A booming good summer for male kākāpō on the North Island mainland

Kākāpō at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari have completed their first season of booming – something that has not been heard on the North Island of mainland Aotearoa for more than a century.

11-year-old Taeatanga, one of the three male kākāpō currently living within the sanctuary as part of a fenced habitat trial, started booming in December and 6-year-old Tautahi followed suit. It’s unknown if Bunker, the third and youngest male at the site, boomed this year. 

Booming is one aspect of the elaborate breeding behaviour of male kākāpō, designed to attract the attention of potential mates. 

Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu representative on the Kākāpō Recovery Group Tāne Davis says that this occurrence is a significant milestone for the iwi involved in caring for and protecting these precious taonga. 

“The iwi ki te iwi (iwi to iwi) transfer of these kākāpō from Ngāi Tāhu to Ngāti Koroki Kahukura, Raukawa, Ngāti Hauā, and Waikato was a commitment to share kaitiakitanga of these manu,” Tāne Davis says. 

“While males booming does not necessarily mean that the maunga will be a successful breeding site in future, it is a clear sign that the manu are feeling at home and comfortable to exhibit their natural behaviours,” he says. 

Ngāti Korokī Kahukura representative and Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari Cultural Advocate and Educator, Bodie Taylor says having these manu at Maungatuatari is an honour and mana whenua continues to take the role of whāngai (fostering) of these taonga very seriously. 

“Hearing the booming of kākāpō back on Maungatautari is a privilege and a testament to the importance and success of our relationship with Ngāi Tahu. We are looking forward to the next steps in this journey to hopefully welcoming female kākāpō to Maungatautari one day, and the opportunity of being able to contribute to the population growth of these precious manu,” he says. 

Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari Chief Executive Helen Hughes wholeheartedly supports this, saying that this incredible step in the journey of kākāpō at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari is to be truly celebrated. 

“It has been a wonderful, and at times challenging, 18 months of learning, both for the birds and for everyone involved in this ground-breaking recovery effort. Our team of dedicated sanctuary rangers, who care for these birds daily, are gaining and sharing vital knowledge about their behaviour on Maungatautari and the booming is an extremely positive sign for the future of kākāpō at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari,” she says. 

DOC’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme Operations Manager Deidre Vercoe said the news was an encouraging early indication that the habitat may be suitable for the males, however it was still too early to know whether the site could one day support a breeding population. 

“There are a lot of factors at play. These males have been supplementary fed over the last six months to help with the challenges of keeping them settled inside the fenceline. It is likely this has helped them reach booming condition, so we don’t know if they would boom on the maunga without this feeding. Males have also been known to boom without the presence of females before, at island sites that didn’t support a breeding population. It will be many years before we know enough about this site and its future for kākāpō.” 

Deidre said the sound of kākāpō booming would have been prolific throughout the country before the arrival of humans and mammalian predators. She dreams that will be true again one day.

“Knowing we have helped return that sound to mainland Aotearoa after decades of kākāpō existing only on offshore islands is very special. There is a long way to go, but milestones like this offer an exciting glimpse into the future we are striving for, when kākāpō can live safely amongst us once again.”