A record-breaking 277 hihi, or stitchbirds, were born on Tiritiri Matangi Island this breeding season. This is the highest number ever recorded. These young birds are now helping other protected areas, like Shakespear Open Sanctuary, grow their own hihi populations.
Earlier this month, 40 of these birds were carefully moved to Shakespear Open Sanctuary, located on the Whangaparāoa Peninsula. This move adds new life to a small but healthy group of hihi already living there.
Nick Fisentzidis, a ranger on Tiritiri Matangi, said the project was successful thanks to the teamwork of iwi, the Department of Conservation, Auckland Council, and community volunteers. “It takes a village,” he said, explaining how hihi need lots of care because they’re one of New Zealand’s rarest birds.
Hihi once lived throughout Aotearoa, but by the 1880s only one natural population remained on Little Barrier Island. Today, small groups of hihi survive in carefully protected places like Kapiti Island, Zealandia in Wellington, and Bushy Park near Whanganui.
Auckland Councillor Mike Lee, who helped bring hihi to Tiritiri Matangi 30 years ago, said it was a “conservation dream come true” to now see their descendants returning to the mainland.
