Seabird Translocation New Zealand-style: Applications for Restoration (Freifeld)
Channel: Ronald Cannarella
Date: 2012-06-02

A presentation at the Hawai`i Conservation Conference by Holly B. Freifeld1, (and Helen Gummer2; 1U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office, Honolulu, HI, 2Private Contractor, Wellington, New Zealand) on "Seabird Translocation, New Zealand-style: Ideas and Applications for Restoration and Conservation in Hawai‘i". The New Zealand/Hawai‘i Conservation Exchange Program, sponsored by the Hawai‘i Conservation Alliance and Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research in New Zealand, seeks to “enhance communication of approaches, techniques, and philosophies relevant to…common conservation and management issues” through interaction among conservation workers in the two archipelagos. With support from this program and the community non-profit group Friends of Mana Island (FOMI), HBF traveled to New Zealand in January 2007 to assist HG, contractor to FOMI, with the second of three planned translocations of Fluttering Shearwaters (Puffinus gavia) to Mana Island, a scientific reserve owned and managed by the New Zealand Department of Conservation. The purpose of HBF’s participation was to gain hands-on experience of translocation methods pioneered in New Zealand. Ninety-one chicks between two and five weeks from fledging were transferred from their natal colony on Long Island (Marlborough Sounds) to Mana Island (off the Porirua coast) on 4 January. Under supervision of HG, HBF participated from 4 to 14 January along with other volunteers in preparing artificial burrows, monitoring and hand-feeding chicks, and preparing food and equipment. By 10 February at least 81 chicks or 90% were presumed to have fledged successfully. Field time permitted extensive discussion of the evolution of translocation techniques, critical decision points for individual birds and translocation efforts, and lessons learned for taxa that are similar to Hawaiian seabirds. In addition, ideas and suggestions were raised for the application of seabird translocation as a tool for the restoration and conservation of Hawaiian seabirds.

Hawaii Conservation Alliance
Executive Producer: Ronald Cannarella