Kea chicks for Nelson Lakes

Six kea chicks are believed to have successfully fledged in the Nelson Lakes area during the past month, boosting the kea population.

Department of Conservation says its an improved result, with only one chick believed to have fledged there last breeding season.

DOC find and monitor nests as part of efforts to rebuild kea numbers in the Nelson Lakes area.

This season, two kea nests, each with three chicks, were monitored on the St Arnaud Range.

Predator trapping is undertaken through the breeding season to help protect the located nests.

DOC Nelson Lakes senior biodiversity ranger Melissa Griffin said the 100 per cent survival of monitored kea chicks this season was due to the team effort by the Kea Conservation Trust, DOC rangers, the Friends of Rotoiti and other volunteers.

“We’re thrilled to have had six kea chicks successfully fledge this year. Additional trapping of feral cats this breeding season has helped their survival.

She says the Kea Conservation Trust raised funds for 20 live capture cage traps to catch feral cats to protect kea nests.

"Five feral cats and 14 possums were caught in 19 of these traps near a kea nest in the Rainbow Conservation Area between early September and early December.

"Cats are a major risk to nesting birds and one was captured just 500 metres from the nest.

She says the nest was also protected with stoat and possum trapping.

"A possum was seen regularly visiting the nest on images captured by a motion sensor camera outside the nest. To prevent possum disturbance to the mother and her chicks, our ranger Ricki Mitchell, who does much of the kea nest work, put a possum trap close to the nest.

Melissa says two possums were caught in quick succession and no other possum visits were recorded.

The other nest monitored was in the Rotoiti Nature Recovery Project area in Nelson Lakes National Park which has ongoing stoat and possum trapping. The area is also protected with live capture traps to catch cats.

The live capture traps have a  remote sensor that sends a signal via satellite if an animal is caught in the trap, avoiding the need for daily checks for animals captured.

DOC says the live capture traps are used to avoid killing weka and kea which can also get into the traps.

The last breeding season started with six kea chicks in two monitored kea nests also.

A stoat is thought to have predated three chicks in a monitored nest in the Raglan Range.

Stoat numbers were still high following a 2019 beech mast that caused increases in rat and stoat numbers.  

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.

Sightings of banded and other kea can be reported to a kea database here to help build a picture of kea numbers in areas and kea movements.