In addition to its work with kiwi, the Trust has been actively enhancing bird populations with transfers of robin and mohua to the islands, as well as monitoring bird populations.
Understanding the Bird Populations
Before the eradication of pests from Pomona and Rona Islands, staff and students from the University of Otago completed five-minute bird counts at a number of sites on both islands. Since December 2007, the Trust has conducted five-minute bird counts at the same locations.
Each count involves a small team of volunteers listening and watching for 5 minutes at a given location. The number of birds seen or heard is recorded during the count together with information on the weather, background noise and time of day.
Between 2005 and 2016, Pomona has seen a significant increase in the number of birds counted.
Many species of native birds have increased in number since 2005. These include bellbird, brown creeper, fantail, grey warbler, rifleman, tomtit and tui.
Since May 2008, the Trust has also carried out five-minute bird counts at more sites on Pomona Island. These counts are completed by volunteers 4 times a year and help us to understand how the "relative abundance" of birds varies from year to year and from season to season.
