Coming In, Going Out

January 3, 2012

The stream of new birds arriving at The Sanctuary continues. Yesterday we received a gorgeous baby kereru. Its feathers have just come through, but if you look closely you can see fine strands of single orange feathers poking through. It resembles a Maori ceremonial cloak, and only babies have this. The orange strands disappear as the baby matures. The other way you can tell the difference between a young kereru and an adult is the colour of the beak and feet. They are brown on a juvenile, and bright orange/red on an adult. On the same day that this new youngster arrived, two other kereru were being released. They’d come in as young birds who weren’t yet feeding themselves, but are now eating and flying well, and have been released. This morning they were both seen feasting in a massive puriri tree, exactly as nature intended. 1 bird in, 2 birds released. I guess we’re making progress!