The Westland petrel. Photo: Bruce Stuart-Menteath
Late at night in the West Coast village of Punakaiki, a dedicated team of conservationists are out rescuing Westland petrel that are at risk from overhead powerlines and vehicle headlights.
They call themselves the Community Petrel Patrol and a member each night is out on local roads after 10:30pm looking for fledgling tāiko Westland petrel stricken on a high-risk section of State Highway 6.
"Here on the West Coast we share our world with the wonderful and the one and only Westland petrel," patrol member Suzanne Hill told Summer Times.
The Punakaiki petrel patrol
"It only breeds here in the Paparoa foothills just above the northern end of the Barrytown Flats. So, this is their sole breeding ground in New Zealand and globally. It's a very special seabird and as such it needs special help. You could say they are our local celebrity," Hill explained.
The problem is that when the fledglings take their first flight, they need to cross State Highway 6 in Barrytown Flats.
The birds are nocturnal while ashore and can become distracted by artificial lights from cars driving along the road at night.
"Like other nocturnal seabirds they are very susceptible to being distracted by artificial lights, including vehicle headlights, especially modern LED ones. So, what happens is they get disorientated by the headlights and they crash-land on the road and then they can't take-off again because they need height to get airborne due to their wing-structure.
"That's where we come in as a community petrel patrol. We check a high-risk stretch of State Highway 6 that runs under their flight paths and breeding grounds every night. It's about an 8km stretch of road. We're checking the road, the side of the road and the road ditches for any downed birds."
While the patrol doesn't find birds every night, they have found a number, and some have even been found around Punakaiki village.
Vulnerable population
"The important point here is that the population is so vulnerable that every single bird counts. Every single bird that we can help and save makes a difference. So that's why we're so dedicated to doing this mission. Some nights we might not find any birds. In fact, many nights we found no birds. It's important, we've got a collective responsibility to this species and we need to do everything that we can to help them thrive into the future."
The dedicated team on the petrel patrol consists of seven people, and each person has a night when they head out into the darkness, scanning the road for any downed birds.
"Some people did it in their vehicles, so they'd just drive very, very slowly along the coast road just checking the side of the road. Some of us did it on e-bikes which was a really good way of doing it because you're going at the right speed and you're right by the side of the road and you can look in the ditches for downed birds."
What happens when a downed petrel is found?
"They're pretty docile these fledglings. You pick them up and you put them in a box and then you take them up to the DOC visitor centre at Punakaiki. They stay in the box overnight, they're quite happy because it's like their burrow, they are a burrowing seabird. They've been brought up in this nice dark burrow. The box is not too different from a burrow. Then DOC gives them a health check, and if they're all good to go they get re-launched from a nearby cliff and get on their way to South America.
"Some birds go to Australia, but most birds go across the Southern Ocean to the Humboldt Current off Peru and Chile. That's where there's very rich feeding grounds because it's a very cold current. They spend their time in that Humboldt Current eating a lot of fish."
Fledgling Westland Petrels remain in their burrows during the day, but emerge at night to try for their first flight out to sea. Photo: Bruce Stuart-Menteath
Tips to help the Westland Petrel
"During the fledgling season which runs from November to January, if people could avoid driving that stretch of the coast road from the Barrytown Flats up past the Punakaiki area, if possible, just avoid driving that at night. But if people do need to drive at night, if they could drive much more slowly and just keep a look-out for a black bird on a black road. It is difficult but driving slowly can make a huge difference and potentially avoid a collision and a fatality.
"Also, people that live here can take really simple measures like closing their curtains at night and not having outside lights. They are really simple things that can help to maintain a nice and dark environment because the petrels need a dark environment to thrive."
There are road signs in the high-risk area of State Highway 6 that show a petrel to warn drivers that the birds are present, and the streetlights in Punakaiki are turned off at night during the fledgling season.
And if you do come across a petrel, Hill explains that if you don't have a box in your car, you can wrap the bird up in some clothing and take it to the visitor centre at Dolomite Point.
"Outside the visitor centre there's actually boxes so you can pop the petrel into the petrel box and the next day the DOC staff will deal with the bird. So it's all set up to receive downed petrels."
But whatever happens, do not feed the birds.
"All you need to do is put them in a box, a lidded box, and DOC will do the check on them. Absolutely don't feed them."
What is good for the Westland petrel is good for people too
"We've got a collective responsibility to the Westland petrel, and we need to make sure we don't add any additional risks because they've got so many risks on land and at sea. What we're actually facing at the moment is an industrial mining resource consent application for the Barrytown Flats, and this would add to the light distraction stress.
"The population of petrels is on a knife edge and we need to be really careful that we make really good decisions regarding any industrial developments in the area. Forest and Bird opposes this industrial mining proposal, and we want to see continued investment into the nature economy to the area because that bring benefits to our biodiversity, our climate, our nature tourism and people's well-being. So really, what's good for the Westland petrel is good for people too."