

A potential sighting of the once-extinct South Island kokako has been described by a local ornithologist as "one of the best sightings in many years".

Hamish Clarke and his wife and sister were visiting from Kerikeri when they saw a bird "too big for a tui, not a morepork, a shag or a hawk" on the Cable Bay walkway.

"It was a bit in the shadows but it turned and it had these big orange wattles. It looked like a tui with a nicotine stain.

Hayley Gale Amateur ornithologist Alec Milne was contacted to assess Clarke's sighting. He believes he saw his first kokako in 2006.

"It was sort of as a wood pigeon might be, a bit dopey but it will come up to you.

"It was pretty special. We had him so long that we were trying to discuss what it was while we were still there."



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Kendrick . J.L / Supplied An illustration of the blue-wattled North Island kokako and the orange-wattled South Island kokako.



The trio watched the bird, known as the grey ghost, for nearly 15 minutes from a distance of about eight metres and later filed an official report after matching its features to a taxidermied model from the 1930s.

Golden Bay hobby ornithologist Alec Milne was alerted to the report of the sighting by Te Papa last month and contacted the Clarkes to firm up the details.

"They correctly identified the orange wattles, the plumage and the distinctive call," Milne said.

"Hopefully with at least two people reporting it we can get this sighting accepted."

A native bird classified by the Department of Conservation (DOC) as extinct in 1967, the South Island kokako was reclassified as "data deficient" following an accepted sighting near Reefton in 2007.

Te Papa confirmed receipt of this weekend's sighting, which is now being considered for official verification.

Don Sullivan of the Marsden Valley Volunteer Pest Trapping Group and Nelson ornithologist Peter Gaze said this was the second reported sighting in Cable Bay in the last two weeks.

Sullivan said there had been no reports of kokako in the Marsden Valley for the last three months or so, but that he knew of reported sightings at the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary.

Gaze said reports of "tantalising" close encounters of the "grey ghost" meant there "has to be a possibility" the kokako was still alive in the Nelson area.

This was disputed by Forest and Bird member and Cable Bay resident Ian Price who said a South Island kokako would have been reliably discovered in the last 40 years if the species still existed.

"If there was one still alive – and it's a big if – it would likely be a male and the female would have been predated off the nest."

Ornithological Society of New Zealand council president David Lawrie said any sightings had to meet the rigorous evidential standards of the society's five-person records appraisal committee to receive official verification.

"There would need to be a very good description with a lot of detail to have it verified, or a number of people seeing it.

"If this sighting is without photos it's likely to go on 'maybe' [classification] but it could most likely lead to other people going into that area [to search] ... It is highly exciting if it proves to be real."

A surveillance exercise to find or record the kokako was undertaken in Marsden Valley last year after years of reported sightings in the nearby Maitai Valley and Dun Mountain areas.

Milne said there had been a growth in reported sightings over the recent summer season, including one in the Cobb Valley, although he put it down to a greater inclination to report rather than higher numbers of kokako.

He said their reclassification from "extinct" to "data deficient" meant DOC was "certainly a lot more open now", and was responsive to requests to place cameras in the Cable Bay area, Milne said.

But the likelihood of long-term funding towards search efforts remains low without that singular token of proof.

"Everyone wants photos," Milne said. "If you give it time it will happen. Most people do have some photographic stuff with them these days."

Gaze said a photo or a feather would get people more excited about the South Island kokako than any number of reports.

"Some people become a little jaded over time with these records and others become more convinced that it is there.

"Only time will tell."



THE GREY GHOST:

A grey-coloured bird with a dark facial mask, orange wattles and a short-winged glide, the South Island kokako once occupied forested areas from Nelson to Stewart Island.

However their numbers declined rapidly following the introduction of cats, rats and stoats and they were rare by the 1880s.

As such, there is only one known photograph of the elusive bird in existence.

The South Island kokako could mimic other animal's sounds but is believed not to respond to recordings of its own calls, which ranged from a mellifluous whistle to a mournful wail or organ-like note.

Larger than a tui but smaller than a pigeon, it was a member of Callaeidae bird family which dates back 30 million years.

In Maori mythology the kokako carried water in its wattles to give to Maui as he fought the sun.

In return Maui stretched the kokako's legs, making it easier for the bird to leap through the forest.

The North Island kokako appears on the New Zealand $50 note.