OUR WHANGATEAU SHOREBIRDS

The exposed sandflats of the Whangateau harbour provide an abundant food supply for many hundreds of shorebirds.

At high tide, the feeding grounds are covered by water and the shorebirds must find a safe roosting site. Many roost in flocks inside the shorebird sanctuary at the tip of Omaha spit. They will tuck one leg up into their feathers, rest their head on their shoulders and sleep for 2-3 hours. There are seven endemic shorebird species in New Zealand, with six of these species (Banded Dotterel, Northern NZ Dotterel (N NZD), Pied Stilt, South Island Pied Oystercatcher, Variable Oystercatcher (VOC), and Wrybill) found in and around the Whangateau harbour.

Apart from the breeding shorebirds, there are large groups of other shorebirds that require safe roosting sites at high tide.

In September, the bar-tailed godwits return from their breeding grounds in Alaska, flying non-stop all the way. They are mostly site-faithful, with the same birds returning year after year to spend the summer fattening up on the food supplied by the harbour.

You can walk quietly past the groups of shorebirds while they are roosting on the spit, usually without them ‘lifting off’, provided you move quietly. It’s important, especially for our godwits, that they don’t expend energy unnecessarily. The godwits must be in good condition for their long flight North to breed at the end of summer, departing in larger groups around the middle of March.

The Omaha Shorebird Protection Trust (OSPT) was formed in 2009 with the aim of protecting our shorebirds.

Volunteers maintain an intensive trapping schedule, keeping predators such as rats, stoats, and weasels to a minimum.

Unfortunately, despite the predator fence, we have trouble with cats and dogs entering the sanctuary at the estuary end.

The NZ Dotterels and Variable Oystercatchers nest on the ground, and the bird incubating the eggs is extremely vulnerable to predation, particularly at night. The remains of 6 adult NZ Dotterels were found in the past few months, with the two sent for DNA analysis confirming they were killed by cats.

It is such a privilege to have these wonderful birds on our doorstep. But we should not take their presence forgranted. The breeding success of NZ Dotterel and Variable Oystercatchers has recently been dismal, with only 2 NZ Dotterel chicks fledging in the last season, and 1 Variable Oystercatcher chick. We need to do all we can to improve these statistics. Please don’t let our grandchildren and great grandchildren label us as the generation that wiped them out!

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