Above left: One of the pair of black stilt/kakī that were recently sighted – the left bird is the more common pied stilt. Photo credit DOC
This is pretty exciting and it rather amazes me that these birds have crossed the Southern Alps at presumably their highest point across Aoraki Mt Cook National Park, flying presumably against the predominant westerly winds and at considerable altitude that would average 2500 meters
A pair of New Zealand’s rarest birds the Kakī / black stilt has been sighted on the West Coast and DOC staff are asking the public to report further sightings.
The two kakī were spotted by a farmer on a dairy farm in the Arahura Valley. The farmer suspected they were rare and reported the sighting to the dept of Conservation, who confirmed the birds were black stilt/kakī.
Kakī are critically endangered, with less than 100 adult birds in the wild. Once common throughout New Zealand, kakī are now found on the braided rivers and wetlands of the Mackenzie Basin
Source: DOC seeks sightings of rare kakī: Media release 3 October 2016