Rifleman/titipounamu
Image:
Michael Hamilton
| Creative Commons
Rifleman/titipounamu monitoring
Introduction
Rifleman raised three time more chicks after 1080 pest control than without.The tiny rifleman is one of two surviving species of the New Zealand wren family (the other is rock wren).
Titipounamu lives in forests in the North and South Island. It’s always on the move, foraging for insects and flitting through the tree tops.
1080 treatment boosts nesting success
We monitored rifleman at Mount Stanley in the Marlborough Sounds after the 1080 operation. Our researchers also tracked them in a nearby area without pest control.
All monitored rifleman survived the 1080 operation.
The first summer birds produced over three times more chicks after pest control than in the area without it.
A year later the monitored rifleman raised more than twice the number of young in the 1080-treated area than in the non-treatement area.
