re Curlews at Mulligans again

[mariko buszynski <>]

Hi all,

We came back from New Zealand recently.  In Chatham Islands we heard a lot about Black Robins, though we did not see or intend to see them.  I do not remember them all but Black Robin chicks incubated by Tomtits did become imprinted on Tomtits.  They showed no interest in Black Robins.  Scientists worked out a crucial period when this fixation occurred, a few days or weeks before fledging?  Sorry, I cannot remember all the details.  They took out chicks before fledging and returned to robins' nests.  I don't know how they did it but it sounds a very time consuming process.  It made me think how important to look after birds in problem before it reaches this critical stage.

On Mon, Apr 4, 2016 at 7:46 PM, Chris Davey <> wrote:

Hi, thanks to all for the comments on the Stone-curlews.

 

We need to remember that these are hand-reared birds and so not raised in the company of adults who are aware of the dangers. The birds mentioned in the various emails would all have been raised by their parents and so made aware of predators, people etc. This could also work in reverse where the young have learnt that people are not a danger and so are more reluctant to fly.

 

This is one of the problems with translocation projects in general and that is how to ‘teach’ hand reared birds about what is out there.

 

The eggs of some endangered bird species in New Zealand and elsewhere have been incubated and raised by wild birds of a more common but ecologically similar species and in this way they learn danger from their adopted parents. Interestingly when the young become adults they do not fixate on the species that they were hatched under. Could we do this with Stone-curlews incubated and raised under chooks? I don’t know.

 

Chris