saddleback

The hihi/stitchbird (Notiomystis cincta), an endangered New Zealand endemic species, has one self-sustaining population not subject to human intervention, located on Little Barrier Island (Te Hauturu-o-Toi), in the Hauraki Gulf, Auckland. All other hihi populations have been derived from Little Barrier Island and all require active management. Changes in the population of hihi on Little Barrier Island are, therefore, of great conservation interest.

Big South Cape Island (Taukihepa) is a 1040 ha island, 1.5 km from the southwest coast of Stewart Island/Rakiura, New Zealand. This island was rat-free until the incursion of ship rats (Rattus rattus) in, or shortly before, 1963, suspected to have been accidentally introduced via local fishing boats that moored at the island with ropes to the shore, and were used to transport the mutton birders to the island.

Population models are useful tools to guide management as they allow us to project growth and persistence of wildlife populations under different scenarios. Nevertheless, good data are needed to produce reliable models, and this requirement is problematic in some situations. North Island saddlebacks (Philesturnus rufusater) were reintroduced to Boundary Stream Mainland Island in September 2004, and this was the first time this species had occurred in an unfenced mainland area since their extirpation in the 19th century.

The effectiveness of line- and point-transect distance sampling methods was compared for estimating the density of a conspicuous endemic passerine, the North Island saddleback Philesturnus carunculatus rufusater, in two forest habitats on Tiritiri Matangi Island, Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand. The reference population abundance in each habitat was calculated through an intensive capture, colour-banding, and resighting effort.