In April 2017 Taranaki Mounga returned 50 toutouwai/North Island robin to Mt Taranaki after a 110 year absence. The birds were translocated from Pureora Forest Park and banded before release so we can easily identify them.
Please help by reporting your toutouwai/robin observations so we can better protect these precious birds on the Mounga.
You can report a sighting here.
How to join Taranaki Mounga tōutōuwai/robin project
- Sign up to NatureWatchNZ here
- Join the Taranaki Mounga tōutōuwai/robin project (at the top of the page)
- Start making observations
- Download the iNaturalist smart phone app so you can also make observations when you are on the Mounga
Need help? read the How-to guide here
Citizen science – helping Taranaki Mounga help the tōutōuwai/robin
About tōutōuwai/robin
Other names: Petroica longipes
New Zealand status: Endemic
Conservation status: Not Threatened
Behaviour: Tōutōuwai/robin are friendly and trusting birds and will often come very close to people
Song: Listen to the sound of the Tōutōuwai/robin below
Male territorial song
Audio Credit: NZbirdsonline
How to attract: Scuff the leaf litter and the tōutōuwai will be attracted to the invertebrates you reveal
What they eat: Robin will eat species as small as aphids or as large as a tree weta or earthworm. They also eat small ripe fruit in summer and autumn. These translocated birds love mealworms and were fed them before capture and after release on the mountain.
Breeding season: September to February
Main threats: Rats, stoats, feral cats and possums
ID tip: Look to see whether the birds are banded or not – no bands mean the Tōutōuwai you have observed are not the birds translocated in April 2017 – they could be their off-spring, or birds who have been attracted to the Mounga knowing other robin/toutouwai are now in residence
For more information about toutouwai/robin on Mt Taranaki go here
