The kea population in the Nelson Lakes has been boosted with the addition of six chicks after a successful breeding season.
Two kea chicks outside their nest in the Rainbow Conservation Area. Photo: Supplied / Department of Conservation
Department of Conservation Nelson Lakes senior biodiversity ranger Melissa Griffin said as part of efforts to rebuild kea numbers in the region, work was done to find and monitor kea nests and protect them with trapping.
Two nests were identified on the St Arnaud Range this season, each with three chicks, all who have successfully fledged.
Griffin said the success was thanks to the hard work of the Kea Conservation Trust, DOC rangers, the Friends of Rotoiti and other volunteers and additional trapping for feral cats helped to ensure the birds survival.
The Kea Conservation Trust raised funds for 20 live capture cage traps, which caught five feral cats and nearly 20 possums in the Rainbow Conservation Area over a three-month period last year.
Live capture traps are used to avoid killing weka and kea. They have a remote sensor that sends a signal via satellite if an animal is caught in the trap which avoids the need for daily checks.
A motion sensor camera identifed a cat within 500 metres of one nest and a possum making regular visits.
DOC ranger Ricki Mitchell, whose does some of the monitoring work, put a trap close to the nest which caught two possums in quick succession, after that no further possum visits were recorded.
The other monitored nest was in the Rotoiti Nature Recovery Project area in Nelson Lakes National Park and is also protected by a number of traps.
Motion sensor cameras outside monitored nests capture images of kea and any predator activity at the nest. Photo: Supplied / Department of Conservation
Last year's breeding season also started out with six chicks in two nests, but only one survived.
A stoat is thought to have predated three chicks in a monitored nest on the Raglan Range. Two chicks died in the other nest, possibly also from predation, with the third surviving chick continuing to be monitored and thought to have successfully fledged.
This was from the same nest in the Rainbow Conservation Area in which three chicks were produced this breeding season.
Last year's fledgling was named Mōrehu by DOC staff, which means survivor in Māori. She has been seen in the Nelson Lakes area in recent months.
Sightings of kea can be reported to the kea database help build a picture of the birds numbers and movements.