NZ Penguin Initiative June Newsletter

Kia ora koutou,

Welcome to the NZPI June Newsletter. It has been a busy couple of months for the NZPI team, with conferences and lots of group visits. They were excited to have their first podcast interview to help raise awareness for our Small but Mighty Kororā. The Oamaru Penguin Symposium in May was absolutely incredible with interesting presentations and the chance to connect with penguin people from across Aotearoa. We had a great turnout to our drop-in session and spent some time providing guidance to groups face-to-face, while they were in Oamaru too. Recently, Programme Director Hiltrun travelled to Auckland to present at the Birds NZ Conference and visited groups along Auckland’s West Coast and Waiheke Island. Community Programme Manager Melissa spent some time training groups in Raglan and Mount Maunganui, and held a rescue education session to help improve outcomes for Kororā in distress that wash up on beaches. Breeding article published for Wellington from PlacesforPenguins immense monitoring efforts and is the first paper to report on double brooding in a North Island colony. 2025 breeding season is underway so let’s hope for a productive season for all colonies🤞

If you have missed our previous newsletter editions, you can read them here Science & Advocacy - New Zealand Penguin Initiative

People Helping Nature Podcast by Conservation Amplified

SMALL BUT MIGHTY: LITTLE PENGUINS AND THE PEOPLE SAVING THEM

Some key topics discussed:

Major threats including off-leash/uncontrolled dogs, predation, habitat loss, human disturbance, boat/vehicle strikes, starvation and climate change.
The importance of monitoring and how NZPI is coordinating nationwide monitoring and conservation efforts to help fill gaps in knowledge.
Kororā as key indicators for coastal/marine health and a flagship species for other biodiversity.
Simple actions anyone can take to protect Kororā living in their local area.

Visit Conservation Amplified’s website to view the episode and more People Helping Nature Podcasts: Conservation Amplified

NZPI attends Oamaru Penguin Symposium

Fantastic mahi from the wonderful team at the Ōamaru Blue Penguin Colony for hosting the 14th Ōamaru Penguin Symposium. Well done to everyone that presented, especially our new groups bringing innovative inspiration and the amazing turn out of penguin people from all across Aotearoa!

Credit: Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony

Melissa gave an update on the Kororā National Monitoring Programme and work being undertaken to mitigate key threats.

Hiltrun presented initial results from the Nationwide Kororā Diet Study.

NZPI Drop-In Session in Oamaru

Our Drop-In Session had a great turnout and gave us a chance to discuss monitoring projects and provide in-person support for groups, whilst they were visiting Oamaru. Thanks to everyone that came along and shared insights from your projects!

Birds NZ Conference

The Annual Birds NZ Conference was in Auckland this year and a record number of people attended. Hiltrun got the chance to present the initial results of the diet study from scat DNA. It was also a great opportunity to catch up with other penguin people.

Visits to some Auckland groups

Hiltrun was in Auckland, so it was a great chance to visit Waiheke Island and the Auckland’s West Coast groups. First up was a catch up with Helen who has started to care for Kororā on private property, watching over them to ensure their nests are not washed away and their access paths stay clear.

Te Henga was next, and the rain held off so we could see clearly Kororā footprints heading out to sea. It is a bit of a mystery where they go to breed and spend time ashore, one thing is for sure, there are lots crossing the beaches!

Surely, they are in here…. trying to determine whether a Kororā was in this burrow was not easy at Muriwai: it was deep and convoluted but there was sign that a penguin had visited. Other Kororā are sensible and hang out in well-hidden nest boxes that are so much easier to monitor.

The visit to Karekare illustrated one of the biggest issues for Kororā: while dogs are actually allowed on the beach where the penguins are, they ought to be a lead - which this group of 9 dogs clearly were not.

The famous beach at Piha also has Kororā that have to negotiate a lot of people and also dogs especially during the summer. Nest sites are well camouflaged, and pest control helps to protect them from cats and stoats.

A huge thank you to all the groups for hosting Hiltrun and taking the time to show her around. It was awe inspiring how much is being done to protect our precious Kororā on these beaches and how much you all care. Keep up the good work!

Visit to Waikato

Melissa spent some time in Raglan with the amazing team from the Karioi Project to provide guidance around monitoring, education/advocacy and addressing local issues such as off-leash dogs.

Note the dog demonstrating how attractive penguins are to them! Perhaps we need to ensure dog toys don’t look like our native species?!

Credit: Karioi Project

Raglan Community Radio hosted Kristel & Georgia from the Karioi Project and Melissa to talk penguins, to help raise local awareness. Thanks to Aaron for being a great host and helping spread the conservation word. Listen in here: NZ Penguin Initiative Visits Raglan

Credit: Raglan Community Radio

Melissa also had the privilege of educating some school students and hopefully inspire some young conservationists! Here she is attempting to draw Kororā footprints in the sand at Ngarunui Beach…..It was safe to say, she needs more practice!

Credit: Karioi Project

Rubbish removed from around Kororā and Oi (grey-faced petrel) burrows to prevent blocked entrances, entanglement and cut feet.

Seabird ranger Georgia undertaking essential trap duties- clearing a mouse and resetting to make sure the trap is free for bigger predators!

Visit to Bay of Plenty

Then it was across to the Bay of Plenty back to familiar habitat for Melissa in Mount Maunganui, to do some training with Western Bay Wildlife Trust (WBWT). The team removed a heap of rubbish from around burrows, a regular occurrence here with high human presence. It was sad to see how prevalent tidal inundation/burrow wash out has been occurring in many areas that previously provided good breeding/moulting habitat. This is an increasingly familiar problem nationally and highlights the need to work with landowners for future proofing safe spaces for penguins, that are elevated or at an adequate distance from the shoreline.

Credit: WBWT

Nest monitoring training session to help future proof data collection and expand monitoring sites.

Credit: WBWT

Protective barriers installed on Moturiki Island to prevent trampling of vegetation/penguin habitat and reduce disturbance.

It was a great turn out for a Kororā Rescue education session for a dedicated group of volunteers that rescue sick, starving and injured that wash up on Bay of Plenty beaches every year.

Demonstration penguin resting on a towel “donut”.

Credit: WBWT

Huge thanks to the Karioi Project and Western Bay Wildlife Trust for accommodating Melissa and sharing their penguin work. Amazing efforts by all involved with their projects, striving for healthy & thriving Kororā colonies…..every patch of coast counts!

Double-brooding in Wellington

The paper is out in the September Notornis issue, but you can download it here: Breeding success of little penguins in Wellington, 2014-2023: a first record of double brooding on North Island, NZ

We are currently scoping the genetics of these female Kororā to find out which sub-species they belong to.

Double-brooding is not supposed to happen outside Otago (and Australia) and the laying of another clutch AFTER fledging chicks is a characteristic of Eudyptula minor novaehollandiae that sets them apart from Kororā from the rest of New Zealand - Eudyptula minor minor. How true is it though?

Double brooding has been published from Kaikoura and the Pohatu team have said they’ve had some at times. There appeared to have been the odd one on the North Island, but the penguins were not marked - so we can’t be sure. So, is it a matter of Otago Kororā spreading or are the NZ Kororā actually able to double-brood, but just do it so rarely that it’s never been recorded? We still don’t know - but the marked birds at Wellington have confirmed the suspicion that they are double brooding there at times when the food is good. It goes to show how important identifying individuals is.

What is happening in the penguins lives at this time of the year?

Breeding season is underway, with eggs being laid in Oamaru and Kaikoura, including some chicks already hatched. Some pairs have laid eggs in Otago too. North Island colonies normally get started a little later, but there has been reports of pairs spending quite a bit of time at home. We expect to hear about more egg laying all across the country over the coming months!

Pick up Rubbish = Save Penguins

Fishing Line, Glass Bottles, Plastic Bottles, Ropes, Nets, Bags

Please pick it up whilst out visiting beaches, rocky shores, harbours and coastal reserves so penguins can get in and out of their burrows safely and avoid becoming entangled/injured.

A small action we can all take to help save our penguins!

Keep Kororā for Our Future

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