1436 days ago

Zoo staff hunt for puweto: west Auckland

Caryn Wilkinson Reporter from Community News

Auckland Zoo staff have joined Matuku Link colleagues to scour for the elusive puweto.

Puweto, or the small dark coloured rails, live in freshwater wetlands scattered throughout the country, with their largest populations in the North Island.

The Matuku Link is a 37 hectare native forest block in west Auckland's Bethell's Valley.

The reserve connects many protected areas including Ark in the Park, Habitat Te Henga, Forrest Ridge and Matuku Reserve.

Staff from the zoo and Matuku Link joined volunteers to search for the birds in Bethells wetlands.

The presence of small dark coloured rails in a particular wetland signals the overall health of the ecosystem.

But more than 90 per cent of New Zealand's wetland areas have been drained and cleared for agriculture which has yielded a major impact on all species.

Puweto need vegetation such as raupo and kuta in which to forage and nest.

Surveyors used a recorded sound of the birds' calls to aid monitoring.

They saw two puweto and netted 13 call responses at 38 listening posts.

Photo: John Sumich

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More messages from your neighbours
5 hours ago

Calling All Puzzle Masters! Can You Solve This?

Riddler from The Neighbourly Riddler

When John was six years old he hammered a nail into his favorite tree to mark his height.
Ten years later at age sixteen, John returned to see how much higher the nail was.
If the tree grew by five centimetres each year, how much higher would the nail be?

Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.

Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.

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5 hours ago

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15 days ago

What's your favourite recipe for courgettes?

Mei Leng Wong Reporter from NZ Gardener & Get Growing

Kia ora neighbours. If you've got a family recipe for courgettes, we'd love to see it and maybe publish it in our magazine. Send your recipe to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of our January 2025 issue.

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