Endangered birds laughing now

The stitchbird or hihi. File picture / Wairarapa Times-Age

Organisers of a breeding plan to help bolster the endangered native hihi, or stitchbird, are celebrating a baby boom at Wellington's Karori Wildlife Sanctuary.

Numbers have more than doubled since 64 of the small birds were transferred from Tiritiri Matangi Island and Mt Bruce National Wildlife Centre earlier this year.

The birds have produced 75 chicks, 53 of which have left their nests. Sanctuary conservation scientist Raewyn Empson said the result exceeded expectations.

The programme was now believed to be the most successful hihi breeding season ever recorded - either in captivity or in the wild.

Before their release at Karori, hihi were extinct on the mainland, with the last birds having been recorded in the Tararua Range in the 1880s.

Hihi were thought to be related to tui and bellbird. However, recent DNA evidence shows this is not the case, meaning hihi have no close living relatives.

They are small birds, measuring about 18cm from tip to tail and weighing between 30g and 40g. Hihi feed on nectar, honey and small insects. They are one of only two honey-eating species worldwide that use tree holes as nesting sites.

The release of hihi at the Karori sanctuary was the first step in the Conservation Department's five-year hihi recovery plan. The plan aims to establish self-sustaining populations on the mainland.

- NZPA