SI Pied Oystercatchers in captivity?

[esch052]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if any of you would know which zoos/parks hold South Island Pied Oystercatchers in captivity? I know of some of the larger ones, like Orana Wildlife Park and Queenstown Kiwi Birdlife Park, but wondered if there were others you knew of? The reason why I am trying to find out is that we have a SIPO at the rescue centre I volunteer with that we are trying to find a captive home for as she cannot be released into the wild. Any suggestions of possible places (anywhere in NZ) that we can contact are greatly appreciated!

Cheers,
Emma

 

[Chlidonias]

Otorohanga has variable oystercatchers.
Queenstown Kiwi Birdlife Park has S.I. pied oystercatchers.
Orana Park has S. I. pied oystercatchers.

I can't think of any other collections with oystercatchers off the top of my head.

Auckland Zoo may be interested although they have no oystercatchers currently, and same for Wellington Zoo. Smaller collections you could try are Willowbank and Nga Manu.

 

[zooboy28]

Chlidonias summed it up pretty well, although according to this years census, Otorohanga also have SIPO, with a total of 1.3.2 across the three institutions. However, they are all listing this species as phase out, so might not be keen to add a rescue bird to their collections. Variable Oystercatchers are a monitored species, so have priority, so other zoos (e.g. Auckland) might not be keen to acquire SIPO. Possibly one of the private or DOC facilities might be better, e.g. Nga Manu and Willowbank as Chlidonias suggested.

 

[vogelcommando]

Hello esch052, would it be possible to make some pictures of your resqued bird, would love to see it ! The only Oystercatcher I've seen, taken care for and bred sofar is the European Oystercatcher.

 

[esch052]

Thanks very much for your replies so far Chlidonias and zooboy28! I have tried Orana and Kiwi Birdlife Park but unfortunately I believe they too are trying to phase out the SIPO as well. I will give the others a try though! Thank you so much for your help- I really hope we can find this guy a home

vogelcommando, the only photo I have on hand is this one from our facebook page, when he was being treated by the vet. He's looking in better condition than that now! (I have tried to attach it)

hope that shows up! you can see more pics from this awesome website: South Island pied oystercatcher | New Zealand Birds Online

thanks again everyone!
Emma

 

[zooboy28]

An update on the oystercatcher from the NZ Bird Rescue Trust's Facebook page:

Great news! The Oystercatcher has found its new home! A big thank you to our volunteer Emma who put in a lot of time, effort, emails and phone calls to find this bird a sanctuary. She did an amazing job trying to find this bird a home. The Oystercatcher arrived at NZBR in February with a broken wing. It was taken to the Vet and had its wing pinned but unfortunately this proved unsuccessful and the shoulder did not work sufficiently for flying. A huge thank you to Air New Zealand for flying the Oystercatcher at no charge down to Christchurch and for Narelle who organised the transport and delivery. Bird Rescue thanks Willowbank Wildlife Reserve for providing the Oystercatcher with its new home – if you are in Christchurch go and see the Oystercatcher in its new enclosure - we would love you to send us a picture of him! Woohoo!

 

[vogelcommando]

Thanks very much for your replies so far Chlidonias and zooboy28! I have tried Orana and Kiwi Birdlife Park but unfortunately I believe they too are trying to phase out the SIPO as well. I will give the others a try though! Thank you so much for your help- I really hope we can find this guy a home

vogelcommando, the only photo I have on hand is this one from our facebook page, when he was being treated by the vet. He's looking in better condition than that now! (I have tried to attach it)

hope that shows up! you can see more pics from this awesome website: South Island pied oystercatcher | New Zealand Birds Online

thanks again everyone!
Emma

Thank you for posting the picture and the website !