Kākāpō ranger diary 30 March 2009
By kākāpō ranger Phil Marsh
Well all of a sudden we have a lot of chicks on the island and not so many eggs left to hatch. There are now 28 chicks that have hatched and another nine fertile eggs that are close to full term.
Looking after the kākāpō chicks
Cyndy, Heather, Wendy, Zephyr, Hoki and Ruth are currently rearing two chicks each and Margeret-Maree, Ellie, Jean, Bella and Alice are rearing one chick each. Over the next few days Fuchsia, Lisa and Sarah will hopefully hatch two chicks each.
It's been great seeing many of the chicks growing rapidly and we are hopeful that at least half of the chicks will be raised by their mothers alone.
The fruit on the rimu trees appears to have stalled a little and some of the mums have struggled to keep up to the demands of their chicks, hence the need for hand rearing.
There are 11 chicks that are currently being hand reared and these are all doing well.
The next few weeks will give us more of an idea of how the season will develop. The best that we can now hope for is a grand total of 37 chicks!