The most productive breeding season since 2022 has given University of Canterbury (UC) students and researchers fresh hope for kororā/little penguins at Pōhatu/Flea Bay.
Researchers say recent monitoring at Flea Bay on Horomaka Banks Peninsula has delivered some positive signs. The most recent breeding season was the most successful since more intensive monitoring began in 2022, with high fledging rates – the proportion of penguin chicks that survive to leave the nest and go out to sea – and the highest nest numbers recorded over that period.
Working alongside UC researchers, the Helps Pōhatu Conservation Trust, and the Pōhatu Penguins ecotourism operation, UC students contribute conservation in the field — checking nest boxes, scanning microchips, and tracking breeding activity to understand how the birds are faring over time.
PhD candidate, Lucy Howell says the experience has been unforgettable.
“They’re very cute and so that appeals to a lot of people,” she says.
“But they are particularly bitey! I do love them. They have a lot of character.”
The work is physically demanding, involving regular trips to the colony, long hikes across steep terrain, and careful searching for nests hidden under rocks, roots, and burrows. Some parent penguins build nests up to 200m above sea level, making it not only a long climb for parents returning daily to feed hungry chicks but also a long trip for fledgling chicks on their way to the sea for the first time. Other birds build nests next to the ocean, using any available small, dark space as a nesting site.
For students, visiting the colony offers practical field experience while contributing to research with direct conservation impact.
The monitoring builds on a major 2020–2021 survey of kororā nests across Banks Peninsula, published in the New Zealand Journal of Zoology, which showed a mixed picture across the region.
UC researcher, Dr Rachel Hickcox says that makes ongoing monitoring critical.
“Knowing where the penguins breed, how many are breeding, and how this changes over time is critical to protecting them. Having the ability to more frequently monitor the Pōhatu colony and having a population of known-age kororā there, marked with microchips, allows us to better understand survival, recruitment, and foraging behaviour.”
While the overall trend over the past decade has shown declining numbers in nests, this season’s strong result at Flea Bay is an encouraging sign, she said.
“Everything that we do is for a purpose, and that purpose is always to make sure that their population stays the same or increases and thrives,” Dr Hickcox says.
She said dogs are the number one predator of little penguins in New Zealand, killing many penguins every year.
“So just people following the rules and keeping their dogs on leashes is really helpful.”
“Supporting conservation groups working with kororā financially is also important. For example, the South Island Wildlife Hospital is the only wildlife vet treating penguins and other taonga in Canterbury, all on shoestring finances.”
