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Little blue penguins hatch eggs in the Tasman district.
Hikers and dog owners are urged to take extra care around the coasts of the Nelson-Tasman region as the little blue penguin breeding season is upon us.
Linda Jenkins, of the Tasman Bay Blue Penguin Trust, said the local breeding habitat included the bays from Tapu Bay and Kaiteriteri in the north to Abel Tasman National Park and around the Port Nelson area.
The first eggs had been recorded by the monitoring team, Jenkins said.
Penguin expert and trustee of the Mohua (Golden Bay) Blue Penguin Trust, Professor John Cockrem of Massey University, said in Port Tarakohe in Golden Bay the first chicks hatched about three weeks ago.
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KAREN SAUNDERS
Tūmanako the little blue penguin was rescued when he didn’t need to be rescued. The kororā thrives at Native Bird Rescue on Waiheke Island. Video first published in January 2022.
The peak of the laying season this year was slightly later than last year. While the time at which the eggs are laid naturally varies from “year to year and place to place”, the timing this season may have been influenced in part by the “vast” amount of rain that had fallen on the region and the silt washed out to sea, said Cockrem.
Jenkins said little blues usually lay two eggs per breeding season, which took about 35 days to hatch. It took another eight weeks of constant feeding by the parents for the chicks to fledge.
“It’s especially important in the next three months that nests and burrows are undisturbed,” she said. “Residents and visitors can help by sticking to the paths formed at beach access points and walking the beach by the water, rather than in the dunes and vegetation areas. This reduces the chance of accidentally crushing a penguin den.”
Joe Lloyd/Stuff
Penguin expert and trustee of the Mohua (Golden Bay) Blue Penguin Trust, Professor John Cockrem of Massey University, says the peak of egg-laying this year is slightly later than last season.
Low tide and estuary areas, which were breeding and feeding grounds for shorebirds, should also be avoided.
Cockrem backed Jenkins’ call for people to be extra careful.
“The birds are probably home every day when there are chicks,” he said.
Officially called little penguins or kororā, the little blue penguins are the world’s smallest penguins, weighing about 1 kg and measuring just over 25 cm in height. They are on the list of protected species under the Natural Law.