Kākāriki karaka parents produce 55 chicks in breeding programme

They've only been together since 2024, but Kākāriki karaka orange fronted parakeet parents Nacho and Trixie have already produced 55 chicks, 33 of those this season alone.

The pair are part of the captive breeding programme at The Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust (ICWT) in Christchurch.

Wayne Beggs, the Kākāriki karaka recovery programme lead at the Department of Conservation told Morning Report, the pair are doing more than their bit for the survival of their species.

"They're amazing parents. I'm guessing here a little bit, but probably double what some pairs would put out. Some pairs might only have one or two nests per season, but these guys just keep going," Beggs said.

"I know that Nacho's doing his bit as well, but Trixie seems to be the standout because she's producing more chicks, but bigger ones as well."

Trixie originates from the Poulter Valley in Arthur's Pass National Park, a population that has since died out.

Beggs said the number of chicks varies from season to season, and that's down to food supply.

"Breeding does take a toll on them because they average about seven chicks per clutch.

"In the wild it's very much food driven, so in a beech mast event, when there's lots of beech seed around, they will keep breeding. But in non-mast years they might only have one clutch"

Beggs said Nacho's main job is to keep his family well fed.

"She's sort of on the nest looking after the chicks and he's racing around gobbling enough food to feed her and the chicks, so that's quite a task for him."

The breeding effort is particularly important for the species which has twice been declared extinct, then rediscovered.

DOC said there are two wild populations of kākāriki karaka in Canterbury.

DOC and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu run a recovery programme focused on monitoring and protecting sites where kākāriki karaka are found and breeding birds in captivity to release into the wild, as well as researching safe new sites where the species could be introduced.

Some of Trixie and Nacho's offspring were among 43 kākāriki karaka transferred by DOC staff to Pukenui/Anchor Island in an effort to grow its population.

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