Barker, R., D. Fletcher and R.P. Scofield (2002). Journal of Applied Statistics 29: 305-313.

Abstract: We show how to analyse mark-recapture data in order to quantify a particular type of density dependent effect on survival and recruitment rates. The idea is to include in the model a linear-logistic relationship between survival rate or recruitment and the population abundance in the previous year. In fitting this type of relationship, it makes biological sense to adopt a "random effects" approach.

Cruz, J. B., C. Lalas, Jillet, J.B., Kitson, J.C., Lyver, P. O’B. and H. Moller (2001). New Zealand Journal of Marine & Freshwater Research 35 (4): 817-829.

Abstract: Prey remains from sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus Gmelin, 1792) regurgitates, stomachs, and gizzards, were collected from four breeding colonies in southern New Zealand. We found a wide range of prey species (minimum 39 species of 35 genera), the most important of which were crustaceans (particularly euphausiid krill and hyperiid amphipods), cephalopods (notably arrow squid), fishes, and salps. Malacostracans (krill, amphipods, and decapods) were the predominant taxa of prey in both diversity and frequency of occurrence. Regurgitates were easily obtained from harvested chicks and provided the greatest range of prey remains (36 of the 39 species identified). However, these regurgitates comprised only 29% of the total number of samples collected. Fish, malacostracan, and salp prey ranged from 4 to 170 mm in size, whereas total lengths of squid ranged from 50 to 535 mm. Based on size and mass, the largest squid were undoubtedly scavenged, possibly in association with commercial fishers. The geographical distribution of prey species indicate that most sooty shearwaters breeding near Stewart Island forage in waters lying between the Subtropical and Polar Fronts. Our results suggest that the abundance of krill, the impact of fisheries and the influence of climate perturbations on prey species may play important roles in sooty shearwater breeding and survival.

Hamilton, S. (1998). New Zealand Journal of Zoology 25 (4): 443-453.

Abstract: A specialised infra-red camera "burrowscope" was used to determine the burrow occupancy rate of sooty shearwaters at three Nugget Point colonies, two Taiaroa Head colonies and one Tuhawaiki Island colony in 1992/93, and the results compared to those given by less reliable methods. At three Nugget Point colonies, fledging success ranged from 0-41%. One of these colonies also suffered high mortality of adults, most likely attributable to mammalian predation, during the nest preparation and egg-laying period. At the Taiaroa Head and Tuhawaiki Island colonies, low predator abundance may have been an important factor contributing to the high fledging success (64-100%). Several years of monitoring reproductive and survival parameters are needed to verify the status of mainland colonies and the impacts of various possible threats to their survival and productivity.

Hamilton, S. (1998). Notornis 45: 64-66.

Hamilton, S., J. de Cruz, C. Hunter, and H. Moller (1998). Conservation Advisory Science Notes 187: 1-19.

Abstract: The Kia Mau Te Titi Mo Ake Tonu Atu (Keep the Titi Forever) research programme aims to investigate sustainable harvesting of titi (sooty shearwaters) chicks as well as monitoring mainland colonies which are threatened due to predation from introduced mammals. An infra-red burrowscope is used to determine breeding success and to assess population trends and is fundamental to the whole research programme. There have been preliminary indications that the burrowscope fails to detect some titi chicks in their burrows. This pilot study illustrated the potential complexity of burrow systems and gave strong indications that the current burrowscope methodology and analysis of burrowscope data for detecting titi eggs, young chicks and pre-fledging chicks is inaccurate and imprecise.

Hamilton, S. and H. Moller (1995). Biological Conservation 73 (2): 107-117.

Abstract: Population viability analysis (PVA) can guide conservation management and research by identifying the cheapest and most effective actions required to conserve populations and by prioritising research. The usefulness of a very preliminary PVA model is illustrated here for managing New Zealand mainland colonies of sooty shearwaters Puffinus griseus, a long-lived seabird that is preyed on by small carnivores and harvested by Maori for food. The model suggests that chicks can be safely cropped for transfer to depleted colonies, or for human consumption from the two large Otago colonies with populations exceeding the most conservative MVP of 520 individuals. The model also helps direct managers to where and when predator control will be most efficient. It predicts that predation of adults is more likely to have a greater effect on growth rates and MVPs than chick predation. Therefore, funding should be directed towards predator control at the beginning of the season when adults are most vulnerable. However, the model cannot determine population trends, nor rightly assure conservation managers that predator control is essential or even sufficient to prevent extinction. Preliminary models can assist by formalising how uncertain our current understanding is, but should not be expected to work a miracle of divining certainty from a lack of field information that still may take decades to collect. Less reliance should be placed on the predictions of population trends or extinction probabilities than on the model's guidance to the relative efficacy of different management actions.

Hamilton, S., H. Moller and C.J.R. Robertson (1997). Notornis 44: 15-25.

Abstract: Large breeding colonies of Sooty Shearwaters or Titi (Puffinus griseus) occur on offshore islands around New Zealand and several smaller colonies occur on headlands and near-shore islands around southern New Zealand; their population trends are unknown. Twelve mainland colonies around Otago had between 11 and 620 burrows in the 1992/93 breeding season. The largest of three near-shore island colonies in Otago had at least 1,050 burrows. Sooty Shearwater burrows have been recorded from 39 mainland sites in the South Island, but only 11 (28%) of these have been checked in the last 40 years; many may now be extinct. OSNZ Beach Patrol data suggest that the overall number of Sooty Shearwaters has changed little over a 26 year period. Method s for monitoring Sooty Shearwater colonies need to be standardised to evaluate population trends in the future.

Hamilton, S. A. (2000). Marine Ornithology 28 (1): 1-6.

Summary: An infra-red camera "burrowscope" has been designed for inspecting burrows and cavities typicallly used by breeding seabirds. The Kia Mau Te Titi Mo Ake Tonu Atu (Keep the Titi Forever) Research Programme in New Zealand aims to investigate the sustainable harvesting of Sooty Shearwater Puffinus griseus chicks as well as monitoring mainland breeding colonies which are threatened by predation from introduced mammals. The burrowscope is being used to determine Sooty Shearwater breeding success and to assess population trends. However, there have been prelimlinary indications that the burrowscope fails to detect some nests down burrows. During incubation, and after completing three repeated, consecutive burrowscope checks of nests, a plot containing 100 burrow entrances on the Snares Islands was excavated to confirm burrow contents. Using the burrowscope, researchers not only missed upo to 34% of nests, but the three consecutive burrowscope checks gave divergent results. This pilot study illustrated the potential complex geometry of burrow systems and indicated that the current burrowscoping methodology may be inaccurate and imprecise in detecting Sooty Shearwater eggs, young chicks and pre-fledging chicks.

Hawke, D. J. and J. Newman (Revision submitted). Biogeochemistry.

Abstract: We determined inventories and accumulation of C, N, P, and Cd in 2 profiles from sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) breeding colonies. Inventories (0-70 cm, F horizon) were: 42.9 kg C m^-2 (both profiles), 1.39 and 1.95 kg N m^-2, 2.52 and 3.99 × 10^-2 kg P m^-2, and 9.69 and 9.89 × 10^-5 kg Cd m^-2. Radiocarbon analysis for accumulation calculations was invalid in one profile due to bioturbation. Accumulation rates (95% confidence interval) for the other profile were: 61-76 g C m^-2 yr^-1, 2.0-2.4 g N m^-2 yr^-1, 0.036-0.044 g P m^-2 yr^-1, and 0.14-0.17 mg Cd m^-2 yr^-1. These accumulation data were within the range of other pristine peat systems, but lower than those with high anthropogenic inputs. Applying literature estimates of gross inputs indicated that only 0.6-2.2% of N and 0.1-0.6% of P was retained over the 567-705 year accumulation period.

Hawke, D. J., J. Newman, H. Moller and J. Wixon (In Press). Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand.

Abstract: Muttonbirding for sooty shearwaters (Puffinus griseus) on islands around Rakiura is an ongoing traditional activity of local Maori. There is little archaeological evidence to pinpoint the onset of large-scale birding, so some researchers have suggested that widespread systematic muttonbirding only began in protohistoric times. We present AMS radiocarbon data from an archaeological fire found 65 cm subsurface on Poutama, an island off Rakiura. Duplicate analyses of charcoal and a single analysis of underlying peat were used to date the fire, constrained by C accumulation calculations and chemical and isotopic analysis. By comparing C:N ratios and C accumulation calculations with literature values, the peat result (176 ± 55 BP) was shown to be invalid because of contamination via bioturbation. The combined charcoal radiocarbon data were consistent with being estimates of a single value (326 ± 42 BP). After calibration, the fire was dated at AD 1470 - 1660 (95% confidence interval). Carbon-13 analysis was consistent with charcoal from different individual plants. The C accumulation rate (61 - 96 g C m-2 yr-1) was at the upper end of literature values, consistent with a high nutrient and well-oxygenated soil environment. Our results highlight the need for more systematic data collection and experimentation to better assess the time of onset of systematic muttonbirding.

Hunter, C. M., H. Moller and D.J. Fletcher (2000). Ecological Modelling 134 (2-3): 299-323.

Abstract: The difference between parameter uncertainty and elasticity analyses of a deterministic matrix model was evaluated using the Short-tailed Shearwater (Puffinus tenuirostris) as a case study. A total of 5000 simulations of the model were run with input parameters randomly selected from uniform distributions between the upper and lower 95% confidence limits for each parameter. A multiple regression equation was used to relate population growth to all input parameters, two-way interactions and quadratics. Elasticity and parameter uncertainty coefficients were estimated as the percent change in population growth rate when the minimum and maximum value of each parameter were substituted into the regression equation, with all other parameters set at their mean values. Minimum and maximum values were set at the 95% confidence limits for the parameter uncertainty analysis, and at +/- 5% of both mean survival and mean mortality estimates for the elasticity analyses. Parameter rankings differed among the uncertainty and two elasticity analyses. Probability of pre-breeders staying in the colony and probability of first breeding ranked highly in the parameter uncertainty analysis. Survival rates had higher elasticity coefficient rankings when +/- 5% of mean survival was used because altering proportions close to one results in a wider parameter range. The importance of interactions was explored but their importance in this example was found to be low. Incorporating breeding age specific data more closely approximated observed population demographic structure but had little effect on the magnitude or rankings of the elasticity or parameter uncertainty coefficients. The utility of parameter uncertainty and elasticity analyses differ. The former determines how uncertainty in parameter estimation influences model outcomes and is therefore valuable for setting research priorities. The latter determines the effect on model outcomes of altering parameter input levels, so is more valuable for ranking the potential effectiveness of alternative management strategies.

Hunter, C. M., H. Moller and J. Kitson (2000). New Zealand Journal of Zoology 27 (4): 395-414.

Abstract: Sooty shearwater chicks (Puffinus griseus) harvested by Rakiura Maori on Putauhinu Island in the 1997-1999 muttonbirding seasons were larger and more developed than randomly available chicks. Early in the season, when muttonbirders extracted chicks from burrows during the day, this difference may have resulted directly from harvesters selecting areas with higher quality chicks, or indirectly from their selecting higher occupancy or more accessible areas. Later in the season, chicks were harvested after they emerged from burrows at night. Initially, relatively few, light chicks with more developed feathers emerged, and selection between them was relatively weak. As chicks became more abundant, muttonbirders selected heavier, less downy chicks with longer wings. Muttonbirders often rejected small chicks, but there was evidence for selection of larger, more developed chicks even above the estimated reject weight. When undisturbed, higher quality chicks would probably have higher survival and probability of recruitment. Harvesting larger chicks will therefore have a greater impact on the population than randomly harvesting chicks. Models investigating harvest impacts should incorporate chick quality to avoid under-estimating harvest when assessing the long-term sustainability of a culturally important traditional harvest for Rakiura Maori.

Jones, C. (2000). New Zealand Journal of Zoology 27 (4): 327-334.

Abstract: A survey of 170 km of the mainland Otago coastline was carried out in the 1997/98 breeding season in order to determine the current status of breeding colonies of sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus). The locations of breeding colonies, as defined by the presence of burrows, are described and compared with historical records. Numbers of colonies were found to have declined by at least 54% in the past 50 years. Site characteristics which may predict colony survival were: (1) control of introduced predators and (2) the presence of softer soils. Persistence of burrows was independent of dominant vegetation type. Sooty shearwaters seem to be able to withstand habitat modification, but most of the small colonies recorded in this survey are unlikely to survive without predator control.

Jones, C. (2003). Oikos 102: 57-66.

New Zealand’s native avifauna is threatened by introduced mammalian predators. Native species are often not the primary prey of these predators, which depend on introduced mice and rabbits as their primary food source. Theoretical models predict that predation risk for a subsidiary, or "secondary" prey species is inversely proportional to its population size. This prediction was tested by a quasi-natural experiment in which four different sized prey "colonies" were constructed at four existing sooty shearwater breeding sites. Domestic hens’ eggs were placed in shearwater burrows immediately following the shearwater breeding season and egg predation rates monitored at five, ten and fifteen days. Treatments were switched between sites and the experiment run for a second time after a two-week stand-down period. The net effect of increasing colony size was to lower individual risk of predation. The larger number of individuals present served to effectively "buffer," or dilute, per-capita predation risk from predators whose numbers are fixed by extraneous factors: chiefly the abundance of their primary prey. Although eggs were removed more slowly from smaller colonies than from larger ones, each loss had a greater per-capita effect on individual mortality risk. The inverse density dependent relationship found between colony size and predation risk implies that predator population dynamics are largely independent of secondary prey numbers. Abundant introduced predators can therefore easily drive a small secondary prey population to extinction. Control of primary prey populations may be an important management tool in these circumstances.

Jones, C. (2002). Biological Conservation. 108: 1-12.

Abstract: New Zealand's native birds constitute the supplementary or 'secondary' prey of introduced mammalian predators. Predation on secondary prey is inverse density dependent. Small populations will therefore be at greater risk of extinction than large, which escape due to the buffering effect of their size on predation impact. A matrix model of a mainland sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) population predicted a mean growth rate of 1.044 ( 0.967 - 1.130) with no predation. Survival of adults attending the colony was the most influential population parameter. With predation effects included, colony growth was sensitive to both management intensity and colony size. Small colonies required the removal of almost all predation risk to survive, although the level of management required for growth decreased with increasing colony size. Management intensity may be relaxed as a colony grows and an 'escape threshold' colony size is eventually reached at which growth continues without predator management.

Jones, C., S. M. Bettany, H. Moller, D. J. Fletcher, P. O.’B. Lyver, and J. de Cruz (In Press). Wildlife Research.

Abstract: Breeding colonies of sooty shearwaters ("muttonbird", titi, Puffinus griseus) on mainland New Zealand have declined in recent years. New data on burrow occupancy and colony productivity for seven sooty shearwater breeding colonies on the coast of Otago, New Zealand for the 1996-97 and 1997-98 breeding seasons are presented and analysed as part of a five-year data set. Detection of a burrow's occupants using a fibre-optic burrowscope may underestimate absolute occupancy rates, but is still of value in the analysis of trends. Detection probabilities estimated by the novel use of mark-recapture models corresponded with those of previous studies of the technique's accuracy. Mainland declines are associated with a lack of control of introduced mammalian predators at most mainland colonies superimposed on a global pattern of decline in the species' abundance. Large numbers of recovered carcasses and an absence of burrow activity at two small mainland colonies show the decline to extinction of these colonies over the five years of collecting data. At one mainland colony with intensive predator control, survival rates and parameter variances are comparable with those found on a predator-free offshore island. All other mainland colonies showed negligible breeding success. There was a significant positive relationship between egg survival and an index of relative adult survival, with an apparent threshold below which few eggs hatch. Adult survival during the breeding season is likely to be the most important parameter in maintaining a colony's viability.

Kitson, J. (2002). Human Ecology 30(4): 503-521

Abstract: Mäori continue a centuries old harvest of tïtï chicks (sooty shearwater, Puffinus griseus) on islands adjacent to Rakiura (Stewart Island). This study measured time limits on the number of tïtï taken each day from Putauhinu Island. In the first period of the harvest ('nanao') the chicks are extracted from the breeding burrows during daytime. In the second period of harvest ('rama') the chicks are caught at night after they have emerged from their nesting burrows. Capture rate is much higher during the rama than the nanao. More time is spent processing (plucking, cutting-up, gutting and packing) chicks during rama than the nanao because of a 1.3 - 1.7 increase in the number of chicks caught. Recently introduced motorized plucking machines decrease the time required to pluck each chick and make plucking less physically demanding and less painful. However, motorized pluckers did not increase the number of chicks harvested on Putauhinu. Other social limits may control harvest intensity and influence sustainability of muttonbirding.

Kitson, J. (In Press). Wildlife Research.

Abstract: Sooty shearwaters (tïtï, muttonbird, Puffinus griseus) are a highly abundant migratory seabird which return to breeding colonies in New Zealand. The annual harvest of their chicks, on islands adjacent to Rakiura (Stewart Island), by Rakiura Mäori is one of the last large-scale customary uses of native wildlife in New Zealand. This study aimed to establish whether the rate at which muttonbirders can extract chicks from their breeding burrows could be used to monitor population trends of sooty shearwaters. A significant relationship was found between harvest rates and the chick densities on Putauhinu Island. Harvest rates increased slightly with increasing chick densities. The careful selection and screening of a monitoring panel is required because birders' harvest rates vary in their sensitivities to changing chick density. Monitoring harvest rates can only provide a general index to sooty shearwater trends, but can provide the harvesters with an inexpensive and realistic way to measure sustainability of their harvest.

Kitson, J. C., J. B. Cruz, C. Lalas, J.B. Jillet, J. Newman, P.O’B. Lyver (2000). New Zealand Journal of Zoology 27 (4): 347-355.

Abstract: Diet samples from sooty shearwaters (Puffinus griseus) were collected during the breeding season at Poutama (Evening) Island (1994 & 1995) and Putauhinu (Hidden) Island (1996-1998), southern New Zealand. Regurgitate samples and whole guts were obtained from chicks harvested by Rakiura Maori muttonbirders. The relative proportions of six major prey categories (decapod, fish, squid, euphausiid, salp and amphipod) varied markedly between years and/or islands. Many more decapods were eaten in 1994 than 1995 (regurgitates). More euphausiids, amphipods and squid were eaten in 1997 than in 1998 (stomachs). The number of regurgitates with identifiable prey remains was significantly higher in 1998 than 1997. Many of the differences in diet between Poutama and Putauhinu probably reflected interannual diet variation rather than site-specific differences, because the two nearby islands were sampled in different years. Interannual variation in diet may correlate with fluctuations in adult survival and breeding success that strongly influence sooty shearwater population dynamics.

Lyver, P. O’B. (2000). Mammal Review 30 (1): 31-43.

Abstract: Dead Sooty Shearwater, Puffinus griseus, chicks and adults were collected from seven colonies on South Island, New Zealand in the 1993-96 breeding seasons. An estimated 97% of 118 deaths were from predation. Thirty-four definite predator bite pairs were identified on 27 carcasses. Twenty-one (78%) of the carcasses had bite pairs with intercanine distances < 9.5 mm which suggests that Stoats (Mustela erminea) were the principal predators. One chick was killed by a feral House Cat (Felis catus), and it is likely that feral Ferrets (M. furo) were responsible for a proportion of the deaths. Nearly three quarters of definite Stoat bite pairs were identified in the head region. The analyses of bite marks offers cheap and statistically reliable identification of predators provided carcasses are collected fresh and flesh is removed to examine tooth punctures in bone.

Lyver, P. O’B. (2000). New Zealand Journal of Ecology 24 (2): 169-180.

Abstract: Rakiura Maori annually harvest sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) chicks from islands in Foveaux Strait and adjacent to Stewart Island, New Zealand. Chick availability and the number of chicks harvested were estimated during the 1994 and 1995 seasons on Poutama (Evening Island). Burrow entrance densities estimated using circular plots were significantly higher in 1994 (0.45 +/- 0.03 m(-2)) than in 1995 (0.41 +/- 0.03 m(-2)). A similar burrow entrance density (0.45 +/- 0.04 m(-2)) was obtained in 1995 using a transect sampling technique. The number of usable burrows estimated using circular plots in 1994 and 1995 was 387 508 and 337 732 respectively. Of these, chicks occupied 24% +/- 6% in 1994 and 29% +/- 4% in 1995. It was estimated the muttonbirders harvested 13-24% (15 722) of the chicks present on Poutama in 1994 and 17-28% (22 092) in 1995. Muttonbirders targeted areas of the island with higher chick density and less fallen stems. Excluding chicks rejected by the muttonbirder (less than or equal to 750g), harvested chicks were significantly heavier and had less down than randomly encountered chicks. If larger heavier chicks are more likely to return and breed, then the preference for these chicks by muttonbirders would affect predictions of harvest impacts.

Lyver, P. O’B. (2000). New Zealand Journal of Zoology 27 (4): 381-393.

Abstract: The traditional harvest of sooty shearwaters by Rakiura Maori was studied in the 1994 and 1995 muttonbirding season on Poutama Island, New Zealand. Chicks were captured much faster during the rama (the second phase of the harvest when chicks are caught at night on the surface) than during the nanao (the first phase of the harvest when chicks are extracted from breeding burrows during the day). Harvest rates (mins/chick) decreased, and strike rates (chicks/burrow) increased in areas and years with higher chick density. The relationship between strike rates and chick density was curvilinear, so observed changes in harvest rate will not be directly proportional to the actual change in density on Poutama. Burrow occupancy was highest in areas with intermediate burrow entrance densities, perhaps because crowding at higher density reduces breeding success, or because harvest is most intense in high density areas. A 20 year record of captures on Poutama showed that the harvest rates almost doubled between 1989 and 1998. The muttonbirders were able to compensate slightly for decreased catches by working an extra 31 minutes per day during the nanao, but there is little scope for further compensation on Poutama because the working day is taken up almost entirely by catching and processing chicks. Density is the main indirect determinant of the number of chicks that can be gathered on Poutama. The number harvested is determined directly by how many chicks a muttonbirder can catch and process in a day on Poutama. Replicate studies are now needed on other islands to test whether similar limits operate elsewhere.

Lyver, P. O’B. (2002). Wildlife Society Bulletin 30 (1): 29-40.

Abstract: Traditional knowledge (TK) concerning the harvest of sooty shearwaters (Puffinus griseus) by Rakiura Maori in New Zealand was recorded and analyzed using scientific methodologies. The objective was to use information and techniques from traditional and scientific knowledge systems for more effective resource management. Rakiura Maori TK predicts that years with larger and fatter chicks will have greater chick abundance. Detailed harvest records (1978-89) from one muttonbirder on Poutama (Evening Island) indicated that harvest tallies were greater in years when chicks were larger. However, observations by muttonbirders in the last decade suggest that this traditional "chick quality-abundance" construct may be becoming less consistent. The lack of a relationship between harvest tallies and chick quality from 1990 to 1998 supported this reported change in TK. Muttonbirders target nights with rain, wind, and little moonlight when chicks can be caught more quickly. A multiple regression model indicated that year, effort, day of season, and nights with wind or rain determined number of chicks harvested. A lunar effect may not have been detected because muttonbirders adjust their harvest behavior according to phases of the moon. Scientific evaluation of chick emergence detected a lunar effect because sampling occurred at all stages of the lunar cycle. Local knowledge of the best conditions and areas on Poutama to hunt allowed the muttonbirders to maximize their harvest efficiency. Traditional knowledge can predict scientific findings for some key parameters of harvest, such as chick abundance, but also has value for understanding an ecological system. Complete integration of TK and ecological science is unlikely because of the spiritual and holistic aspects that partially define TK. However, parallel use of the 2 knowledge systems may improve the understanding and decision-making for conservation and natural resource use.

Lyver, P. O’B., S. A. Hamilton, M. McKenzie, I. Dickson, M. Dooher, T. Broad and H. Moller (1998). Conservation Advisory Science Notes: 209: 21 pp.

Abstract: This report describes the development and refinement of a burrowscope that is reliable and robust enough to withstand arduous field conditions crucial for obtaining accurate data on sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) burrow occupancy and breeding success. The burrowscope consists of a miniature camera and infra-red lights mounted on a three metre length of hose through which images are projected on to a screen at the surface. Movement of the camera-head was important to allow burrowscope penetration, adequate inspection of the burrows tunnels and side chambers, and to negotiate corners and obstacles. A hydraulic system for moving the camera-head was not as reliable as a cable system. Occupancy could not be determined for about a third of all burrows on Poutama Island where the deep peaty soils and abundant tree roots are associated with long and complex burrow structures. Ability to determine occupancy declines rapidly once burrows are longer than about 1.5 to 2 m, partly because the burrowscope cannot be manipulated around corners or obstacles once it has penetrated so far into the ground. Weather conditions and especially the temperament of different operators probably affect precision and reliability of the data. Standardisation of the burrowscope design and the way it is used in a study is important for consistency, but even so the burrowscope may be very inaccurate for comparisons between places, or even between different times at the same place. Research is needed to determine whether there are parameters of burrow structure and geometry that can be measured from above ground during burrowscope surveys to predict a "correction factor" to account for eggs or chicks missed by the burrowscope.

Lyver, P. O’B. and H. Moller (1999). Environmental Conservation 26 (4): 280-288.

Abstract: Rakiura Maori (a tribe of indigenous people in New Zealand) continue a centuries-old customary use of Sooty Shearwater (Puffinus griseus, titi, muttonbird) chicks from islands adjacent to Rakiura (Stewart Island). Some muttonbirders pluck chicks by hand, while others have recently changed to a plucking machine. We compared traditional and modern processing methods to see if new technology stands to increase the efficiency, size and cost effectiveness of harvest. On average, chicks were plucked 6 seconds quicker with a machine, which could potentially increase the catch by up to 4%. Innovation by using wax rather than water to remove down left after plucking saved muttonbirders 29-97 minutes per day, potentially allowing up to a 15% increase in the number of chicks harvested. Both was and plucking machines increased costs, which led to a modest financial gain from using wax, but a net loss from using a plucking machine. Modern technologies have been introduced mainly for convenience and to ease labour in this customary use of wildlife. New technology may erode traditional skills, but does not necessarily pose a risk to the sustainability of a resource. Financial investment in harvest technologies might provide an incentive to increase harvest levels, but could equally provide an incentive to manage for sustainable use. Preservation lobbies are not justified in presuming that new technologies will always threaten wildlife traditionally used by indigenous people.

Lyver, P. O’B., H. Moller and C. Thompson (1999). Marine Ecology Progress Series 188: 237-248.

Abstract: A large-scale decline in the population of an apex marine predator, the sooty shearwater Puffinus griseus, in the North Pacific was corroborated by decreased harvest rates of a muttonbirder between 1979 and 1998 in New Zealand. Between 1989 and 1998 harvest rates decreased by 47% in the nanao (burrow prospecting) period and 42% in the rama (nightly capture of emerging chicks) period. The number of muttonbirders harvesting on Poutama Island decreased over the 20 yr as chicks became scarcer, suggesting that the harvest is potentially self-regulating. Chick abundance on an unharvested island also declined over the last decade, suggesting that harvest was not a sufficient sole cause for the decline. Changes in harvest rates and burrow occupancies between successive years significantly predicted the direction and intensity of Southern Oscillation and sea-surface temperature anomalies in the following 12 mo. Climatic perturbations may affect food availability, predominant wind characteristics, direct and indirect fishery pressure and PCB/DDE redistribution in sooty shearwaters.

Lyver, P. O’B., C. J. R. Robertson and H. Moller (2000). Pacific Conservation Biology 5: 347-357.

Abstract: Burrow occupancy, survivorship, and breeding success were assessed at eight Sooty Shearwater Puffinus griseus colonies along the southeastern coast of New Zealand during the 1994/95 and 1995/96 breeding seasons. An average 46% and 47% of burrows contained breeding birds, but only three colonies had chicks survive and fledge. Most breeding failures were at the egg and early chick phase. A large proportion of adults were killed at some places, causing the extinction of two of our study colonies. Predation by Stoats Mustela ermina was the main cause of breeding failure and adult loss at most mainland colonies, but Norway Rats Rattus novegicus were the principal predator at one colony. Protection of adults, eggs and young chicks from predators is crucial if mainland colonies are to persist. A conceptual model predicts that predation becomes part of the extinction vortex as the size of a colony dwindles because the depredations of a few rogue predators have catastrophic impacts on the few remaining birds.

Miskelly, C. M., P. M. Sagar, A.J.D. Tennyson and R.P. Scofield (2001). Notornis 48 (1): 1-40.

Abstract: Bird records from the Snares Islands between Dec 1982 and July 2000 are summarised. Population estimates and distributions are given for the 29 breeding species. Bird species recorded breeding on the Snares Is for the first time since 1982 were southern black-browed albatross (Diomedea melanophrys), Chatham Island albatross (D. eremita), mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), southern black-backed gull (Larus dominicanus), fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa) and starling (Sturnus vulgaris). Fantails are now abundant on the Snares Is. Published work on the breeding chronology and breeding success of eight intensively studied species is summarised, and new information on breeding ecology is presented for all breeding species. Sightings of 70 non-breeding and vagrant species are summarised; 34 of these were new records from the Snares Is since 1980. The total bird list for the Snares Is is now 99 species, with a further eight species reported from boats offshore.

Moller, H. (1996). In: McFagen, B. and Simpson, P. (comp.). Biodiversity: Papers from a seminar series on Biodiversity, hosted by Science & Research Division, Dept. of Conservation, Wellington 14 June - 26 July 1994. Pp. 89 - 125.

Moller, H. (In press). Acta Zoologica Sinica.

Abstract: This paper reviews seabird harvests and considers whether monitoring, research and management is adequate to assess their sustainability. Low productivity of adult seabirds makes them very vulnerable to over-harvest unless only the eggs or chicks are taken. A critical lack of information on density dependence and other potential compensatory mortality adjustments makes assessment of sustainability very difficult even in the few cases where adequate monitoring and population research is underway. Research must be very long-term for robust demographic predictions. There is neither evidence for unsustainability of most current seabird harvests, nor evidence that harvesting is sustainable.

Moller, H., M. Charteris, B. Russell and J. Newman (In press). DOC Science Internal Series.

Abstract: Cheeping and movement responses of Sooty Shearwater (Puffinus griseus) chicks to noise and vibration at their burrow entrance was monitored on Putauhinu, Taukihepa and Whenua Hou Islands in the 1998/99 breeding season to assess the utility of the technique for detecting chicks. Overall response rate was too low to allow the method to reliably measure absolute burrow occupancy or breeding success. Chick responses varied between nights at the same island and between years. Large variation occurred between two islands even within the same year. This variability in chick behaviour makes the method unreliable even as a relative index of burrow occupancy and breeding success between colonies and in different years. Chick cheeping and movement was heard within several burrows where a burrowscope had failed to detect a chick. Although the burrowscope remains the most reliable method of detecting chicks, further study is needed to measure its accuracy in breeding colonies with different burrow density, complexity and architecture.

Moller, H.; C. Frampton, A. G. Hocken, I.G. McLean, V. Saffer, L. Sheridan (2000) New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 27: 255 - 260.

Moller, H., P. Horsley, P. O’B Lyver, T. Taiepa, J. Davis and M. Bragg (2000). Pp 156 – 167 In: Perkins, H. & Memon, A. (eds.) Environmental Planning and Management in New Zealand. Dunmore Press, Palmerston North.

Moller, H., C. M. Hunter, M. Howard, P. McSweeney, P.R. Scofield, D. Scott and S. Uren (In Press). DOC Science Internal Series.

Abstract: We describe the construction of a data-logger by modification of a burglar alarm system to monitor entry and exit to/from breeding burrows by petrel adults and chicks. The system records the date and time of entry and exit as measured by the bird's displacement of a rigid plastic tube suspended in the burrow entrance. A switch at the fulcrum of this rigid plastic tube allows an electronic logger to record whether the bird was entering or exiting. A single 'control panel' (data logger) is able to monitor 16 burrows and store 4600 'events' (enters or exits). Monitoring of chick provisioning frequency and behaviour of near-fledging-chicks of Sooty Shearwaters (Puffinus griseus) filled the system memory, requiring downloading of data, about every 2 weeks. The practical maximum distance between burrow and control panel is 300 m if high quality electrical cable is used. A truck battery (12 volts, 70 amp hours) was used to power each panel, and needed to be recharged approximately every 2 weeks. The system cost NZ$4700 in 1998. The system was tested on Tuhawaiki Island, The Snares and Putauhinu Island between April 1998 and May 2000. Imperfect functioning led to loss of data from some burrows. There was also a need for time-consuming filtering of the raw data files to remove 28% of the records. Many events recorded were too rapid to represent passage of the birds in and out of burrows and more entry events were recorded overall than exits. Radio-tracking checks showed that the data loggers did not accurately predict whether chicks were inside or outside burrows. Filming is needed to trace the source of these problems which may be caused by birds repeatedly tugging at the entrance bar from within the burrow, or from displacement of the bar by breathing movements of a bird sitting in the burrow's entrance. If refinements of bars and their placements can resolve these problems, the system potentially offers a wealth of detailed data with minimal disturbance to the birds and the environment. Even with current levels of inaccuracy, the system provides useful data on variation in relative activity amongst burrows and nights.

Scofield, P. and D. Christie (2002). Notornis 49: 158-165.

Abstract: Between 1961 and 1999 the number of adult sooty shearwaters found dead on beaches in northern New Zealand declined by about 64.4% and the number of fledglings by about 77.7%. Only 2 factors that we know about have been acting on the sooty shearwater population during the period studied could have caused such a dramatic decline; a rise in sea temperature perhaps as a result of movement of the Sub-Antarctic Front and increase in harvest. Two other more recent phenomena, north Pacific fisheries mortality and climatic variation (El Nino Southern Oscillation and Pacific Decadal Oscillation), may be involved, but we cannot find any direct evidence of their impact in our data. The impact of this decline has been recently found on the breeding islands. More study is required to fully understand how weather, patrol frequency, deposition rate, persistence rate, and live bird numbers vary and interact. Deposition and persistence experiments similar to those reported from overseas need to be done in New Zealand.

Scofield, P., C. Hunter and D.S. Scott (In Press). Biological Conservation.

Abstract: We report a substantial decrease in the number of sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) burrow entrances on Northeast Island of The Snares, New Zealand. There were estimated to be 3,287,000 ± 65,847 burrows on Northeast Island between 1969 and 1971 (Warham & Wilson 1982). We estimate that between 1996 and 2000 there were 2,060,906 ± 11,659 sooty shearwater burrows, a decrease of 37.3% over 27 years. Burrow occupancy may also have declined but results were inconclusive. Sooty shearwater numbers have declined substantially on the New Zealand mainland, with many smaller colonies becoming extinct. Possible mechanisms for a decline, including fisheries by-catch, climate change, predation and harvest are discussed. Reliable population estimates of other sooty shearwater populations will be important for establishing baseline estimates against which future population trends can be evaluated. If the decline in burrow numbers represents a similar decline in sooty shearwater numbers, the decline reported here maymight be substantial enough to warrant listing of the sooty shearwater on the IUCN "red list".

Scofield, R. P., D. J. Fletcher and J.R. Robertson (2001). Journal of Agricultural, Biological, & Environmental Statistics. 6 (2): 268-280.

Abstract: A reanalysis of titi (sooty shearwater, Puffinus griseus) banding data collected between 1940 and 1957 by Lance Richdale demonstrates that well-documented archival material can be usefully reanalyzed using newly developed statistical techniques. In this study, we compare the results obtained by Richdale using empirical techniques to those obtained using a multistate mark-recapture model. Although the two approaches produce similar estimates for some of the parameters, the multistate model additionally provides estimates of precision and can be used to answer biologically significant questions not raised by the original worker. Our analysis provides some evidence for two conclusions that Richdale put forward but could not justify rigorously: (a) nonbreeders have a lower survival rate than breeders, although the difference is not statistically significantly; and (b) nonbreeders are more difficult to capture than breeders. We argue that reanalysis should be carried out more frequently on historical data and lament the fact that it can be rare for such data to be made available for future scrutiny.

Söhle, I., H. Moller, D. Fletcher and C.J.R. Robertson (2000). New Zealand Journal of Zoology 27 (4): 357-365.

Abstract: Twenty four imitation satellite transmitters (ISTs) were attached to breeding sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) adults late in the 1998/99 breeding season at Taiaroa Head, Otago Peninsula, New Zealand. There was no evidence of any difference in mean weight, change in weight or measurements of adults, nor breeding success of birds carrying ISTs compared with non-treatment birds. However the probability of attending the colony on a given night was reduced to 26% of its initial value from early March to mid April in IST-carrying birds, but not at all amongst non-treatment birds. No difference in ensuing weight, size and emergence date of chicks was detected between treatment and control groups. The maximum recorded attachment duration for an IST using glue was 21 days. Harnesses may be needed for longer studies of foraging behaviour late in the breeding season. Satellite-tracking studies will over-estimate normal foraging trip lengths and possibly under-estimate the amount of food usually provided to chicks if the reduced colony attendance detected in this study is a widespread problem.

Yearsley, J. M., D.J. Fletcher and C. Hunter (2003). Ecological Modelling: 163: 119 –129.

Abstract: Population models are often used to guide conservation management decisions. Sensitivity analysis of such models can be useful in setting research priorities, by highlighting those parameters that have the most influence on population growth rate. Much of the work on sensitivity analysis in this context has been for density-dependent models. We present a sensitivity analysis of a density-dependent model for a population of Short-tailed Shearwaters (Puffinus tenuirostris), in which the output of interest is the equilibrium population size, N_e. We calculate the sensitivity and elasticity of N_e to both the equilibrium parameter value and the strength of density-dependence associated with each input parameter. The rankings of the sensitivities and elasticities associated with the strength of density-dependence are of particular interest, as they cannot be predicted from a sensitivity analysis for the corresponding density-independent model. In calculating sensitivities we make use of the characteristic equation of the model, rather than the left and right eigenvectors of the projection matrix. In order to check the robustness of our conclusions to the strength of density-dependence specified for each input parameter, we consider a range of relative strengths. Within this range there are no major effects on the rankings. The largest sensitivities of N_e to the strength of density-dependence were for breeder survival, emigration and immigration; the largest corresponding elasticities were for emigration, immigration and breeder skipping rate.

Abstract: The harvest of tïtï (Puffinus griseus; "muttonbirds") on islands adjacent to Rakiura (Stewart Island) is one of the few remaining wildlife harvests managed entirely by Mäori. The harvest is of great social and cultural importance to Rakiura Tangata whenua and Mäori in general. The muttonbirders have requested this study to examine the sustainability of the harvest to ensure that the birds remain plentiful for their mokopuna. This study will test and refine population monitoring methods; measure whether current tïtï harvests are sustainable; estimate sustainable yield; determine what sets the limit of present tïtï harvest levels so impacts of any future changes to technologies or harvest practices can be predicted; evaluate potential impacts of climate change, fisheries bycatch and pollutants on tïtï populations; and record and compare the understanding of tïtï ecology, harvest impacts and management practices generated from Mätauranga and kaitiakitanga with that from ecological science. Under this program adults and chicks will be banded on both harvested and unharvested islands, the harvest observed, and survival of chicks and adults monitored. Harvest impacts will be estimated by computer simulation models. Trends in population on unharvested areas will be compared with trends on harvested sites to test the model’s predictions of population changes. Tïtï density on harvested and unharvested colonies will be compared for further rapid check of large-scale harvest impacts. Traditional Environmental Knowledge (Mätauranga) will be recorded using oral histories of experienced muttonbirders and questionnaires. Kaitiakitanga and Eurocentric conservation philosophies will be compared using records of discussions at hui of tïtï harvesters, environmental managers and conservation stakeholders. The research will be conducted by the University of Otago, but is directed by the Rakiura Tïtï Islands Committee.

Hamilton, S. and H. Moller (1993). Pp 621-626 In: McAleer, M. and Jakeman, A. (Eds) International congress on Modelling and Simulation Proceedings, University of Western Australia, Perth, December 6-10, 1993.

Hawke, D. J. and J. Newman (2001). In: He Minenga Whakatü Hua o Te Ao. Sustaining the Fruits of the Land. Proceedings of a hui, Murihiku Marae, August 2000. Online at: http://www.otago.ac.nz/Zoology/hui/Main/default.htm.

Abstract: This research measured a form of nitrogen (the stable isotope nitrogen-15) to see if nitrogen in the vegetation in titi breeding areas reflects inputs by the birds. Vegetation samples were collected from breeding areas on Putauhinu and Ernest Island, along with surface soil samples. A sample from a non-breeding area on Putauhinu was also included. The results were compared with nitrogen-15 values from forest vegetation and soil samples from the North and South Islands of New Zealand. Enrichment of nitrogen-15 was extremely high in all vegetation from the Titi Islands, consistent with a large contribution from titi. Enrichment was also very high in soil from the breeding areas. The results from this preliminary investigation indicate that the Titi Islands are, therefore, a good example of an ecosystem where the birds depend on the islands for breeding, and the birds provide the island with nutrients to sustain the vegetation. In its turn, the vegetation retains the soil for titi to breed. Sustainable management of titi therefore could help safeguard the entire island ecosystem.

Howard, M. and H. Moller (2001). Proceedings of a hui. http://www.otago.ac.nz/Zoology/hui, web site.

Lyver, P. O. B. and H. Moller (1999). Proceeding of Landcare Conference, Wellington, New Zealand, Landcare Research Web page. www.landcare.cri.nz/conferences/manaakiwhenua/papers/index.shtml?Lyver [note: website has changed].

Abstract: Aspects of Rakiura Maori Traditional Environmental Knowledge (TEK) concerning the harvest of titi (Puffinus griseus) were recorded. The harvest was monitored using scientific methods on Poutama Island in 1994 and 1995, and a 20-year record of harvest from one birder was analysed. Traditional Environmental Knowledge guided the harvesters to where and when hunting was most efficient, and how to obtain the largest and fattest chicks. Long-term use of the same island enabled the harvesters to detect long-term trends in chick abundance, and several aspects of kaitiakitanga helped safe-guard the resource. Scientific methods provided predictive models relating lagged changes in harvest rates to El Nino climate fluctuations. Partial integration of TEK and science by Rakiura Maori allows the best of both knowledge systems to be used to guide safe sustainable resource management. Environmental management agencies could make better use of other resource users' TEK to improve outcomes and honour the Treaty of Waitangi in collaborative management of New Zealand's environment.

Lyver, P. O’B., H. Moller and C. Thompson (2001). In: He Minenga Whakatü Hua o Te Ao. Sustaining the Fruits of the Land. Proceedings of a hui, Murihiku Marae, August 2000. Online at: http://www.otago.ac.nz/Zoology/hui/Main/default.htm.

Abstract: A large decline in tïtï abundance in the North pacific is corroborated by decreased harvest rates of a muttonbirder between 1979 and 1998 from Poutama Island. Between 1989 and 1998 harvest rates decreased by 47% in the nanao (burrow prospecting) period and 42% during the rama (night-capture of emerging chicks) period. The number of muttonbirders harvesting on Poutama Island decreased over the 20 years as chicks became scarcer, suggesting the harvest is potentially self-regulating. Chick abundance on Whenua Hou, an unharvested island also declined over the last decade, suggesting that the harvest was not a sufficient sole cause for the decline. Changes in the harvest rates and burrow occupancies between successive years significantly predicted the direction and intensity of the Southern Oscillation Index and sea-surface temperature anomalies in the following 12 months. Climate perturbations may affect food availability, predominant wind characteristics, direct and indirect fishery pressure and PCB/DDE redistribution within tïtï.

Moller, H. (2001). In: He Minenga Whakatü Hua o Te Ao. Sustaining the Fruits of the Land. Proceedings of a hui, Murihiku Marae, August 2000. Online at: http://www.otago.ac.nz/Zoology/hui/Main/default.htm.

Abstract: A randomly selected group of 625 residents living in or near Dunedin, a city in Southern New Zealand, were telephoned in May 1995 to ask about their attitudes to the sustainable harvests of native and introduced animals and plants. Sustainable harvests of introduced species were very much more accepted than native species. Within native species, people were much more agreeable to sustainable harvest of fish than of insects or plants, but very much less in favour of sustainable harvests of birds than any other group. Several respondents agreed to harvests only if it could be assured that they would be sustainable, or of particular species within a group were to be the ones harvested. Few people opposed sustainable harvests on ethical or moral grounds other than the core issue of sustainability. Sample size for Mäori respondents was particularly small so inference about attitudes of Mäori compared to non-Mäori is particularly problematical. This illustrates the potential importance of the Foundation for Research Science and Technology's new initiative to fund increased sample sizes of surveys so that a better characterisation of Mäori attitudes will be possible in future. However, within constraints of low statistical power from low sample sizes, the survey suggested that ethnic groups within the Dunedin public differed little in their attitudes to the sustainable harvests of native species. However Mäori were more supportive of harvesting of introduced species in particular. Mäori were overwhelmingly in favour of themselves having the authority to decide whether or not harvests should go ahead. This right is unilaterally opposed by 30-40% of non-Mäori, but the majority of these groups would still accept Mäori deciding whether or not to harvest provided that certain conditions were met. The Customary Use debate in Dunedin is therefore probably more about who has the right to decide than what actually will or will not be harvested. It would be potentially misleading to infer attitudes about sustainable wildlife harvests throughout Aotearoa (New Zealand) from the findings of this small survey of one predominantly urban and Päkehä community.

Moller, H. (2001). In: He Minenga Whakatü Hua o Te Ao. Sustaining the Fruits of the Land. Proceedings of a hui, Murihiku Marae, August 2000. Online at: http://www.otago.ac.nz/Zoology/hui/Main/default.htm.

Abstract: In 1994 Rakiura Mäori invited the University of Otago to assess the sustainability of their traditional harvest of tïtï (Puffinus griseus, sooty shearwaters ‘muttonbirds’).  The University’s research team was predominantly Päkehä and inexperienced in Mäoritanga and Te Reo.  Although we expected to encounter cultural differences, we often hit these walls without seeing them first, mostly due to our ignorance of tikanga.  In making mistakes we brought added pressures to a group of passionate, overburdened kaitiaki of the tïtï. We got under the feet of tired muttonbirders working around the clock on their manu. We were privileged but demanding guests, outsiders looking in on an intensely Mäori and private activity that connected the birders to their tupuna, each other and their turangawaewae (place to stand). We hit opposition from some sections of the Rakiura Mäori community, no doubt in part because of the history of broken promises and lack of true partnership in science and conservation.  A community-consensus driven society gives free opportunity for dissenters to voice their concerns.  We also struck scepticism, cynicism and downright prejudice from some quarters of Päkehä society.  It was hard to stay confident and not feel as if we were "walking on glass". Guidance from a Kaupapa Atawhai manager and a committed muttonbirder got us in contact with the manawhenua.  Guarded trust from the kaitiaki allowed the first steps and the support of key kaumätua made it possible to continue through our initial blundering learning phase.  A "cultural safety contract" helped until our actions could begin to testify to our good faith. Now, six years on, growing trust and aroha makes this the most rewarding research project I have ever been involved in.  Overall understanding continues to grow between the research team and the kaitiaki for the study (the Rakiura Tïtï Islands Committee) and the community at large.  We realise that some people on both sides of the cultural divide still mistrust us and the process we are engaged in, or they fear the outcomes of the research. But there are now three steps forward for every two back.  A substantive grant from FRST provided the financial capacity to attempt to solve a complex ecological problem - determination of whether the tïtï harvest is sustainable or not. The warmth and hospitality of birders on their manu has made us feel welcome, providing crucial emotional support beyond the politics.  The research team shares excitement with the birders as we find out more about these amazing birds.  Our "scientific tupuna" have passed down the tools that, alongside and with the help of Mätauranga, will allow us to achieve the community’s goals.  We stand proud of the contribution that science can make to a partnership dedicated to ensuring that tïtï remain abundant for Rakiura Mäori mokopuna. We marvel at the detail and subtlety of the Traditional Environmental Knowledge (Mätauranga) of the muttonbirders, and thank the tupuna for the way their gift has sharpened our scientific approach and hypothesis formation.

The kaitiaki are the toughest ethics committee we have ever faced.  We are struck by the wairua and passion of many of the muttonbirders to conserve the birds and their islands. The job of the research team is to advise on likely trends in tïtï abundance and a menu of potential management responses should management be needed and wanted by Rakiura Mäori.  People often project onto us a responsibility for the answers that might come from our science.  We see the key decision of what to do with the results of the research to be entirely the responsibility of Rakiura Mäori - they hold tino rangatiratanga over the islands and the harvest.  A constant goal of our partnership is to transfer the science process and its ownership to Rakiura Mäori, and to learn from kaitiakitanga and Mätauranga for Päkehä environmental stewardship. Association with the muttonbirders has changed my worldview of conservation and New Zealand society.  I know the same has happened for many of the students and field workers involved in the project.  The kaitiaki have also helped the University as a whole to feel its way towards a more bicultural approach to research, teaching and public service.  The patience, trust, shared mahi, and knowledge of the kaitiaki allows me (a naturalised New Zealander) a spiritual connection to Aotearoa.  How can I say thanks enough for a place for me to stand, a place for my children to stand?

Abstract: Harvests of guano, feathers, eggs, chicks and adults of seabirds by humans were once very common. This paper reviews the remaining harvests and considers whether monitoring, research and management is adequate to assess the sustainability of the harvesting. High survival of adult seabirds makes them very vulnerable to over-harvest unless only the chicks are taken. A critical lack of information on density dependence and other potential compensatory mortality adjustments makes assessment of sustainability very difficult even in the few cases where adequate monitoring and population research is underway. Research must be very long-term for robust demographic predictions. Other potential impacts such as bycatch in fisheries and climate perturbations weaken inferences of the sustainability by the population monitoring method. In nearly all cases there is neither evidence for unsustainability of seabird harvests, nor evidence that harvesting is sustainable.

Moller, H., D.J. Fletcher and S. S. Uhlmann (2002). 23rd International Ornithological Congress (IOC), Beijing, China.

Fisheries statistics and observer data were used to retrospectively estimate the total numbers of sooty [Puffinus griseus] and short-tailed shearwater [P. tenuirostris] ‘bycatch’ in Pacific fisheries from 1952-2001. Missing fishing effort and observer data were reconstructed for seven large-scale, pelagic North Pacific squid and salmon driftnet fisheries, because their combined ‘bycatch’ of shearwaters were 100 times higher for these than for any other reviewed fisheries. Sensitivity analysis identified 4 driftnet fisheries to be of particular importance in determining the magnitude and precision of the estimated bycatch totals. Uncertainty analysis estimates that there were 1.0 to 12.8 million sooty and 4.6 to 21.2 million short-tailed shearwater killed in driftnets during the period 1952-2001. Precise estimation was hampered by the paucity of available observer data, lack of reported detail and inconsistencies among data sources. This case study illustrates the need for (a) more detailed reporting and/or improved accessibility of bycatch and fishing effort data, (b) both prospective and retrospective estimations of seabird bycatch risks, and (c) well defined population models to evaluate maximum allowable takes. These are needed before reliable conclusions about population impacts of bycatch on long-lived seabird species can be made.

Moller, H., H. M.. Nevins and J. Adams 2003. Unpublished Report for Rakiura Titi Islands Administering Body, January 2003. 78 pp.

Executive Summary: The Rakiura Tïtï Restoration Project seeks to repair the injury to Sooty Shearwaters (Puffinus griseus) caused by the T/V Command oil spill in 1998 by eradication of introduced rats from breeding colonies on four southern islands of New Zealand. The project is spearheaded by Rakiura Mäori, New Zealand’s most southerly group of indigenous people who manage this ‘taonga’ (treasured species) which they call ‘tïtï’. The restoration team combines the Traditional Knowledge of the ‘kaitiaki’ (Mäori environmental stewards) with technical and scientific expertise of the New Zealand Department of Conservation, a University of Otago team of ecologists, and three United States environmental education and seabird experts.

Elimination of rat predation of eggs and chicks on Taukihepa, Pukeweka, Rerewhakaupoko and Mokonui islands is the most reliable and rapid method of replacing about 20,000 tïtï estimated to be lost because of the Command oil spill. Rat eradication is proposed for mid 2004. Computer simulations emphasise uncertainty in outcomes, but most likely scenarios predict complete recovery of the oil spill injury within a year after rat eradication. However simulations using extremely pessimistic assumptions predict that complete recovery may take 4 decades. Long-term benefits to tïtï and several other species and conservation of ecosystem processes will result.

The Rakiura Tïtï Restoration Project team request US$ 538,000 from the Command Spill Trustee Council over the next 11 years to (i) eradicate the rats, (ii) establish quarantine to prevent re-introduction of rats, (iii) monitor and predict restoration success, and (iv) create educational outreach to inform the people of New Zealand and California about the project. Help in kind from other partners in the team is valued at about US$ 286,000, so the Command spill trust fund is being asked to contribute 65% of the overall project cost. The external contributions, together with savings from management and research efficiencies will make the project extremely cost-effective for the Trustee Council.

Rodent eradication would be by rapid aerial application of rodenticide (brodifacoum) from helicopters. Risks to humans and non-target species are considered minimal and will be reduced by best professional practice that restricts the total amount of toxin discharged, the time of application and the type of bait used.

Intensive study of the rate of loss of tïtï eggs and chicks to rats, and comparisons of productivity before and after rat eradication, will allow computer simulation of rate of recovery of the Command oil spill injury in 2006. Longer-term monitoring of tïtï abundance at fixed study plots 8 and 9 years after eradication will then check model predictions and allow more definitive prediction of ongoing restoration outcomes.

A large number of Rakiura Mäori visit the islands each year and they transport considerable quantïtïes of food and gear from a variety of departure points. A concerted campaign to improve quarantine precautions will be instigated by this project. Rakiura Mäori scientists and managers will be employed to visit birders and urge care, to prepare posters and place poison bait stations at landing island sites. A Natural History television programme about the restoration project will be used to heighten community awareness and quarantine efforts.

The television documentary will be supplemented by CD-ROMS, interactive web-sites and a complete school educational package to educate Americans and New Zealanders about the project and need for environmental stewardship.

All methods for eradication, managing risks and monitoring outcomes have been proven and refined. Experienced and expert teams will secure the Command Trustee Council’s investment in the restoration effort and make the operation safe. Recovery of the injury to tïtï is most likely to be rapid. Multiple long-term benefits to four island ecosystems and several non-target endemic species are certain additional outcomes. The Rakiura Tïtï Restoration Project promulgates a model for international and cross-cultural collaboration to mitigate the effects of a significant oil spill. Education effort will bring lasting benefits for conservation. The Rakiura Titi Restoration Project will build confidence that enlightened research, management and litigation can combine to heal environmental injury resulting from negligence.

Newman, J. and J. Kitson (2001). In: He Minenga Whakatü Hua o Te Ao. Sustaining the Fruits of the Land. Proceedings of a hui, Murihiku Marae, August 2000. Online at: http://www.otago.ac.nz/Zoology/hui/Main/default.htm.

Abstract: By looking at what titi eat, we can learn a lot about their biology and behaviour. Using diet samples we can gain information that helps us to work out their range of prey and even where and when they eat. With such information we can learn to predict how changes in prey availability might effect chick development and adult survival. Diet studies may help us better understand kiaka (skinny chick) years. These studies may even indicate where and when titi may be most at risk of being killed by fisheries.

Scofield, P., D.J. Fletcher, C.J.R. Robertson and D.S. Scott (2001). In: He Minenga Whakatü Hua o Te Ao. Sustaining the Fruits of the Land. Proceedings of a hui, Murihiku Marae, August 2000. Online at: http://www.otago.ac.nz/Zoology/hui/Main/default.htm.

Abstract: In this poster we talk about the scientific work of Lance Richdale. He studied tïtï (sooty shearwater), tïtï-wainui (fairy prion) and küaka (diving-petrel) in the 1940’s and 1950’s on Whero, a small island to the north-east of Rakiura. We describe the changing fortunes of the tïtï on Whero and how the island was colonised by Kawau-mäpua Stewart Island Shags in the late 1950’s which lead to the extinct of the Tïtï population. We discuss how we were able to go back to Richdale's original notebooks and re-analyse his data using modern computer modelling techniques. We will now be able to compare the survival of adults in the 1940's and 50's with survival now. This will enable the Kia Mau Te Tïtï Mo Ake Tönu Atu (Keep the Tïtï Forever) program to gauge the health of the population now compared to earlier this century before fisheries bycatch of tïtï was a significant threat.

Söhle, I. (2001). In: He Minenga Whakatü Hua o Te Ao. Sustaining the Fruits of the Land. Proceedings of a hui, Murihiku Marae, August 2000. Online at: http://www.otago.ac.nz/Zoology/hui/Main/default.htm. Abstract: The Kia Mau Te Tïtï Mo Ake Tönu Atu research project plans to use satellite telemetry to study where sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) feed and rest, which ocean currents may be important as food sources, and which fisheries pose a potential threat from bycatch. Before embarking on such a full-scale and expensive study it was considered important to investigate possible effects of these devices on the birds behaviour and condition. Therefore 24 imitation satellite transmitter (ISTs) were attached to breeding adults late in the 1998/99 breeding season at Taiaroa Head, Otago Peninsula. There was no evidence of any difference in mean weight, change in weight or measurements of adults, or breeding success of birds carrying ISTs compared with non-treatment birds. However the probability of attending the colony on a given night was reduced by an average 26% from early March to mid April in IST-carrying birds, but not at all amongst non-IST and non-handled birds. No difference in ensuing weight, size and emergence date of chicks was detected between treatment and control groups. The maximum recorded attachment duration for an IST using glue was 21 days. Harnesses may be needed for longer studies of foraging behaviour in the late breeding season. Satellite-tracking studies will overestimate normal foraging trip lengths and possibly underestimate the amount of food usually provided to chicks if reduced colony attendance detected in this study is a widespread problem.

Uhlmann, S. S. and H. Moller (2000). Proceedings of Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) workshop on seabird bycatch in the waters of Artic countries, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

Uhlmann, S., P. Scofield, H. Moller and D.J. Fletcher (2001). In: He Minenga Whakatü Hua o Te Ao. Sustaining the Fruits of the Land. Proceedings of a hui, Murihiku Marae, August 2000. Online at: http://www.otago.ac.nz/Zoology/hui/Main/default.htm.

Abstract: Fisheries Bycatch: a threat to muttonbirders' mokopuna?

Tïtï (Puffinus griseus), Sooty Shearwaters, or "muttonbirds" breed in large numbers on islands scattered around Rakiura (Stewart Island - New Zealand). Rakiura Mäori, the southernmost indigenous people of New Zealand harvest their chicks each April and May1. Tïtï migrate Aotearoa (New Zealand) to the northern Pacific during the Austral winter2 where they encounter large fishing fleets from Japan, Taiwan, Soviet Union, Canada and USA. Accidental 'bycatch' in fisher's nets and long-lines occurs but it is not yet known if this is a significant threat to the long-term abundance of the population and the sustainability of muttonbirding.

Bettany, S. M. (1998). University of Otago Wildlife Management Report No. 93. 35 Pp.

Charleton, K. J. (2002). MSc Thesis, University of Otago. 82 pp + XVII.

Charteris, M. (1996). Unpublished report.

Cruz, J., S. Hamilton, C. Hunter, J. Kitson and H. Moller (1997). University of Otago Wildlife Management Report No 87. 16 pp.

Abstract: Our project is called Kia Mau Te Titi Mo Ake Tonu Atu. This year the University research team monitored and compared titi (Sooty Shearwater, Puffinus griseus) ecology and behaviour at both harvested and unharvested sites. We also recorded traditional kaitiakitanga practices, harvesting rates, and traditional environmental knowledge on the Rakiura Titi Islands. Although our original objectives were ambitious, we have accomplished more to date than we envisioned. Particularly significant has been the establishment of workable research protocols with the whanau (families) birding on Putauhinu Island. We report here on portions of the project that have been completed or are in progress, on the problems encountered, and on potential directions for the future.

Notes: A report to Rakiura Titi Committee; the Putauhinu muttonbirding families; Foundation for Research, Science and Technology; Department of Conservation; and sponsors

Cruz, J., H. Moller and D.J. Fletcher (1998). University of Otago Wildlife Management Report No. 103. 11 pp.

Hamilton, S., J. de Cruz, D.J. Fletcher, C. Hunter and H. Moller (1997). University of Otago Wildlife Management Report No. 103. 11 pp.

Hamilton, S., H. Moller, M. Charteris and W. Cooper (1996). University of Otago Wildlife Management Report No 77. 49 pp.

Hamilton, S. A. (1993). MSc Thesis, University of Otago: 144 pp.

Hunter, C. M. (2001). PhD Thesis, University of Otago: 257 pp.

Summary: Many challenges still exist in the empirical measurement of population size or density of burrow-nesting procellariiforms. Although reasonable precision of burrow occupancy estimates can be achieved with 10-15 transect (20 entrances per transect) per site, unknown levels of bias in burrow occupancy estimates currently prevents reliable estimation of burrow-nesting procellariiform abundance or harvest rates. Because it is unlikely that biases in burrow occupancy are similar among colonies, valid comparisons among sites may require estimates of absolute abundance rather than relative measures of burrow occupancy. The reliability and precision of matrix models for procellariids will depend primarily on the reliability and precision of adult survival estimates. Sensitivities, elasticities and uncertainties of population growth rate to demographic parameters for models with differing structures and parameterisations showed an overwhelming importance of adult survival in determining population growth rate and results of perturbation analyses. Estimates of adult survival should be a primary focus of any procellariid research program involving assessment of population status, or questions of population response to perturbations.

Juvenile survival, pre-breeder survival and emigration rates were also shown to be relatively important in determining population growth rate and perturbation analyses. The sensitivity and elasticity of population growth rate to survival rates for all immature stages combined were similar in magnitude to the sensitivity and elasticity of population growth rate to survival rates for fecund birds. Estimation of survival rates for immature birds should also be given high priority in procellariid research programs. The variability in these parameters among populations needs to be assessed if results are to be generalised beyond specific colonies from which parameters are estimated. There is evidence that selective harvest of heavier T t chicks occurs on at least some islands. However, analyses of a demographic model incorporating different quality chicks showed even extremely high degrees of selective harvest had little influence on population growth rate or perturbation analyses unless overall harvest levels were very high.

Comparison of population growth rate and perturbation analyses of models differing in the level of detail in parameterisation or in the number of stages included in the model, showed negligible differences in results. This suggests that simple models, even if based on only sparse data, are adequate to set research priorities and evaluate population response to perturbations such as for the assessment of conservation management options, evaluation of possible causes of population change and assessment of the effects of harvest.

Jones, C. (2001). PhD Thesis, University of Otago: 195 pp.

Abstract: [Part of abstract]

The sooty shearwater ("muttonbird" or "titi", Puffinus griseus) is a burrow-breeding petrel that has been described as the most ecologically important seabird in New Zealand because of the massive populations that breed annually in colonies on offshore islands. Mainland colonies, which existed on headlands and near-shore islets around the coast, are now in decline and many are believed to have disappeared altogether. Predation by introduced mammals is thought to be the main cause of this decline. A survey of 170km of the mainland Otago coastline during the 1997/98 breeding season showed that the number of colonies has declined by at least 54% in the past 50 years. Site characteristics which may predict colony survival were control of introduced predators and the presence of softer soils.

Jones, C., H. Moller and M. Ellison (1997). University of Otago Wildlife Management Report Number 100. 25 pp.

Notes: This report sets management priorities for restoration of titi colonies on the Otago coast through predator control. The report is intended to guide co-management of the restoration project by the Kai Tahu runaka in collaboration with the University of Otago, DoC, private landowners and other stakeholders.

Lyver, P. O. B. (1999). PhD Thesis, University of Otago.

Abstract: Predation by introduced mammals is inflicting heavy losses in mainland New Zealand Sooty Shearwater (titi, Puffinus griseus) colonies. Frequency distributions of "definite" bite pairs in the skin, soft tissue and bone of Sooty Shearwater carcasses collected from colonies along the Otago coastline identified Stoats (Mustela ermina) as the primary predator in 78% of those cases. An average of 46% and 47% of burrows in eight mainland colonies had breeding pairs in the 1994/95 and 1995/96 seasons respectively, but only three colonies ever had chicks survive to fledge. A large proportion of adult shearwaters were killed at two colonies causing their local extinction. It is predicted that predation becomes part of the extinction vortex as the size of a colony declines because of the catastrophic impacts a few predators have on the remaining birds. Protection of adults, especially in the first half of the breeding season, eggs and early chicks is crucial if mainland colonies are to persist.

Moller, H., J. de Cruz, D. Fletcher, K. Garrett, C. Hunter, C.J. Jones, J. Kitson, Lyver, P. O’B., J. Newman, B. Russell, R.P. Scofield and D.S. Scott (1999). University of Otago Wildlife Management Report Number 117. 76 pp

Abstract: The harvest of tïtï (Puffinus griseus; "muttonbirds") on islands adjacent to Rakiura (Stewart Island) is one of the few remaining wildlife harvests managed entirely by Mäori. The harvest is of great social and cultural importance to Rakiura Tangatawhenua and to Mäori in general. The muttonbirders have requested this study to examine the sustainability of the harvest to ensure that the birds remain plentiful for their mokopuna (grandchildren). It will test and refine population monitoring methods; measure whether current tïtï harvests are sustainable; estimate maximum sustainable yield; determine what limits the tïtï harvest levels so impacts of any future changes to technologies or harvest practices can be predicted; evaluate potential impacts of climate change, fisheries bycatch and pollutants on tïtï populations; and record and compare the understanding of tïtï ecology, harvest impacts and management practices generated from Mätauranga and kaitiakitanga with that from ecological science. Under this program adults and chicks will be banded on both harvested and unharvested islands, the harvest observed, and survival of chicks and adults monitored. Harvest impacts will be estimated by computer simulation models. Trends in population on unharvested areas will be compared with trends on harvested sites to test the model's predictions. Tïtï density on harvested and unharvested colonies will be compared for further rapid check of large-scale harvest impacts. Traditional Environmental Knowledge (Mätauranga) will be recorded using oral histories of experienced muttonbirders and questionnaires. Kaitiakitanga and Eurocentric conservation philosophies will be compared using records of discussions at hui of tïtï harvesters, environmental managers and conservation stakeholders. The research is conducted by the University of Otägo, but is directed by the Rakiura Tïtï Islands Committee. Approximate estimates of sustainable yields will be formulated by 2006, and then must be checked and refined by monitoring, adaptive management and ongoing research.

Moller, H. (2000). Unpublished report to Rakiura Titi islands Committee and the Southern Islands Area team, Department of Conservation, Southland. 43 pp.

Abstract: Six experienced tube-nosed seabird (Procellariiforme) researchers reviewed the goals, design and methods of the Kia Mau Te Tïtï Mau Ake Tönu Atu ("Keep the Tïtï Forever") project. Some reviewers asserted the need for minor adjustments in research sub-themes, but in general the review team was complimentary about the scale of the project, it’s time-line, progress so far and the methods being used. A need for a measure of researcher disturbance was identified, along with emphasis of the role of take-off points in affecting burrow density and occupancy. Proposals are currently being developed to fill these two gaps. The broad-ranging and multidisciplinary approach is expected to generate useful knowledge and tools to help conservation of threatened taxa, monitor oceanic processes, and guide management of breeding colonies as well as help Rakiura Mäori safeguard the sustainability of the tïtï harvest.

Moller, H. (2002). Unpublished Report, University of Otago, Dunedin: 72 pp.

Notes: Confidential report to manu owners on harvest effort and success, inter-annual variation in catch per unit effort and chick size, and; long-term trends in catch success.

Moller, H. (2002). Unpublished Report, University of Otago, Dunedin: 66pp.

Notes: Confidential report to manu owners on harvest effort and success, inter-annual variation in catch per unit effort and chick size, and; long-term trends in catch success.

Moller, H. and P. Lyver (1997). University of Otago Wildlife Management Report No 86. 10 pp.

Abstract: An injured sooty shearwater chick was found alive on Solomon Island, south west Rakiura Titi Islands group, on 3 April 1997. Puncture wounds on the bill and body suggest that a stoat was responsible. If so, stoats are likely to be present on the neighbouring islands and Rakiura itself. Urgent investigation to confirm the presence or otherwise of stoats is recommended. At least 5300 trap nights and/or 1360 baited tracking tunnels nights are needed to be 95% sure of detecting stoats present at one tenth of the abundance observed on South Island.

Notes: Report for The Rakiura Titi Committee and Department of Conservation Southland Conservancy

Newman, J. and D. Scott (2001). Unpublished report, University of Otago, Dunedin: 12 pp.

Notes: Unpublished research report to Rakiura Titi Islands Committee

Russell, B. and J. Gaw (1998). Dunedin, University of Otago: 98 pp.

Abstract: Transcripts from the Western Star, the local Riverton and Colac Bay newspaper, printed from 1873 until 1942, were collected to acquire historical and sociological information on the Tïtï Islands for the Kia Mau Te Tïtï Mo Ake Tonu Atu project.

Scofield, P. (2001). PhD Thesis, University of Otago.

Abstract: Mark-recapture analyses shows that survival of fledgling sooty shearwaters, Puffinus griseus, in their first 2 years of life is influenced by the weight at which the chicks first emerge from the natal burrow and by the date that they emerge. Empirical methods shown a relationship between emergence weight and survival but were unable to directly demonstrate any effect of date. This study compares the inference of empirical methods and information theoretic methods based on model-based methods. Given that harvesters are known to be selective, taking larger chicks, there may be significant implications of this relationship to the demographic effect of the harvest. The implications and theoretical basis of this relationship are discussed.

Scott, D. and J. Newman (2001). Unpublished report, Zoology department, University of Otago, Dunedin: 6 pp.

Notes: Unpublished research report to Rakiura Titi Islands Committee. Bench Island was investigated as a potential non-treatment (unharvested) study site.

Sohle, I. S. (2000). University of Otago Wildlife Management Report No 124: 25 pp.

Uhlmann, S. S. (2001). MSc Thesis, University of Otago: 255 pp.

Uren, S. (1999). University of Otago Wildlife Management Report No. 114. 25 Pp.

Abstract: The provisioning rates of Sooty Shearwaters (Puffinus griseus) at Tuhawaiki Island, New Zealand, was examined using an innovative automatic recording device to obtain more detailed and accurate data. The device trialled was an adapted burglar alarm system that recorded provisioning events of 15 birds throughout 31 consecutive days during the last stage of the chick-rearing period in 1998. This data was compared with growth rate, wind speed, wind direction, atmospheric pressure and the lunar phase. No correlation was observed statistically due to the limited period of study and insufficient data, the result of technical equipment difficulties. However, certain observations made demonstrated some relationship between the lunar phase and high wind speed on the frequency of provisioning.

Moller, H., J. Newman, D. Scott and D. Fletcher. (2000). University of Otago Wildlife Management Report: Number 801-11. 19 pp.

"A Survey of Titi Abundance and Harvest Intensity on the Bragg manu, Tia Island"

Moller, H., J. Newman, D. Scott and D. Fletcher 2000. University of Otago Wildlife Management Report: Number 801-2. 19 pp.

Newman, J., H. Moller, D. Scott and D. Fletcher (2000). University of Otago Wildlife Management Report: Number 801-1. 20 pp.

Newman, J., D. Scott, H. Moller and D. Fletcher (2002). University of Otago Wildlife Management Report: Number 801-10. 19 pp.

Newman, J., D. Scott, I. Söhle, H. Moller, and D. Fletcher, D. (2001). University of Otago Wildlife Management Report: Number 801-6. 19 pp.

Newman, J., D. Scott, S. Uhlmann, D. Fletcher and H. Moller (2000). University of Otago Wildlife Management Report: Number 801-3. 19 pp.

Scott, D., J. Newman, D. Fletcher, J.K. Charleton and H Moller (2001). University of Otago Wildlife Management Report: Number 801-5. 19 pp.

Scott, D., J. Newman, D. Fletcher, J.K. Charleton and H Moller (2001). University of Otago Wildlife Management Report: Number 801-7. 19 pp.

Scott, D., J. Newman, S. Uhlmann, D. Fletcher and H. Moller (2002). University of Otago Wildlife Management Report: Number 801-8. 18 pp.

Scott, D., J. Newman, S. Uhlmann, D. Fletcher and H. Moller (2002). University of Otago Wildlife Management Report: Number 801-9. 19 pp.

Anon (2000). Otago Graduate 2000-01: 25.

Anon (2000). He Kitenga Discovery Research Highlights 2000: 18-19.

Charteris, M. (1998). Otago Daily Times Saturday August 22 Leisure: 69, Dunedin.

Kitson, J. C., C. M. Hunter, et al. (1999). Te Karaka 14-17.

Moller, H. (1998). Otago Institute Newsletter November: 8-9, 14.

Moller, H. (1996). Australasian Seabird Group Newsletter October: 30.

The research project’s community newsletter is called Titi Times. It was less frequent at first but is produced twice a year. It is mailed out to around 500 Maori homes, and a further 400 researchers, ecological managers and iwi organisations and environmental management agencies. Contact Titi Times, Zoology Department, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand if you would like to be added to the mailing list for future issues. There is no charge for receiving the newsletter. Back copies are available.

Profiles: Henrik Moller; Phil Lyver; Ani Apitata; Gary Timothy

Where in the world are titi?

What's in a name?

Why do we need to band birds?

Titi research gets science funding

Support from sponsors made it happen

Profile: Sheryl Hamilton; Christine Hunter

Banding starts on Whenua Hou and The Snares

Life before harvest: the part we don't see

The beach patrol scheme

Rat eradication from Putauhinu

Predation on mainland colonies

Methods of sexing titi

Burrowscope

Rakiura maori have their say at World Conservation Congress

First Rakiura PhD student joins titi research team

Profile: Jane Kitson

How deep do titi dive?

Machine pluckers? Do they give you an edge?

Muttonbirders talk, listen and learn at Montreal Conservation Conference

Bomb-out years...can you help?

Old chooks

Aussie birding

Codfish Island fernbirds to have new home

South-west helicopters limited

Stoats on Solomon Island?!

Profile: Tina de Cruz

Titi PVA

Crossed & double-crossed

Mainland titi need help

What's killing the mainland titi?

History: from your files

Bomb-out years

A down-in-the-earth experiment on the Snares

The return of the Crown Islands

Mihi

Profile: Detta Russell

Where are the fattest chicks produced?

Survival is a weighty matter

Pest control: Putauhinu and Rarotoka kiore eradication

Early muttonbirders: the archaeological evidence; Tiwai Point

History from the Western Star, a Riverton newspaper

Band recovery

Aussies over here!

Radio-bugged chicks

Charging tips from the chopper team

Co-management paper published

El Nino impacts on titi

Titi research goes to Taukihepa

Profile: Dr David Fletcher, Robyn Blair, Paul Scofield

Mana Whenua help out

Too much plastic in my Pukuiti?

Full-on muttonbirding- when did it start?

Two committees or one?

The 1998 titi committee

History from the Western Star a Riverton newspaper

A once in a blue moon season!

Farewell to Trevor Green

Aussie birds blocked!

Far-flying titi tracked by Satellite

Poroporoaki: Paddie Gilroy

Profile: Sebastian Uhlmann; Ilka Sohle; Jamie Newman

Taking a look at the Tasmanian Titi Harvest

Australian short-tailed shearwater research

Importing titi to Australia

Bats, not rats on Putauhinu

Meaweka for Kundy and saddlebacks for Pohowaitai

Co-management of Whenua-Hou

History from the Western Star, a Riverton newspaper

El Nino and El titi: what's the connection? How does the El Nino affect titi?

Wananga: Korero Kupu Tawhito

From the Hangar

Historical records of birding; Poha titi; Stoat sign on Rakiura; He Minenga Whakatu Hua o Te Ao Hua o Te Ao

The Kaitiaki go to university!

Science and Matauranga: working together to keep the titi forever

Scientific goals of the titi research project

TEK and Matauranga- a gift from the tupuna

Scientific design of the titi project

The scientific method

Science history and philosophy: scientific navel gazing?!

Science and religion

Level playing fields for contesting ideas: science's international rules

Statistical wizardry- to keep scientists honest

How scientists test ideas

Ilka's study- an experiment to test an idea

Simulation modelling: playing "what-if" using a computer

Opinion: Jane Kitson

University training: out of reach or just out of mind?

Doing science in a Maori way?

Scientific ethics and permitting

Profile: Darren Scott

Funding: what does science cost?

Publish or perish; Scientific publishing- the reward at the end of the struggle

Examples of publications from the titi team so far

Does this research mean position of a titi quota?

Playing ecological lotto- 'mark and recapture' to estimate the number and survival of titi

Scratching for clues: titi diet study as an example

Profile: Rosemary Clucas

FRST working for more maori in science

Muttonbirding memories 'Jane Arnett's Story'

Titi Korero at United Nations Wananga

Hawaii-5-0

Beachcombing with a difference!

Goodbye...and good riddance...to bycatch?

Titi Art is alive and well at Awarua

Campbell Island Rat Eradication gets off to a flying start!

Is there a future for mainland titi colonies?

Sally Hanning- Te Au. Born under a bunui bush?

Muttonbirders Oral History project completed

Number games: a citation circus?

Harvest estimates from the History Books

Profile: Maggie Atkinson

Titi Island Whoppers

History from the Western Star, a Riverton newspaper

Are titi declining?

Titi-Odysseys

Hui Wananga Goes Online

Profile: Maureen Howard

Quotes from the hui

Bird is the word

Wananga te reo: Harold Ashwell's dictionary

History from the Western Star, a Riverton newspaper

Bad debts and slow payers

Care for a date anyone?

Fire down below!

Rongo reflects: a lifetime of birding

Will Titi Return to Banks Peninsula?

Ornithological Congress: 1000 bird nutters flock to China

Lesley Rewi in the wilds of Beijing

Hui 2002: Focusing on the titi research progress and future direction

A Committee Member's Perspective on the Recent Changes to the Titi Islands Administration

Awarua Whanau Visit Canada

Focus on Our Whare

Harold does it again! Harold Ashwell's dictionary

History from the Western Star- a Riverton newspaper

South-west Helicopters

What's so special about Titi Oil?