Whiteheads have been returned to Northland after a 140 year absence thanks to the hard work of the Bream Head Conservation Trust.
Parua Bay School Enviro Club were there to help and be part of the hundred strong crowd that gathered to welcome these rare birds back to the Kiwi Coast.
Article by Parua Bay School Enviro Club.
On Saturday May 13th, we went to Bream Head. A special native bird called whitehead or popokatea were being released into the forest. Our school had been asked to help. Whaea Sam, Max, Emma and Fiona Tyson, Taylor and Scott Peterson, Alice and her sister were there from Parua Bay School.
First, there was a talk about the birds and the people who had helped.
We learned that popokatea had not been here for 140 years.
Then we were given one of the boxes to carry up the hill. The birds were inside and you could hear them twittering. Our school group worked as a team to carry the box up the track.
“It was fun and tiring going up the hill” reports Fiona Tyson.
When we got to the top, we watched the whiteheads get released. Max Tyson was chosen by Whaea Sam to be the person from our school to open the box and let the birds out.
Max says: “I got a surprise when they flew out, but it was really cool. The birds looked like white sparrows”.
100 birds were released. The birds raced out of the boxes and quickly flew to the trees. They started tweeting to each other. Some stayed close and and some went away.
So many people came to see the birds, it was quite crowded.
“After we had let the whiteheads out of our box, we walked back down the track so other people could get close and see the birds too” says Emma. “It was really exciting and fun to see the birds released. It was tiring walking up the hill, but it was worth it!”
Max finishes with saying “There are now 100 whiteheads at Bream Head. I hope they find good places to nest and we see them again next time we walk to Peach Cove”.
