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New Zealand Pigeon: Kukupa or Kereru

The Kukupa is the only native pigeon in New Zealand. Despite its noisy visibility, it is in trouble on the mainland.  The birds are most at risk in Northland where a study conducted last year showed a 50% drop in numbers over 24 years.

The Kukupa now plays a pivotal role in the regeneration of native forests, as it now the only bird big enough to swallow and disperse the seeds of large fruited trees such as Karaka, Taraire, Tawa, Puriri, and Miro.  In the past this role would have been shared by other bird species now extinct such as the Moa or giant rails.

The pigeon was very numerous at the time of the European settlement; there is a record dating from 1882 of 8,000 birds being taken in the course of a single trip to a 3Km square area near Opaura.  Nevertheless there must have been concern at its declining numbers, as hunting restrictions were placed on the bird as early as 1864.  It is likely that the low reproductive capacity of the pigeon when combined with the familiar effects of habitat loss, competition and predation, and more effective techniques available for the harvesting of birds with firearms, soon led to the birds being hunted in unsustainable numbers.  This is even more of a concern today.

Pigeons are slow breeders and the nesting success in mainland areas that have been studied is dismal.  In a Northland study , only 15% of nesting attempts succeeded in raising a fledgling.  At Wenderholm, near Auckland, not one of 20 nesting attempts succeeded and only one juvenile bird was  seen throughout the 18 month study period.

This low productivity is made worse by the relatively short lifestyle span of the adult birds. Study of a Marlborough population showed that the average life-span of adults was only 5-6 years, largely as a result of predation when the birds feed on shrubs close to the ground, where they are susceptible to attack by stoats and cats.  With breeding success of 15 - 20 % per year, and the 2 - 3 breeding attempts per year, it takes the Marlborough birds that same 5 -6 year period, the whole of their lives just to replace themselves.

In Northland the situation is worse.  The average life expectancy of an adult Kukupa in one study area was calculated at 1.25 years.  The birds in this region continue to be illegally hunted for food.  This increased predation pressure on the adult birds is almost certainly the major factor associated with the low survivorship of the Northland birds.

The birds in Northland are clearly declining  faster than any other areas of the country that have been studied.  A 1979 survey of pigeon numbers was repeated 14 years later in 1993 which showed that the overall numbers had decreased by a dramatic 50% in that time.  The forests which recorded the greatest declined also showed the most evidence of illegal hunting.

On islands where the only mammalian predators and competitor is the Pacific rat or Kiore, breeding success is three times higher than the best mainland sites.

Copyright©1998Department of Environmental Management