Fledging the nest

As the hihi breeding season wrapped up in March, we started see many of the season’s juveniles emerging from the depths of the ngahere/forest and becoming more visible. 

This past season, 28 chicks were banded and successfully fledged. There were an additional four unbanded fledglings in the population, taking our total to 32 chicks for the season. While sexing fledglings isn't 100% accurate, our best-informed identifications are that at least 15 of the birds banded were believed to be female.  

If you want to spot these young hihi in the sanctuary, just look for their blue RFID band on one leg, with two smaller coloured bands on the opposite leg. You will likely hear their high-pitched calls from high in the canopy whilst they forage on native fruits and insects, or when they try to figure out the sugar water feeders with some interesting techniques (see image above). 

The Conservation team has been working hard to do what we can for these manu and so much of that comes from public observations. If you have any hihi observations, especially for females and this season's juveniles, we would love for you to report them to us.  

Photo: Juvenile hihi figuring out the feeders. Credit: Melissa Boardman