Pest Control Success

We received some great news recently from the Pest Free Piha group that co-ordinate the pest control work we are part of. Every year they put bands on the legs of endangered birds so they can track how their numbers are doing. One of the species monitored is the Ōi (Grey-faced Petrel) which is particularly vulnerable as they nest in burrows.  In the area of Te Waha point at the north of Piha this year they banded 59 birds of which 13 were recaptures from 2 years ago and one of these caught again from 4 years ago.

This is the highest number recorded in that area and Pest Free Piha say its “due to the work done by Bush and Beach in that area”. We know it is a team effort and there is a lot of work done up and down the coast to help these special birds and we are just happy to play our part. The recaptures number is great as it shows the colony in that area is stable and thriving.

Professor James Russell at the University of Auckland does a lot of work studying the Grey-faced Petrel and a few years ago put together a video about the work done out in the Waitakere Ranges as a whole. It is an 11 min video but if you want to see them banding the Ōi at Te Waha Point you can see how they do it at the 1min 26sec mark