Museum falcon dies

One of the falcon chicks when they moved to the rooftop of the Rotorua Museum last year. Photo/File

An endangered New Zealand falcon which was released from the Rotorua Museum a month ago has died.

Hine-o-te-Rangi, a female juvenile falcon named after famous Rotorua aviator Jean Batten, was found dead on Wednesday on top of the Rotorua Museum.

The two-month-old falcon is the seventh falcon to be released from the Rotorua Museum since a joint project, On The Wing, began in 2013 and the first to die during the growing process.

Wingspan executive director Debbie Stewart said it was unclear what the cause of death was, but it was possible the falcon died after getting stuck in a pipe. She said an autopsy was being held at Wingspan, in Rotorua, to find the cause of death.

"Her body was found on Wednesday and of course we were monitoring her ever since her release," Stewart said.

"We received a different signal and thought there was a problem, but we had hoped that it had resulted from [her beacon] being dropped, so we have all taken it pretty hard."

She said it takes about one month for a falcon to grow fully but Hine-o-te-Rangi was still learning a lot, including how to fly, land and gain strength.

Another falcon which was released at the same time, a male juvenile Ihenga, still survives.

"If we are to draw anything from this, this is the first time this kind of thing has happened so quickly after being released [during this project]," Stewart said.

Stewart said most deaths and injuries which Wingspan come across, inflicted on falcons, were from gun shots. She said awareness of these endangered birds was very important as there was only about 4000 pairs left in New Zealand.

On The Wing volunteer co-ordinator Julie Parsons said there was about 30 volunteers who monitored Hine-o-te-Rangi during most hours of the day, and it was very sad to see her die.

The remaining falcons, from earlier releases, are still regularly spotted around Rotorua, near the Redwoods and the Government Gardens.