Begun The Great Kereru Count 2016 has!

The Great Kererū Count is New Zealands largest citizen science project to help gather info on the abundance and distribution of the New Zealand fruit Pigeon — also known as kererū, kūkū or kūkupa.
The Great Kererū Count will take place over 10 full days from 16 to 25 September 2016. Your observations will help build up a clearer picture of where the birds live on the peninsula and the rest of the country and how many there are.

It is a forest gardener, a ‘keystone species’ that maintains the balance and diversity of its rainforest home through its role as a seed disperser. The Kererū main food is rainforest fruits, and the gentle treatment of the fruits through the Kererū digestive system means the seeds are passed unharmed and ready for germination, sometimes in their own “compost heap” of poo!
 The large Kererū is the only native animal capable of dispersing the seeds of large-fruited plants and trees over long distances, ensuring the continued balance and biodiversity of the forest plant community. Without this fruit pigeon these plants and trees would only occur in concentrated pockets around parent trees or in places where dispersal by gravity can occur, such as gullies or the bottom of slopes

 Read more and how to add your observations. http://greatkererucount.nz/how-to-count/

We would of course love to know if you see any kereru on the peninsula or other interesting native birds.