New Zealand Journal of Zoology abstracts
Higher call rates of morepork, Ninox novaeseelandiae, at
sites inside an area with ongoing brodifacoum poisoning compared with
matched non-managed sites
Elisabeth A. Fraser
Mark E. Hauber*
School of Biological Sciences
University of Auckland
Private Bag 92019
Auckland 1143, New Zealand
*Author for correspondence: m.hauber@auckland.ac.nz
Abstract In Ark in the Park, a conservation
project in the
Waitakere ranges near Auckland, New Zealand, the anticoagulent
brodifacoum has been used as a principal means of ongoing rodent pest
eradication since 2003. The morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae) is
a small species of owl at risk of secondary poisoning through ingestion
of poisoned invertebrates and rodents. To begin to examine whether
morepork are being affected by the continued poisoning operation, we
conducted call counts in December 2006 and January 2007. We collected
data on morepork calls inside the poison-operation area (Ark in the
Park) and compared their rate and direction with calls recorded at
date-matched control locations in the Waitakere ranges where no
poisoning was conducted. Despite small sample sizes, there were
significantly more calls, call bouts, and estimated numbers of morepork
inside Ark in the Park compared with the control sites outside. If
higher call rates, in the face of ongoing brodifacoum application,
represent higher densities of morepork inside Ark in the Park compared
to nearby non-managed sites, then we suggest that these results imply a
higher quality of foraging habitats and breeding grounds inside the
conservation area following the reduction in population sizes of
mammalian pests.
Keywords brodifacoum; morepork; Ninox
novaeseelandiae;
secondary poisoning
Z07016; Online publication date 22 February 2008; Received 23 April
2007; accepted 18 October 2007
New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 2008, Vol. 35: 1–7
0301–4223/08/3501–0001 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2008
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