Across All Realms: Sea, Land & Air
Our seabird taonga
Tītī Cook’s petrels mainland flyway
Tracking ‘flying goats’ heard while flying across Rodney and Auckland Northland Isthmus
Tītī Cook’s petrel mainland flyway - tracking ‘flying goats’ across the Auckland / Northland Isthmus is a citizen science project encouraging members of the public from all across the Rodney District and the Auckland / Northland Isthmus to send in reports of when and where petrel calls have been heard.
Cook's petrels have been delightfully dubbed ‘flying goats’ from some of their calls.
An online reporting form has been created to record name; contact details; date, time, and location; how many birds heard; which calls were heard (will give a choice – “kek-kek-kek”, lower pitched ‘boor’, ‘purr’ sounds, or the hum of just wing beats); and whether any birds were seen.
Link here to form or use QR code
Why do they do this?
Most of the world’s population of tītī Cook’s petrels breed on Hauturu Little Barrier (98%) with small populations on Aotea Great Barrier Island and Whenua Hou. Like most seabirds they get their food at sea. In the case of tītī Cook’s petrels as far east as the Chatham Islands. Many also fly around the top of the North Island to forage in the Tasman Sea. With bellies full those birds take a shortcut back across the Auckland Northland Isthmus to relieve their breeding partner from incubation duty or to feed their chicks. Tītī Cook’s petrels breed from October to April with the peak of calling by birds flying overland is from October to January each year.
In April, young birds departing their colonies for the first time are drawn to Auckland’s lights and are found in the city streets disorientated, sometimes injured from colliding with structures, or are killed by cats and dogs.
Aims of the project:
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Raise the public profile of seabird diversity in northern Aotearoa New Zealand by highlighting this extraordinary behaviour of tītī Cook’s petrels
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Raise public awareness of the globally important Auckland Isthmus/North Auckland Flyway for Cook’s petrels between the Tasman Sea and the Hauraki Gulf, and for other seabird species such as the endangered tara iti New Zealand fairy tern between the Kaipara Harbour and the Gulf.
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Highlight seasonality of the risk to fledglings departing colonies and promote the reduction of artificial light at night to mitigate threats to them and other species.
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Establish a citizen science program to collate records of Cooks petrels heard overhead on the flyway at night as a way of engaging people in understanding these seabird behaviours.