An encounter with Takahe on the Heaphy Track

 One of the rarest birds in the world...the Takahe

I have just returned from a trip to the Heaphy Track in Kahurangi National Park at the top of the South Island. I was in the park walking the 80 kilometer long track from near Golden Bay to Karamea on the West Coast of the South Island. While there I was lucky to encounter a rare Takahe in the wild while staying at Saxon Hut. 

Saxon Hut is on the Gouland Downs in Kahurangi National Park

Saxon Hut was the second days accommodation...

There is a resident Takahe living in the bush close to Saxon Hut and people who stay here for the night often get the opportunity to see one of these magnificent birds at close quarters. One of the hut wardens said they often like to sleep under the hut or just to the back of the wood shed at Saxon Hut. 

Takahe near the back of Saxon Hut, Heaphy Track

The Takahe lives in the bush close to Saxon Hut

The Takahe is a New Zealand native bird and it is one of the rarest birds in the world with just over 300 individuals left. Considered extinct until 1948 a small remnant population was found in the Murchison Range near Te Anau. They have been successfully breed in captivity since then and most of the remaining birds are on offshore predator free islands. 

Takahe have a similar coloring to Pukeko which they are related too...

In 2018 the Department of Conservation decided to reintroduce a small population of Takahe back into Kahurangi National Park. This was an old habitat where Takahe lived up to the end of the 19th century.  It was hoped returning the birds to this location would provide another safe refuge for the birds to live in the wild. 

Takahe are herbivores who eat grasses, shoots and soft plants...

I was sharing the hut that night with an English couple so the three of us managed to sit outside and watched the Takahe without scaring it off. Ed and Bella had seen two Takahe at Zealandia near Wellington and one at a refugee near Queenstown. They also saw a Takahe when they stopped at Gouland Downs for lunch so we worked out that they had seen roughly 5% of the total Takahe population in existence...

The Takahe are not scared of humans and come close to the hut...

Takahe using its beak to pick succulent grass shoots...

There are currently about 30 birds in the park with most living on and around the Gouland and MacKay Downs right in the centre of the park. This is an area of rolling hills, stunted sub alpine forest and tussock 900 meters above sea level. Track users will often see them around the huts and on the tracks from Perry Saddle Hut to James MacKay Hut. 

View out over the Gouland Downs from near Perry Creek

The Takahe forages along the side of the veranda

The Takahe are often seen around two backcountry huts on the Downs as they like the grass planted around the buildings. I was privileged to see a Takahe at close range (less than 3 meters) as it came right up to the door of Saxon Hut where I was staying and spent over an hour in and around the hut site. 

Takahe stand about 50 cm high and are solid birds

The long white quill is a radio locator antenna...

This Takahe arrived just after the hut warden finished cutting the grass around the hut with a weed whacker. We thought it might be like a Pavlovian dinner gong saying to the Takahe "Grubs Up"!!! It certainly enjoyed picking through the grass clippings for the tender shoots...

Takahe plumage is surprisingly good camouflage in the bush...

The leg bands are used to identify individual birds...

If you have ever wanted to see one of these beautiful birds then you should go up to Kahurangi National Park and walk the Heaphy Track. Just about every person on the track with me had the opportunity to see these birds at some stage so encounters with them are not impossible. 

The Takahe heads off into the bush once again...

When passing by Gouland Downs Hut I stopped to chat to the people who had stayed there the previous night. They told me that they had three Takahe in and around the hut the previous afternoon and one sauntered by about an hour before I had arrived. It seems likely that you will see Takahe along the track if you stay at either Gouland Downs or Saxon Hut for the night.  

Takahe can also be seen around Gouland Downs Hut

Check this out...one of the rarest backcountry signs in New Zealand. The Takahe warning signs can only be found along the Heaphy Track and I saw a grand total of four of these over the five days of my trip. 

The rarest DOC backcountry sign...Takahe ahead!!!

When I set off for James MacKay Hut the next day the Takahe had returned and was walking around the side of the hut looking for breakfast. 

Leaving Saxon Hut the next day...Takahe is on other side of hut!!!

To learn more about Takahe check out the New Zealand Birds Online website. I have also produced a vlog post of the Takahe at Saxon Hut and it can be seen at NZ Bush Adventures on You Tube.

Vlog Post Link: Takahe encounter at Saxon Hut