Gannets nest on Motuora!

In July 2010 a “fake colony” of gannet decoys backed up by an acoustic system playing gannet calls was installed at the northern end of Motuora Island. Real gannets have been attracted to the site since this time, but up until this year they had failed to nest at the site.

A pair of gannets displaying courtship behaviour

Since September this year a group of around nine gannets have been at the site continuously and signs of nesting were looking promising. With the observation of a pair of gannets mating at the site last month hopes for successful nesting were high. In the last couple of days we have been able to confirm that there are indeed two birds incubating eggs at the site! This is very exciting news for the project and bodes well for the establishment of a permanent gannet colony on Motuora.

Gannet on egg

Gannet on egg

2 thoughts on “Gannets nest on Motuora!

  1. Hi Guys,
    Well done Toby on the gannet front thats great. We got 2 eggs a year after our first birds arrived at our decoys too, both chicks died unfortunately, the next year we got 11 chicks fledged then it shot up to 28 in yr 3 so it doesnt take long and you should have a heap of chicks fledging! Keep up the good work awesome.
    Best
    Steve Sawyer

  2. Friends of Mana Island (FOMI) with DOC’s help relocated the concrete gannets to a new site on the NE corner of the island in mid November this year – 62 birds in all. We have a sound system broadcasting during day light hours. There have been no sightings so far, but your experience on Motuora is very encouraging that we might see results over the next two years.

    Our nearest gannet colony is on Papakura Point in East Bay Arapawa island, which seems to be thriving when observed over last weekend.

    Brian Bell, FOMI Gannet Project Coordinator

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