Urban forests boost birdlife in New Zealand’s cities

Urban forests are attracting native birds back to New Zealand’s cities, helping residents engage with their equine neighbours and to greater interest in their protection.

New research published in the Journal of Animal Ecology found that restoring native forest in cities encourages the return native birds, while a Wellington City Council report in April last year found that its Zealandia eco-sanctuary 10 minutes was “having a measurable ‘halo’ effect on native forest bird communities throughout the city”.

During the height of the Coronavirus crisis last year, Wellington welcomed back a pair of titipounamu, New Zealand’s smallest bird, which had been missing from the city for more than 100 years.

The pair had built a tiny nest in a patch of Zealandia’s urban forest just a few kilometres from the centre of the city.

As reported by Guardian Australia, since Zealandia opened in 1999 it has helped boost urban bird populations while fostering a sense of city-wide unity over conservation.

Zealandia’s experience is confirmed by the Journal of Animal Ecology research which found that restoring native forest in cities does indeed bring back native birds - even those absent for generations - and the older the forest, the more species it can support.

Its lead author, Elizabeth Elliot Noe, a doctoral student at Lincoln University but based in Waikato, studied 25 restored urban forests across Hamilton and New Plymouth, representing 72 years of forest development.

She found that younger forests supported small insect-eating and omnivorous birds like the curious pīwakawaka, while older forests attracted back nectar- and fruit-feeding species like the melodious tūī.

Noe suggests that as well as restoring balance to urban ecosystems, the return of birdlife creates an emotional bond between humans and other species, commenting “we’re becoming disconnected from our natural environments and the native species that make up those environments … there’s a lot of research that shows that … having daily experience of [nature] is good for our mental health, wellbeing and physical health.”

Zealandia’s 225 hectares of regenerating bush just 10 minutes from the city centre surrounds a lake, winding creeks and a wetland, and is home to a cacophony of birdsong from 40 different species.

Surrounded by 9 kilometres of predator-proofing fence the eco-sanctuary hosts more than just birdlife: tuatara, tuna (native eels), freshwater mussels, frogs and wētā, a type of giant cricket, also dwell there. Zealandia plans eventually to restore the land to pre-colonial times.

The Council report that identified Zealandia’s ‘halo’ effect counted that native birds cross the capital since 2011 had risen by 50%, and for some species those figures were much higher: kākā had increased by 250%, kererū by 186% and tūī by 121%.

It noted that because of this, bird communities in parks and reserves across the city were becoming more diverse and increasingly dominated by native species.

Images: Zealandia from the air (top) and a native Tui (below, credit: Zealandia/Chris Helliwell).