Bird Rescue Whanganui Manawatu, Whanganui, Whanganui (2026)

04/05/2026

Another long gap between posts but don't worry I haven't been on holiday, it is just there is always a lot going on here. This post will catch us up on the birds we've had in April, and then I can start fresh for May and hopefully keep up.

I have to say April was interesting because of the multiple birds coming in on the same day. Each of these birds are brought out to Turakina, are given fluids and pain relief via crop tube and then bandaged when necessary. The birds then go to Massey Wildbase as soon as possible.

On the 6th April we had a kingfisher/ kōtare from Whanganui and a white fronted tern/tara (pictured) from the Whanganui Port.
On the 9th there was an adult kereru from Ohakune and a juvenile kereru from Marton.

The following day there was a juvenile male falcon/karearea (pictured) from Whanganui, a fantail/piwakawaka from Putiki and a juvenile black backed seagull/karoro from Whanganui. Three days later there was an adult male hawk/kahu found up the Turakina valley and another adult male kahu found on Union Line. Both of these birds were seriously injured. While it is sad that the birds are hurt it is lovely to meet caring people and have a chat. In the case of the Turakina rescuer she mentioned having seen bats on their property. I contacted a person I know who records bat sightings and they are looking at using sonar detectors on this property to try and assess the population. The Union Line rescuer is now helping transport birds to Wildbase.

On the 15th there was a baby kereru (pictured) from Taumarunui. It was strange to get a kereru so young at this time of year. If you look closely at the picture, you can see a distortion half way down the top bill. This is the site of an old fracture.

A more hard case rescue on the 20th was a kahu, picked up off the side of the road and left on the back of a ute while the rescuer went to the Bulls pub. Anthea, our transport mainstay from Palmy, went to pick up this bird.

Continued in comments.

08/04/2026

This beautiful little Morepork/ruru was one of two we received in one day.
Luckily two Massey Wildlife club students, Jennifer and Janice, arrived on Sunday morning to volunteer and were able to pick up the first ruru from Springvale and deliver the bird to Massey Wildbase within 2 hours.
The ruru in the picture was our second morepork from Durie Hill. Our wonderful transport volunteer Diane was able to pick the bird up and bring them straight away to Turakina.

It always helps to get the birds as soon as we can and deliver them to the Wilbase vets as quickly as possible.

Sadly my neighbour came over a few days later to tell me that he had found our local morepork dead on the side of the road outside his place. I shall miss his beautiful calls in the evening.

Moreporks have a lifespan of 5 - 11 years and mate for life. I don't know if they search for their missing mate? I have read that there are more males than females because the females are predated on the nest so perhaps some males will never find a mate? We always try to return adult birds back home but often the injuries are so severe that the birds do not survive.

Often when an injured bird comes in late at night we medicate and keep them in the brooder if necessary. Up until now Bernie, our knight in a little white car, takes them through to Palmerston North early every morning. Anthea meets him at his work and takes the patient through to Wildbase.
Bernie has now retired and we want to thank him for all the help he has given us over the years.

We now need to find someone who travels from Whanganui to Palmerston North regularly who is willing to help with transport mainly in the mornings. We also would like to find someone who goes back to palmy after work who could take birds over that come in to us during the day. We have volunteers in Palmerston North who can meet transporters to take the birds to Massey but you are always welcome to take them yourselves.

Please contact Dawne directly if you are to help, on 0274 535 821. Many thanks.

11/03/2026

I am starting to feel like a broken record with my picking up nylon and other rubbish nag, but it is important to many birds - including this young red billed gull/tarapunga.

The bird is only about 5 months old and its life was nearly ended by a piece of nylon. The nylon was tangled around its wing but enough nylon was trailing to get wrapped around the street lamp and leave the bird hanging.

It was a real group effort to get the young bird down, although the hero of the rescue was a gentleman driving past who stopped and climbed up the ladder to release the bird. The bird was sent to Wildbase and luckily there were no broken bones but the soft tissues were extremely bruised.

If you look carefully at the picture you can see that the end feathers on its right wing are badly damaged. These feathers are called primary flight feathers and provide most of a bird's forward thrust. Even though the end of the feather is broken the bird won't automatically grow new feathers. The Wildbase vets have plucked the damaged feathers to stimulate the growth of new feathers.
If the feather follicles on the skin that produce the feathers have been damaged from the hanging and twisting of the wing then the feathers may not grow as they should and the bird will be unable to fly.

Please. Pick up rubbish, even if it's not yours, so that our wonderful wildlife can be kept safe.

- DAWNE

11/02/2026

The Cygnet Saga

Some will have already seen this story covered in local papers but there are many who haven't. Late November we were contacted by Pauline who monitors the black swan/kakianau at Rotokawau Virginia Lake. She had caught a black swan cygnet who had swallowed some nylon but luckily still had a ball of nylon out of the mouth. Pauline brought the bird out to Turakina, and because we were worried about the possibility the bird had swallowed a hook it was sent to Massey Wildbase.

Luckily there was no hook but because of complications the cygnet ended up staying at Wildbase for a week.
The bird appeared to have grown so much by the time it came back to us but once it was returned to the lake we could see it was slightly smaller compared to its siblings.

Adult swans can be very territorial and we were not sure they would recognise their returning cygnet. The family were lured out of the lake and onto a grassed area where the signet was waiting in a cat carry cage. There were no signs of aggression from the parents so the cygnet was released and joined their family.

The concern here is that fishing at the lake was stopped in the 1990's and there is still nylon around. Also from Rotokawau Virginia Lake some time ago we had a Little Black Shag/kawau tūī with a bottle ring in its bill and going around the back of the neck. This bird was eventually caught but between starvation and kidney failure this bird died at Wildbase.

We currently have a duck who had a fishing lure hooked into the fleshy part underneath the bottom bill. She should be fine and will be released next week.

So what can be done? Any time people go for a walk - whether it's a lake, beach or river bank - please take a glove and bread bag in your pocket and pick up any rubbish you see.

Because the cygnet is not a native bird we have ended up with a $300 bill from Massey Wildbase. Any donations to help pay this bill would be appreciated. Our bank account is at the top of the page and we can issue tax receipts.

Thank you for caring.

- DAWNE

16/10/2025

PLANT SALE FUNDRAISER
Sunday 19th October 10am

Our second fundraising plant sale will be this weekend, Sunday the 19th October, starting from 10am.

There are plenty of trees, with 1m tall puka trees $10, various pseudopanax species around 700mm tall $10, Kowhai trees 50 to 60 cm tall at $8, flowering camellia various heights $8, akeake, cabbage trees and pittosporum $5.

The sale will be at the Bird Rescue property
2446 State Highway 3 Turakina.

If the gate is already open that means I have managed to get the sheep into the back paddock with the help of my timid retired farm dog Boof (not named by me!). If the gate is closed then the dog ran inside and hid from the sheep instead of helping, so please close the gate behind you.

Proceeds raised will go to coping with this spring/summer season.

Welcome! And tell your friends!

14/10/2025

Not my best photo but that's ok I only opened the box to check the bird was still alive. My quiet suggestion of a pose for the photo was met with complete indifference.
This tākapu/gannet had an early start coming down from New Plymouth to get to me by 8am and then picked up at 8.30am to travel to Massey Wildbase. The bird looked like hell and I am sure felt that way as well.
Everyone has made a real effort to get it to Wildbase as quickly as possible but by the time any wild bird can be picked up then the health situation is pretty bad. Even the best vet care possible can't guarantee a good outcome, and it is even worse for the bird if treatment is delayed.

I do get a little frustrated when birds are on the ground in gardens for a couple of days before we are contacted. Yes, young blackbirds and thrushes are on the ground and being fed by their parents so it is all good to leave them alone. But a kererū or ruru/morepork shouldn't be on the ground. Please ring. We don't mind false alarms (well not too many as we have limited resources) but the sooner we can get a bird to the Wildbase vets then the better chance of survival it has. Any birds that are too sick or injured will at least not be suffering any longer.

Perhaps with my next bad photo we should run an identification competition?

- DAWNE

05/10/2025

So what happens when you can't find your parents, it is cold and wet, you are cold and wet and hungry? Well obviously you jump on a passing chauffeur-driven limousine. (Yes, it is a 4-wheeler, but when you are that miserable anything looks like a limousine. He helped get the cows in for milking and then sat on a couch in a warm jacket.) Next thing you know, you live in a nice warm house, plenty of food - I hear it is going to be venison for tea. You now have a human family that will care for you. How much difference a few hours can make.

(Thanks for the video Shania, it made my day!)

Unfortunately not all magpie stories have a happy ending. Years ago there was an old story that if you slit a magpies tongue then the bird will talk. THIS IS NOT TRUE. I have a talking magpie that was dropped here years ago and it is time, patience and repetition of a phrase or the whistling of a tune that they will learn.
My myna birds speak phrases that I have taught them, but they have also picked up laughing, coughing, calling my dog Boof by name and my whistle for her because they hear it so often. Poor old Boof doesn't know if she is coming or going some days.

Please be aware that taking a baby magpie in is a big committment as they live 30 plus years. There is no going out and dumping them on farmland or in bush - where they don't belong - when you get bored with them.

We have a number of volunteers that are already caring for birds but I will be in touch with the other volunteers this week. Thank you.

- DAWNE

26/09/2025

What would I do as a volunteer?

Thank you to everyone who has replied to our call for volunteers! Thanks also to Gillian Shaw for the great suggestion to explain what is involved.

Ducklings are very easy. You have a light or heat lamp to keep them warm (we can loan you a light), a cuddly toy and a mirror to give them a best friend. Ducklings can eat for themselves no matter what age. You put food dishes in their box or container, they make a mess while they are eating and you clean up the messy paper or towel. You just need to change the food when they get low so that generally means morning and afternoon feeds and fresh food the next day, otherwise they are minimum care really.

Baby thrushes and blackbirds are easy enough to raise but more of a commitment as they need feeding every two hours. That does not mean overnight, but no sleep ins I'm afraid. First feed would be around 7.30 am or earlier and then every two hours until you go to bed. It will be easier to discuss temperature and diet with each volunteer depending on what birds you want to raise. If you need a break from your birds then don't be afraid to say.
Blackbirds and thrushes are very ungrateful. As soon as they can find food for themselves then they are gone with no goodbyes.

Ducklings can bond with people and it is important for their own safety that they don't like people, so no cuddles 😉

If this sounds like something you would like to do this spring, please contact me on 027 453 5821.

- DAWNE

22/09/2025

Are you able to be on our team?

In my last post I mentioned our great team of people out in the field (or town) who catch injured birds and then those involved in transport to Turakina. Another team transports native birds to Massey Wildbase.
Ten days ago on Saturday four Massey Wildlife Club members came out to Turakina and fed and cleaned the birds here in the pouring rain. On Sunday two Massey students, Willow and Katrina, volunteered in the morning and then left to meet a lady in Feilding with a kingfisher/kotare that was found on the ground unable to fly.
While they were in Feilding a farmer arrived at Turakina with a beautiful female harrier hawk/kahu that had got caught in a barbed wire fence and was bleeding from injuries to her wing. I rang one of the Massey student volunteers, Amelia, to pick up the kahu. Before she had arrived there was a call about a tui with a broken wing in Springvale, Whanganui. The tui had hopped into a property with a lot of hiding places. Jhena, Lily and Kahu went to try to find the tui and while they were there a call came through the DOC hotline about a pied s**g/karuhiruhi (pictured) also in Springvale that was unable to fly. The tui couldn't be found but the s**g was brought out to Turakina and Amelia took the kahu and the s**g to Wildbase.

In the past three days we have had calls about 11 birds. We have Jo and Sheri raising ducklings and we need more volunteers to spread the load with ducklings and blackbirds and thrushes.
I am answering phones and organising native/endemic birds to get to Wildbase but I am not well enough to be raising baby birds. We need more volunteers to help raise these young birds. You don't have to help the whole spring/summer but even raising one nest will help spread the load.
Please call Dawne 0274535821 if you can help.

14/09/2025

We had a great team effort last week to get this little s**g/kawaupaka, over to the Wildbase vets at Massey University.
First we had a phone call from Robert about the bird hooked in a mooring rope just along from the town bridge in Whanganui. Robert stayed with the bird until two DOC staff arrived to unhook him. Shags, as with many wild birds, can be difficult to handle as they are afraid and basically fighting for their life as they don't realise you are there to help. Shags can inflict nasty injuries with their bill if you are not careful so it is important to cover their head when picking them up.

Diane from our transport team brought him out to Turakina and Willow and Katrina from the Massey Wildlife Club travelled to Turakina to take the kawaupaka to Wildbase.

The picture of the lure shows a three pronged hook still attached to the lure but unfortunately there was another three pronged hook in the little s**gs foot. The hook had lacerated the web in two places and the barbs had gone into three of his toes.The vets at Wildbase removed the hooks and due to the risk of infection have him on antibiotics as well as pain relief.

The wounds were fresh and he hadn't lost weight but it is really important not to cut off the nylon and set them free. If people do that then the bird could die a horrible death from infection and/or starvation. Our team of volunteers don't mind being called out and we try to get native birds to Wildbase as fast as possible. We had another great team effort today but I will save that for the next post.

A special thanks to all our wonderful team!!

Bird Rescue Whanganui Manawatu

04/05/2026

08/04/2026

11/03/2026

11/02/2026

16/10/2025

14/10/2025

05/10/2025

26/09/2025

22/09/2025

14/09/2025

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category