Kākāriki karaka

Summer fledglings are falling from the sky 🐣– here’s what to do if you find a young bird or even get hit on the head by one??

Summer is well on the way, which means there are once again many baby birds fledging everywhere. Often, young birds leave the nest before they are fully fledged. The parent birds will stay close by to keep feeding their offspring.

The kākāriki in this photo is a good example. This young bird fell out of a tree and even bounced off the head of our avid photographer and friend of the Sanctuary, Charley Cross, before landing in the leaf litter. At first, this fledgling looked injured, but it soon got up and attempted to fly again, getting a few metres away before stopping to figure out what just happened. Whoever said learning to fly was easy?
So, what should you do if you find one of these ‘underaged’ birds?

Inside the Sanctuary
In almost every case you can leave the bird where it is. The Sanctuary is a safe place for young birds, even if they are still unable to fly. Birds, especially young birds, are highly sensitive to stress, and taking them away from their parents’ care will reduce their survival chance significantly.

If you are concerned a bird might be injured, sick, or stuck:
📸 Take a photo
📍Note the exact location
📞 Contact staff at the visitor centre

If you find a dead native bird, please also take a photo, note the exact location, and contact staff.

Outside the Sanctuary
If a bird on the ground is in immediate danger from cats or dogs, you can try to put the bird back up in a nearby tree.

If the bird is injured or sick, you can take it to Stoke Veterinary Hospital. If it is a native bird, contact DOC on 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468).
For further information, see the Wildlife Hospital website:

Especially once avian influenza has reached Aotearoa, it is not advisable to handle wildlife at all. The virus is highly contagious and can be a threat to human health.
Thank you so much for your support in helping our manu through this busy fledgling season. 💚

Look out for more on this subject in our next blog post from Steffi
📷 Photo: Charley Cross

Ngā mihi nui to Booster Wine Group and @wwfnz 🦎💚

Back in November 2024, generous support from Booster Wine Group ($9,447), WWF-New Zealand ($15,000) and other generous donors who helped make our tuatara translocation possible, returning these ancient reptiles to their ancestral home here in Whakatū Nelson - add with support and guidance from Ngati Koata who are the kaitiaki

Their funding supported key costs such as specialist animal care, transport, habitat preparation and ongoing monitoring for the 56 tuatara now living safely inside our predator-free enclosure at the Sanctuary.

We’re incredibly grateful for partners like Booster Wine Group and WWF-New Zealand, whose commitment to conservation creates a lasting legacy for tuatara and for everyone who visits the Sanctuary to learn about these remarkable taonga. 🌿

🌿 Ngahere Neighbourhood: koru of the mamaku (black tree fern)

Few sights in the ngahere are as iconic as the unfurling koru of a mamaku (Sphaeropteris medullaris). These towering tree ferns can reach up to 20 metres tall, with elegant black trunks patterned by hexagonal scars from fallen fronds.

Their massive fronds can stretch over five metres long, arching high above the forest floor to form a shady green canopy. The stalks and undersides are covered in small, spiny-edged scales — a key feature that helps distinguish mamaku from other large tree ferns.

Mamaku are widespread across Aotearoa, especially in lowland and coastal forests of the North Island and the wetter regions of the South. As new fronds uncurl, the koru shape symbolises new life, growth, and renewal — a form that continues to inspire art, design, and our connection to nature.

🔎 Species: Sphaeropteris medullaris
🟢 Conservation status: Not Threatened
📸 Photo by Rebecca Bowater

#NgahereNeighbourhood #BrookSanctuary #NativePlants #FernFriday #Mamaku #Koru #NewZealandNature #Conservation

We are proud to acknowledge Ngati Toa Rangitira as kaitiaki of the kiwi pukupuku (little spotted kiwi) now settling into life in the Sanctuary.

Their guidance and mātauranga were central to this year’s translocation — from naming the birds to the ceremony at our visitor centre.

Kiwi pukupuku are a treasured taonga, and we’re grateful to work alongside Ngāti Toa Rangatira and our iwi partners in supporting their return to Whakatū.

Ngā mihi nui to everyone involved in bringing these kiwi home.

🌼 Ngahere Neighbourhood: mikoikoi (New Zealand iris)

With its elegant fans of golden-green leaves and delicate white blooms, mikoikoi (Libertia ixioides) brings quiet beauty to the ngahere. This hardy perennial herb is found from coastal cliffs to mountain slopes throughout Aotearoa and is a true New Zealand endemic.

In spring and early summer, mikoikoi produces clusters of white, three-petalled flowers that give way to striking orange seed capsules. Its leaves often take on yellow tones in full sun, forming dense clumps that help stabilise soil on ridges and banks.
Mikoikoi belongs to the iris family and is one of several Libertia species unique to Aotearoa. There are two species found within the Sanctuary, with Libertia moorae being endemic to Te Tau Ihu (Top of the South). You’ll often find it along the Sanctuary’s sunny forest edges and stream banks — a subtle but beautiful reminder of our native flora’s diversity and resilience.

🔎 Species: Libertia ixioides
🟢 Conservation status: Not Threatened
📸 Photo by Rebecca Bowater

#NgahereNeighbourhood #BrookSanctuary #NativePlants #Mikoikoi #NewZealandIris #Conservation #NewZealandNature