And now they may be back, the conservation status has moved to data deficient since an accepted sighting on the West Coast in 2007. As depicted here by the artist John Gerrard Keulemans, the North Island kōkako (front) has blue wattles at the base of its beak. Copyright question: We have been asked who would own the evidence when found and shared with the Trust, for example a photo, video or other recording. We hope some of any such value could be used to support the ongoing conservation efforts for South Island kōkako. Also a 'hollow' depth to some notes, like a wind instrument or blowing across the top of a bottle. The elusive bird’s campaigners say the lack of photos, videos or live action meme worthy material won’t hold the bird’s campaign back. But we’d be delighted to listen to what you’ve recorded and could put them through a new bespoke software programme to identify bird calls (read more here about how artificial intelligence is being applied). That’s why we’re offering a reward for good information, first to capture the public imagination; and second to encourage more people to be vigilant for the bird. Commons is a freely licensed media file repository. Song: The song has a sharp clarity compared with tui or other songbirds, particularly for flute- light notes. By J. G. Keulemans, in W.L. Declared extinct by the Department of Conservation in 2008, the species' conservation status was moved from extinct to data deficient in 2013, leading to acceptance of a sighting from near Reefton on the West Coast of the South Island in 2007. Sightings are ranked. The range of the South Island kokako shrank to Fiordland and Stewart Island, with the last accepted twentieth century sighting at Mt Aspiring National Park in 1967. Please tell us about calls you hear. The South Island Kokako has fared worse and was formally declared extinct by the New Zealand Department of Conservation on 16 January 2007 . Click on map for up to date interactive map. The Fiordland Lobster Company partnered with DOC to re-establish kōkako in Fiordland and funded the transfer of twenty-seven kōkako from the North Island to Secretary Island in 2008-9. The re-classification provides renewed hope and energy. The kōkako’s very fitting pseudonym is the ‘grey ghost’. We’re appealing to you all - birders, trampers, hunters, pest managers and all other backcountry users - to be the additional ears and eyes of the search effort. Click on the image from Victoria Forest Park >, Original photo of NI kōkako by Martin Sanders, altered to illustrate silhouette, Size: Larger than a tui and smaller than a pigeon, Shape: Long legs, relatively long tail, short rounded wings in flight, short stocky beak with downward curve, Colour: Dark grey or grey-blue in colour, black facial mask with an orange wattle (range from straw-orange-red in colour), Movements: Hopping, bounding or running gait, may be seen hopping along or up or down branches or tree trunks, Original photo NI kōkako by Mark Darin, altered to illustrate silhouette, When: The more active times of year are likely to be April to early June and October-December, Where: Native forests in South and Stewart Islands. And we need credible reports so that we can act swiftly to conserve the species. Occasionally similar to a NI kōkako with 'mews', haunting organ-like and ringing bell-like notes and song, and a noise that sounds like 'took'. The Trust will get in touch to discuss more details. Your recollections of encounters from the past can also be valuable in adding to our knowledge base. KōkāSouth Island Kōkako Conservation status In serious trouble Share. kQ0730_240317_rough_remaster__single_call.mp3. A female North Island kōkako in captivity at Pukaha Mount Bruce Wildlife Centre, Wairarapa, New Zealand. Those that are considered most compelling involve seeing a bird that fits the description not more 10 metres away with the naked eye, or the equivalent through binoculars. We are hugely grateful to the two sponsors of this reward, initially Mōhua Investments Ltd and now The Morgan Foundation, who have matched the earlier reward of $5,000. We hope so! Although smart phones have voice recording capability, there are better apps for recording bird song - read more and find apps here. Currently there are no confirmed reports of surviving South Island kōkako. Sightings and 'hearings' of the bird have come in from the Marlborough Sounds, the Heaphy Track area, the West Coast (particularly the Grey Valley), South Westland, Fiordland and the Catlins, says Inger Perkins, general manager of the South Island Kōkako Trust. Use different basemaps and layers to fine tune the map to suit areas of interest to you and click on data points to read more about individual encounters. Kōkako are smaller than kererū (wood pigeons) but larger than tūī. English: The map above provides an estimated historical distribution of the South Island kōkako (Callaeas cinereus), along with the last two generally accepted sightings. The South Island Kōkako Charitable Trust is preparing a map to show you when and where the best encounters have been reported and we’ll let you know when it’s ready here. We ask for contact details so that we can get in touch, and for the date, location and a brief description of your encounter. We are hugely indebted to map creator and keen searcher, Jordan Miller. The Trust would first use it to seek confirmation that the evidence is of the South Island kōkako. Declared extinct by the Department of Conservation in 2008, the species' conservation status was moved from extinct to data deficient in 2013, leading to acceptance of a sighting from near Reefton on the West Coast of the South Island in 2007. KŌKAKO REWARD DRAWS NEW REPORTS OF CREDIBLE ENCOUNTERS. The last sighting was in Mt Aspiring National Park in 1967, and it was declared extinct by the Department of Conservation in 2004. The last accepted sighting was in 1967 since then they have been declared extinct. Where’s best to look for the South Island kōkako? Original image of NI kokako by Tara Swan, creative touches by Oscar Thomas and Geoff Reid. The map shows you all possible encounters with the South Island kōkako. It's likely to stop you in your tracks! ), Map of New Zealand (blank).svg by User:Antigoni. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:India_to_central_Pacific_locator_map.svg, Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:South_island_kokako_distribution_map.svg. The South Island kōkako was classified as extinct by the Department of Conservation in 2007, but in 2013 its status was moved to data deficient. Cellphone quality video but too cool to not share. Two distributions are shown: the estimated maximum extent of the kōkako (greyish-green) based on fossil records, and the estimated extent by the period of European settlement (green) based on settler records. This call of the kōkako is likely to stop backcountry users in their tracks. Fossils show that the South Island kōkako (Callaeas cinerea) was widespread in pre-human times.It was still common in many places until the 1870s, although disappearing fast. However it's remotely possible they may survive in low numbers in remote parts of the South Island and Stewart Island. MEDIA RELEASE . Yet despite our hard work, we have yet to determine for sure that the bird survives. We look forward to your report and working together to ensure that the magnificent South Island kōkako does not wind up as a museum piece and a record in a history book. The search is urgent. (Via Wikimedia Commons). Original file ‎(SVG file, nominally 400 × 260 pixels, file size: 1.02 MB). The Trust has changed the game by organising systematic searches in sites it ranks as most likely to result in an encounter. The last confirmed sightings of the South Island Kōkako (Callaeas cinereous), also known as the “Grey Ghost” due to its shy nature and grey coloring, were recorded in 2007.Following re-classification in 2013 the species is listed as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct) by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Recognising a South Island kōkako. North Island kōkako numbers are recovering, and now only considered ‘near threatened’. If the SIKCT Trustees all agree that you have found the first definitive proof of survival, we will honour our promise to pay the reward. Anywhere in the forests of the western South Island and Stewart Island, especially those forests benefiting from sustained pest control. In the early 1900s the kōkako was common in forests throughout New Zealand. Information has been sourced from the following: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 Miskelly, C.M. This remarkable bird needs you! However, please note that it is now a little out of date and the Trust's direction has changed somewhat but the end goal remains the same. Sometimes the moss area is described as having been ‘ploughed’, and the sign differs from any known from other animals in New Zealand; it is believed to have been made by a SI kōkako. Moss grubbing: Among large clumps of moss growing on logs or the forest floor, ‘powder puff’ pieces of moss, up to 18cm in diameter, have been neatly clipped at the base generally without soil or litter attached (rather than pulled or kicked, as by weka and blackbird), and these pinched out pieces are often grouped together, possibly even in their thousands. They are poor fliers; they usually bound around trees with their strong legs and with small wingflaps, but may glide some hundreds of metres down gullies from treetops. Don’t play hide and seek with theses birds. They are both slate-grey with wattles and have black masks. The search for the South Island kōkako commenced four decades ago. Tantalising reports of their song, feathers, and characteristic moss-grubbing have persisted – from Stewart Island and Fiordland, north to … Too many other birds can call in a similar way (particularly tuis and kaka). In the meantime, some of the best reports recently have been from the Heaphy Track. CC BY-SA 4.0 Bellbird activity: A call from a SI kōkako might also elicit a noticeable increase in the number of bellbirds singing and a dramatic change in their 'dialect' from multiple note songs to persistently repetitive single-note bells. Last summer Buckingham's perseverance was finally rewarded with several positive sightings and a small item of definite proof, a feather identified as coming from the kōkako. We, the Trustees of the South Island Kōkako Charitable Trust, will assess any evidence obtained by you and supplied to us. Heather, Barrie D.; Robertson, Hugh A. If you have an image, please attach it or email it to us: info@southislandkokako.org. In the early days, just a few individuals were looking, assisted occasionally by DOC and its predecessors. However, such value may be on top of the reward offered by the Trust and would have been achieved through the search and other efforts managed and promoted by the Trust, a charitable not-for-profit organisation. (ed. 2013 [updated 2017]. Both are sleek, blue-grey birds with a black face mask. 2013. Could you be the one that finds that conclusive proof and earns the reward? If you believe you have seen or heard a possible South Island kōkako, please use our Log an Encounter form to contact the Trust. The range of the South Island kōkako shrank to Fiordland and Stewart Island, with the last accepted sighting at Mt Aspiring National Park in 1967. If you’d like to receive regular updates on reports and the search itself, email info@southislandkokako.org. Ron Nilsson, a member of the South Island Kokako Charitable Trust, said the sighting would be taken seriously - just as the other half dozen annual reported sightings are, reports RNZ. If you'd like to print the information you need to remind you of the details, we have produced a handy SI kōkako flier. If confirmed by appropriately qualified ornithologists, the Trust would then seek permission from the photographer to publish the material to share the exciting news, either using the original or perhaps a low resolution copy, and/or could pass any media queries back to the photographer. Published 1888. The South Island kōkako was one of 5 species of New Zealand wattlebirds, an endemic family that includes the living North Island kōkako, saddlebacks (2 species), and the extinct huia. We need to lift the game again. The wattles of the South Island kōkako (rear) are orange. A South Island kōkako (Callaeas cinerea) mounted on a piece of wood together with a North Island kōkako. Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. To determine the numbers of kōkako, every 200m at a bait station we stop and listen, and then use playback – a series of different kōkako calls – to draw them in, whether a pair of this songbird are known in the area or not. Recently, many more people have joined the effort and we’re now calling on all backcountry users to be our eyes and ears. That high pitched call in the background in a stitchbird/hihi. A potential sighting of the once-extinct South Island kokako has been described by a local ornithologist as "one of the best sightings in many years". Yet their wattlebird cousin, the North Island kōkako, is alive and well as a result of aggressive … That meant a close sighting of a bird fitting the description of kōkako, either by an experienced observer, or where wattles or ‘defining behaviour’ were also seen—running along branches or logs, leaping or bounding. Such material would remain the property of the photographer/person who made the recording. We have a short presentation about the Trust and the Search as a pdf. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Despite no confirmed sightings in 12 years, and having once been classed as extinct, the South Island kōkako is in the running for BotY. Bear in mind though, calls alone are not definitive evidence of survival. Vagrant and extra-limital bird records accepted by the OSNZ Records Appraisal Committee 2011-2012. We have been assisted in this work by Mōhua Investments Ltd, NZ Lottery Grants Board, Rata Foundation, First Sovereign Trust, The Sargood Bequest, Scotlands Te Kiteroa Charitable Trust and in-kind assistance from the Department of Conservation. ; Crossland, A.C.; Sagar, P.M.; Saville, I.; Tennyson, A.J.D. They assessed 105 reports of South Island kōkako between 1990 and 2012, and the map shows the 36 the authors judged to be most convincing. SI kokako wanted poster. Brief Strategy, South Island Kōkako Charitable Trust, February 2017 (pdf). North Island Kōkako (front) has blue wattles, and South Island Kōkako (rear) has orange wattles. Size of this PNG preview of this SVG file: I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license: Add a one-line explanation of what this file represents. Click here to listen to the similar NI kōkako call (from nzbirdsonline): Recording of bird song in the Grey Valley, 24 March 2017, believed to be SI kōkako: Other similar bird calls you may hear (from nzbirdsonline) for comparison, Tui           Kaka (several birds)           Bellbird, Other birds you may see that could resemble a kōkako from a distance (from nzbirdsonline), Long-tailed Cuckoo California Quail Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike, (And you can use nzbirdsonline to help identify any bird you may see.). In Miskelly, C.M. 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