Look out for Lake Birds

We love this Manu o Taupō Moana / Lake Taupō Birds resource from our friend Krysia at Taupo for Tomorrow. How many of these birds can you spot on your next trip to the lake?

Below is some information about our Taupō birds written by Krysia Nowak and published on the Taupo for Tomorrow facebook page. We love her posts and thought they should be compiled somewhere, so here they are! Check out the original posts on the facebook page to see photos too.

Kōtuku/white heron/Eastern great egret – Native, nationally critical, small stable population

Te kōtuku rerenga tahi - the white heron of a single flight.

This whakatauki, for a once in a life-time event or the rare visit of an important guest, calls to mind the rare joy of seeing kōtuku in New Zealand.

Large birds with pure white feathers, ornamented in breeding season with fine plumes, kōtuku cut a striking figure. Each year less than 200 of these birds roam widely across the country, before gathering in south Westland to breed. Why so few?

The only non-endemic bird to grace our currency, kōtuku are widespread and common across southern Asia and Australia. In fact, New Zealand sits at the very limit of their range, supporting consistent low numbers for the last thousand or so years.

Kōtuku are not unique to Aotearoa, but the experience of seeing one here is. The significance and korero surrounding these beautiful birds are why we have them on our $2 coin.

Kawau*/shags – various species, some native, some endemic

People love to hate them.

About 1/3 of the world’s 40 or so shag species call New Zealand home. Eight of them are endemic. Yeah, that’s right, like kiwi, or whio, or kereru, they’re only found here. Some of them are endangered. So why do shags get all the bad press, and none of the adulation of our poster-birds?

Part of it is the trout. Trout are, unsurprisingly, pretty important to anglers, and the perceived impact of shags on the trout population makes these birds an easy target.

It’s true, shags do eat trout – although not all species of shag partake, and not in all locations! In fact cormorants (what the rest of the world calls shags) are found in trout native ranges as well. They’re probably one of the reasons why trout hens lay so many eggs – in the expectation of being eaten!

All this is to say that yes, sometimes shags do eat trout, but the impact on overall fisheries, particularly Taupō, is minimal. So next time you see shags out and about, remember that they are also part of what makes Aotearoa special.

Read more about shags and trout in Taupō in these articles from Target Taupō https://bit.ly/3ybgiuA and https://bit.ly/3x3r3Pj (p6)

*Various names in te reo Māori

Credi to: ImogenWarrenPhotography.net

Kōtare/Sacred kingfisher – native, not threatened

You’ll know the familiar pose; perched on a branch or powerline, head slightly cocked, intensely concentrating on the next meal. Target identified, a swift ambush proceeds, followed by a return to the perch to swallow live prey.

Prey can be anything from crabs to fish, insects, birds, and mice – depending on where the kōtare lives.

The kingfisher of Aotearoa is a subspecies of sacred kingfisher, with 7 other subspecies across Australia, New Caledonia and smaller islands. That basically means it is different, but not quite different enough to be an entirely new species!

Keen to spot kōtare? Look for them sitting on branches, powerlines, washing lines – any perch with height enough to hunt from - and listen for the territorial ‘kek-kek-kek-kek’ call (check the New Zealand Birds Online website to hear examples).

Australian coot – native, naturally uncommon (stable overseas)

The adults might look like they’re all business, but the chicks are surely something only a mother can love!

With a name like Australian Coot, they aren’t endemic to Aotearoa, but self-introduced (great party trick), and were first recorded breeding here in 1958. They aren’t the first coot to grace our shores. Our rather larger endemic New Zealand coot is only known from the fossil record and archaeological middens of early Māori.

Back to the Australian coot - the red eye and face shield make them pretty distinctive in a line-up of birds, and you’ll see them around Lake Taupō and across much of New Zealand where lake habitat is just right for their entirely aquatic lifestyle.

Just don’t get a scare when they let out one of their surprisingly loud calls!

Pūtangitangi/Paradise shelduck – endemic, least concern (population stable)

The mournful cry of this bird inspired its Māori name – pūtangitangi. You might also know it as a ‘parry’.

One of only a few native birds that have benefited from land-clearing and agriculture, they’re a great one to spot on a road trip! Watch paddocks and fields for the distinctive pairs; females with white heads and males with black heads.

Some pairs mate for life, but are regularly challenged by singles, and do meet others at the annual communal moult (party time!). Somewhere between a goose and a duck, these distinguished looking manu/birds formed an important food source for Māori and are still a gamebird today.

Look out for pūtangitangi on your road-trips this summer

Pāpango/New Zealand scaup

We’re sure you’ve seen this little cutie. Paint it yellow and it could be a rubber-ducky for your bath

You’ll see flocks bobbing along lakeshores and river mouths across much of Aotearoa, but while they may look buoyant, they are accomplished divers that can remain underwater for long periods of time, searching for treats like snails and insect larvae.

Males are glossy black – hence the descriptive name pāpango – with bright yellow eyes. The females are less showy, as is often the case in the bird-world, with brown feathers and tan eyes.

Take the time to notice these lovable locals next time you’re out and about.

Karoro/Southern black-backed gull – native, not threatened

You could call them the fast-food bird.

In New Zealand their star has risen with the advent of a fast-moving throwaway society. Our excess, for all its problems, has proved a bonanza for these adaptable gulls.

Not so long ago black-backed gulls were relatively rare in Aotearoa, solitary nesting birds found in low densities across the country. The waste of our consumer-society – at landfill, farms, fishing boats and more – has allowed the rise of the noisy colonies we are more familiar with today.

It seems like we actually helped a bird! Woo! Well, we did, but hold the party poppers.

Black-backed gulls are now so abundant that their natural predation on our more vulnerable birds is causing some big problems. So much so that black-backed gulls have been removed from the Wildlife Act as a protected species and are sometimes controlled to protect our struggling bird populations.

Turns out you can have too much of a good thing!

Pāteke/Brown teal – endemic, at risk-recovering

If you’ve ever kept ducks, you’ll know that they can sometimes smell quite foul (or fowl, get it?). If you haven’t had that aromatic experience you might be forgiven for never thinking about their smell at all. But our wee pāteke have discovered the downside to eau de waterfowl – attracting introduced predators.

Pāteke, once found across the nation, have an excellent strategy to protect themselves against visual predators (historically, other birds) – they freeze in place. Usually browsing at dusk and night-time, a small, brown bird freezing in low-light makes a difficult snack to catch!

Enter introduced predators, you know the ones – rats, stoats, cats, dogs and more. These mammalian predators have something our native birds are defenceless against – a sense of smell. Poor little pāteke still freeze when under threat, perhaps that’s why there are only between 2000 and 2500 left.

But there is cause for hope, because those numbers used to be as low as 800 individuals. Intensive predator control and breed-for-release programmes are helping to recover pāteke populations. Perhaps one day we’ll see these cute, feisty, browsing ducks across Aotearoa again.

Matuku moana/matuku/white-faced heron – native, not threatened

Deliberate, unhurried strides draw barely a ripple in the water as a white-faced heron seeks its prey. The strike is lightning-fast in comparison, snatching the unsuspecting target with a dangerously sharp bill.

You’ve probably observed this behaviour – at a river, lake, on mudflats or even paddocks. White-faced heron are common across the country, hunting small prey including small ika/fish, crabs, insects, lizards, and even mice.

These herons self-introduced from Australia in only the 1940s, though they’ve made themselves well at home since, and have become our most common heron.

Watch out for these manu around Taupō; you might even get to see them landing in the tops of trees where they like to nest (which seems absurd for such a large bird!).

Kōtuku ngutupapa/royal spoonbill – native, naturally uncommon

While researching for this post we spent time looking for the perfect pun. When we struggled there were suggestions a spoon bill of sugar might help, but we think they were just stirring.

All jokes aside (for now), these birds are fairly rare in Aotearoa, but have been recently seen in Taupō. ‘Stirring’ puns aren’t too far off, with spoonbills feeding by sweeping their bill side to side in arcs. The famous bill isn’t a simple ladle though, it has built-in vibration detectors to find prey in darkness or muddy waters. The bill snaps shut on discovered prey – whether it be fish, crustaceans, insects or frogs – and a quick head tilt allows the bird to swallow it whole.

Breeding season brings out the true fashionistas, with daring up-dos and sleek mullets in play; while during courtship, according to New Zealand Birds Online, ‘Both sexes bow while clapping bills and quivering heads, raising and lowering crest plumes.’

Who could resist that?

Pūkeko/pukeko – native, not threatened

It’s difficult to write a post about pukeko.

They’re loved, and hated. Their flirty tail flick is a feature of our roadsides and farmland. To some they are pests, destructively grazing through crops and gardens. To others they are quintessential nostalgic Kiwiana.

The same species and subspecies as the Australasian Swamphen, Pukeko arrived in Aotearoa around a thousand years ago; either they flew or were introduced by early Maori via Rangitāhua/the Kermadecs – or both. Either way, the arrival of people meant a slow opening of the landscape – benefiting wetland/grassland birds like pukeko.

Pukeko have a survival advantage over their related, but longer-term resident cousin, the takahē. Arriving relatively recently from predator-rich Australia, pukeko retain instinctive defences against land predators. Plus, they can still fly. Important features in a land of introduced predators!

Wani/Black swan – native or introduced, not threatened

Black swans were known through medieval times as a symbol of the impossible (think on a par with flying pigs), so you can imagine the disbelief when early voyagers to Australia returned to Europe with evidence of this mythical creature.

But the intrigue of black swans doesn’t stop there:

Are black swans native to Aotearoa? Black swans were introduced by humans in the 1860s, but their population growth suggests that there may have been some self-introduction during this time as well. So, we can’t really say for sure if they are native or introduced. ()

Confused? There’s more: the fossil record shows that we used to have swans – closely related to their Australian cousins but larger and with shorter wings (they say more of a ‘rugby player’ stature). These burly swans were sitting ducks (ah …swans) vulnerable to hunting by early Māori and went extinct around AD 1450. So, we could consider our recent black swan arrivals to be somewhat taking the place of something that we lost.

Do you want to learn more about swans in Taupō? Let us know – we couldn’t fit it all in one post!

Mātātā/Fernbird- endemic, at risk (declining)

In a game of wetland hide-and-seek it’s a close race between matuku/bittern (earlier post) and mātātā/fernbird – both are masters of disguise. Although, at about the size of a sparrow, you could argue that the fernbirds have an easier time of hiding away in dense wetland vegetation!

Fernbirds are another bird threatened by loss of habitat and predation by introduced animals. Got a trap in your backyard? You’re helping protect these sneaky locals

Whio/Blue duck – endemic, threatened-nationally vulnerable

Some of you have probably heard us bang on about whio before – but it’s for good reason! This unique duck can only survive in healthy, fast-flowing, rivers and streams (but can also be found on your $10 note ).

Threatened by loss of habitat – not all our rivers are so healthy anymore – and predation by introduced stoats, whio are now a rare sight across the country.

So why are they so common on the Tongariro River? We are incredibly lucky to have our awa/river flowing from the mostly natural areas of the national park and the Kaimanawa ranges – perfect for keeping our waterways healthy. On top of that, predator traps along the river help to keep whio safe from stoats.

The result? Tūrangi is the closest town to wild whio. Anywhere.

Weweia/dabchick - endemic, at risk (recovering)

These elusive birds are extinct from the South Island , but one of the best places to see them is - you guessed it - Taupō!

Weweia are a type of grebe - so they have lobed toes rather than the webbed ones of ducks and geese. Strong divers, they can hold their breath for about 40 seconds, and can even change their buoyancy like a submarine

You can spot these slightly crazy-eyed divers around the Tauranga-Taupō River and other parts of Lake Taupō.

Matuku-hūrepo/Australasian bittern - native, threatened-nationally critical

Difficult to see, the ninja-like matuku hides in our wetlands, stalking unsuspecting prey, occasionally making itself known by its booming mating call. We know for sure that they're found in Taupō, but their habitat is limited across the country - up to 90% of our wetlands have been lost since European settlement

Tarāpuka/black-billed gull - endemic, nationally critical

BBGs, as they are affectionately known, have the unfortunate distinction of being the MOST ENDANGERED gull in the world . That's right, and they live right here in Taupō.

Like many of our native manu, BBGs are threatened by habitat loss and introduced predators. Not to mention at times they make some questionable choices in nesting sites.