Bird Conservation Projects

On this week's Our Changing World – how songbirds learn their song, and how researchers in the Southern Hemisphere are trying to correct a long-standing male bias in the songbird world. Audio

The story of a seabird translocation to Mana Island, involving fluffy white-faced storm petrel chicks, artificial burrows and sardine smoothies. Audio

An ecologist and a mathematician discover that teaching a computer to recognise bird calls from acoustic recorders is an interesting challenge. Audio

The Department of Conservation and volunteer groups, including the Coal Island Trust, are hard at work removing pests such as stoats and deer from Fiordland's many islands. Audio

The NZ bird atlas will be a 5-year project counting common & rare birds from the Kermadecs to the far south. Audio

Place names turn out to be a good record of where plants and animals once occurred and where they have been lost. Audio

Twenty-five years of bird counts have revealed an unexpected consequence to the creation of the predator-free Zealandia Sanctuary. Audio

A renaissance in native forest bird numbers in the capital is helped by urban bush and Predator Free Wellington efforts. Audio

Could chemical camouflage save rare birds by putting predators off the scent? Ecologists are testing the idea in the Mackenzie Basin. Video, Audio

Putauhinu, one of the southern Tītī Islands, has become a remarkable rat-free sanctuary, gifting rare land birds to other islands. Video, Audio, Gallery

Four scientists talk about genetics and how it can help in the conservation of rare birds such as little spotted kiwi. Audio

Wellington's Polhill Restoration Project volunteers are looking after rare birds such as nesting kaka and tieke that are spilling into the 'halo' around Zealandia Sanctuary. Video, Audio, Gallery

Conservation groups are replanting native vegetation around Wellington's Miramar Peninsula to provide safe homes for little blue penguins and food for other native birds. Audio, Gallery

Residents on the Kapiti coast north of Wellington are working together to improve biodiversity and create thriving ecosystems in their local neighbourhoods. Audio, Gallery

More than a million birds have been counted in the last nine years of the garden bird survey, and sparrows and silvereyes consistently top the rankings. Audio

Why are some male birds brighter and showier than females of the same species, and sometimes both are bright? Sexual selection, size and living in the tropics are all part of the answer. Audio

Use your ears and spend time on your own just listening and observing birds - good advice from one of the world's best known bird-watchers and ex-Goodie, Bill Oddie. Audio

Bird sperm from native species such as robins, as well as introduced dunnocks from Dunedin, may shed light on problems with male fertility and infertile eggs. Video, Audio, Gallery

The ruru, or morepork, is our only surviving native owl and locals living on Banks Peninsula are giving them a helping hand by providing luxury accommodation. Audio