flows into the streams and then into the sea. Soon some areas are no longer fit for grass and more bush must be cleared. The people in the lonely lighthouses, to live and keep the light burning, must have their fresh meat and vegetables, and they can get them no other way.

Some keepers have at times taken cats with them to their island outposts, partly for company and partly for necessity. Cats are natural hunters and, as do most animals, like a change of diet. From rats and mice to birds is as natural for them as it it is for you and me to change from fruit salad to ice cream, and you cannot tell a cat he must not kill birds. With the best of intentions, then, cats have been taken to our island one cat but several. In no time there are kittens and the lighthouse keepers do not like killing kittens. When the kittens take to the bush, possibly chased there by their parents, no one worries, no one, that is, but the birds which have already lost much of their food supply because of bush clearing and animal wandering. The bird numbers decrease and the most curious and trusting and the least wary soon disappear. From an island paradise, a self-supporting and balanced community, our island has become only a shadow of what for so long it was. Never again will it be its former self, but is there anything we can do to help bring it back to .something of its former beauty?

Along The Track

(Three shillings will be paid for each item published in “Junior Along the Track". Please give your age when you write.)

Otaki. — We have been camping up at the Otaki Gorge and I had a good time watching the birds up there. Every night my brother and I had a morepork rest on the roof of our tent. But the last six nights it did not because we had to shift our tent on account of a flood which was not noticed until it was lapping around the guy ropes of our tent. We camped up the gorge for 18 days.

Today one of the farmers close by was feeding out hay when he and his farm hand saw a bird hopping across the paddock. It was a fairly large bird and they did not know what it was. Knowing that I loved birds and would look after it until it was well he brought it up to me after a lot of trouble catching it, for every time they got close to it it turned around and bit them. The bird had a broken wing. I knew it was a bittern. I had never seen one and thought I never would see one. I put it in one of our spare cages and all this afternoon I was down at the river catching cockabullies and young eels for it. I put the fish in an old two-gallon pan of water and the bird ate all the fish; so tomorrow I shall be down the river all day toi catch more fish.

In the beginning of the May holidays I went to a school camp in Eltham and on the Saturday we went up Mount Egmont. Four of my friends and I went to Dawson’s Falls and on our way through the bush we saw a lot of bellbirds. In the second week my girl friend and I went up the Tararuas and saw many native birds there. —Carol Johns, 14 years.

Dunedin.— While tramping through the snow this July, in the Silver Peaks (which is just north of Dunedin), my father and I heard a curious bird call which sounded like “tick tick”. As the bird was further down our track we were curious to identify it. Flitting around in a flax bush, beside a stream there was a small fernbird. We both could see the delicate barbes on its tail and the brownish, spotted camouflage. Would you please tell me how common this bird is in this district? • —S. P. McElrea, 13 years.

[lt is not now common anywhere but would be seen occasionally around swampy places in your district.—Ed.

Katikati.— have just outside our house gate a small patch of bush and down by the little creek there grows a small rimu tree. I have often gone down there for a walk and found a morepork roosting in it during the daylight. But just a few months ago he disappeared and hasn’t been seen since. He (or she) would sit there glaring at us with two large round eyes. — Vivienne Fresick, 12 years.

Hawera. — winter I have made a feeding tray for the birds. The birds I have had on the tray are blackbirds, sparrows, starlings, silvereyes and the odd one or two fantails. The tray itself stands 6 ft. 2 in. in height.— Kevin W 'lsey, 15 years.

Paeroa. — My friends and I were on our way to the dam where the water pipes are put for our supply of water and there was a wood pigeon sitting on the branch of a dead tree about two yards away. It was picking berries off the tree beside it and calling coo-coo at intervals. Looking down we saw that we were very high up. From the place where we were standing we could see right across the Hauraki Plains and could, follow the path of the river for about three miles. —Fiona Hartley.

Auckland. Today we went to Beachlands and on the way I counted twenty-four kingfishers, They were on the power lines for the most part and looked very pretty sitting there. It is the first time I have seen so many kingfishers. Sharon Dunn, 10 years.

Wanganui.— l looked up from my work on hearing a lovely chirping sound. I saw that it was a little silvereye hopping around on the branches. Soon there were lots of them. I noticed one hop along to near the end of a branch to a pinkypurple bell-shaped flower and stop. He then turned upside down and inserted his beak into the flower. I presume he had a lovely feed of sweet nectar. Then a blackbird landed on the same branch and the silvereyes flew away. They were soon back and repeated their nectar drinking. The tree they were on is a big evergreen with a rich green colour for the leaves and the flowers are as I have said pinky-purple and hang like a small bell. —Sheryl Bielski, 14 years.

[Hardly enough information to identify the tree. —Ed.]

Whakamara. — Dad and my brother went down on the tractor with their power saw, hand saws, and an axe to saw down a dead tree. Dad told me that many years ago there was a big fire through the! bush and this tree burnt and died. It was a native totara. While they chopped it down, we saw six pigeons and we heard some tuis and all the time we heard and saw bellbirds and fantails. It took them some time to chop the tree down as it was 15 ft. round. The only thing growing on, it was a kiekie. On the way home we heard a kiwi and morepork. ■ —Max Goldsack, 12 years.

St. Andrews College. l thought I would write about the keas at Arthur’s Pass. The first morning I was there I woke up and heard a noise as if there was a cat outside, but I could see no cat anywhere. After a while I found that keas were making those queer noises. They were up in the beech trees and every now and again they flew down on to the car, where they pecked at the mirror. The birds have a lovely coating of. orange feathers underneath their wings, and their body is coated with dark green feathers. They seem very tame and I managed to get a very close-up photograph of one of them. I am very keen to know whether they are in the same family as the kakapo and the parakeet. . —Andrew Harrison, 13 years. [See recent article in Forest and Bird on N.Z. parrots. —

Lower Hutt. — During the Christmas holidays we went to Rotorua to see the famous Rainbow Springs. We saw- pools of trout and native bush. While we were walking down a small track, we found the nest of a whitehead. It contained three eggs and was about three feet above the ground. Mum put some bread in the nest for the bird and we went away leaving the nest undisturbed. —Michael Murphy, 13 years.

Havelock North. — the 21st of March I attended the opening of the Lowry lodge, near the Taihape road. A little more than half way we halted for lunch near a lovely little country brook lined with pongas. When we arrived there were three organised tramps. One was to the ridge overlooking the Heretaunga Plains; the other two were to the caves and the bush tracks. I chose the ridge, and on the way up I noted the beautiful rock formations. There was a noticeably large amount of pig rooting. This time we went back to the lodge by the bush track. We had to push through the manuka scrub. There was little chance of getting lost there if you kept to the track because of the brightly painted tin tops nailed to the trees and rocks. There were also a number of bellbirds and fantails. I particularly noticed the large native blue wasps landing on the spectators’ backs. —David Annand, 11 years.

Waipukurau. Last year when I was going around a dam near my house, I saw two cygnets and two swans on the dam. The cygnets’ colour, was greyish-brown. There was an island in the middle of the dam on which raupo grows. The swans nest in the raupo. The swans come back every year to nest. There are also many grey ducks, mallard ducks and pukekos there. They nest there too. I have often heard grebes in the raupo but they keep well hidden. All around the dam are many skylarks. John Mackie, 9 years.

Auckland. — the May holidays 36 children, including myself, went on a trip organised by the teachers of Avondale College, and the N.Z. Army, who supplied transport, etc. . It was on the private property of Mr. Bethell at Bethells Beach, who gave us permission to camp there. While we were on manoeuvres through the bush I noticed an abundance, of wildlife. I counted three native pigeons, two of which were only about 10 yards from us and never moved; the other I studied with binoculars. Although the tuis were constantly singing I wasn’t fortunate to see any. Fantails were always within touching distance, chirping their delightful chirp, and of course there were opossums, which kept us awake most of the night. . I saw a pair of red-fronted parakeets in a clearing and observed several harriers gliding gracefully above. I really enjoyed studying close at hand our native birds in their own environment. —Anthony Nicholson, 15 years.

[Yes, opossums are unfortunately spread over most of N.Z. now. They are one of the pests that present many problems to the authorities who arc trying to reduce their numbers. —Ed.l