Black Robin returns to Pitt Island after 50 years

17-10-2002

The Endangered Chatham Island Black Robin Petroica traversi, once the world's rarest bird in the wild, has been returned to Pitt Island in the Chatham Island group off New Zealand after an absence of over half a century.

Fourteen birds were transferred by the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DoC) from nearby Rangatira Island to the Ellen Elizabeth Preece Conservation Covenant on Pitt Island last month. A 40-hectare area has been specially fenced to exclude introduced cats and the predatory Weka, an endemic New Zealand flightless bird.

The Black Robin was the focus of one of the world's most dramatic wildlife rescue projects after its population was decimated by introduced rats and cats. By 1980 there were only five Black Robins left in the world and the survival of the species hinged on a single breeding pair.

In 1981 New Zealand Wildlife Service officers moved the tiny remaining Black Robin population to nearby cat-free Mangere Island and cross-fostered eggs from the only fertile female - "Old Blue" - to the Chatham Tomtit. Careful management and a further transfer to Rangatira Island brought this endemic Chatham bird back from the brink of extinction. With the two islands of Mangere and Rangatira now filled with over 250 Black Robins, another home had to be found.

"This is another milestone in the remarkable recovery of this international icon," Department of Conservation Wellington conservator Allan Ross said. "I see the release not only as a milestone for the Black Robin, but as a sign that the Pitt Island community recognise the value of their natural heritage."

Web links:

NZ Department of Conservation: http://www.doc.govt.nz/Conservation/001~Plants-and-Animals/001~Native-Animals/Black-Robin.asp

The Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand (BirdLife in NZ): http://www.forest-bird.org.nz