I am pleased to contribute a foreword for the fourth edition of this booklet produced by the Department of Lands and Survey, Napier.

The Cape Kidnapper Gannet Reserve is rare in ornithological circles as it contains the largest and most accessible mainland gannet colony in the world. By this very rarity, many visitors from both within New Zealand and from overseas, have been drawn to Hawke's Bay to visit the reserve and experience for themselves the gannets in their natural environment.

This excellent booklet provides much information for those who wish to know more about the colony and will also prove to be an interesting souvenir of this fascinating place.

J. P. Harty Commissioner of Crown Lands

Thousands of gannets nesting on mainland New Zealand present a scene unique in nature. Known to the Maori people as Takapu, the gannet is usually an island breeder but has made a notable exception at Cape Kidnappers on the East Coast of the North Island. For many yeas this promontory forming the southern extremity of Hawke's Bay was the only known mainland gannet colony in the world. Recently the larger North Atlantic gannet has established a small colony of about 30 pairs at Bampton Cliffs in England. The Australasian Gannet has also recently become established at Farewell Spit north-west of Nelson. Cape Kidnappers, however, still remains the largest, and most accessible mainland colony. The reserve is visited by thousands of people each year.

History of the Cape

Cape Kidnappers was named by Captain Cook in 1769. But although he and his companions made detailed observations of sea birds in the area, no reference was made about nesting gannets. Cook had reason to remember Kidnappers, for he named it after an incident in which local Maoris unsuccessfully tried to kidnap his Tahitian interpreter. The French explorer Dumont D'Urville passed within a league of the Cape in February 1827. Although he recorded gannets in the sea north of Cape Palliser and again near East Cape, he also made no mention of them at Kidnappers. It wasn't until 1870 that Henry Hill, an early Hawke's Bay naturalist, reported the existence of a gannet colony at the Cape and recorded the population as not exceeding 50. It is believed that this first gannetry was established in the 1850s on a saddle of the promontory. The population of the saddle colony has now stabilised at about 2200 pairs.

<< Viewing Gannets at the Plateau Colony.

Two new gannetries established near the Cape in the 1930s are probably overflows from this main saddle colony. During the 1930s a few young birds began roosting on a plateau 110 metres above the sea. To avoid disturbing them visitors used a track which extended two metres along a cliff face on the northem side of the plateau and traces of this track still remain. A flourishing colony is now established there (460 pairs in 1963 increased to over 1100 pairs in 1980) and it is easily accessible to visitors. Good views of this plateau colony can be obtained from the hillside beside the navigation light. Please note that the track which led to the saddle colony has been closed to visitors because of its dangerous condition.

The other overflow colony is at Black Reef, which was once the nesting-place of a colony of terns until they were driven out by vandals. The gannets have taken over large rocks at the inshore end of the reef. Nine hundred pairs nested here in 1963 and their numbers increased to more than 1800 pairs in 1980. In recent years there have been small-scale attempts to establish a mainland colony on the cliffs above the reef, and a number of pairs have succeeded in rearing their young on this new site.

Migration

Many bird migrations are known in which whole populations move seasonally from one area of the earth to another. Such migrations often involve the traverse of long distances and are usually connected with availability of food, avoidance of harsh winter conditions, and reproduction of the species in favourable localities. Ornithologists are still puzzled by the instinct which causes birds to undertake these hazardous voyages, often over thousands of kilometres of ocean.

Do gannets migrate? This question could not be answered with any certainty before the early 1950s. Since gannets are seen along New Zealand coasts all year, some ornithologists believed that they did not migrate. Others, perhaps inspired by the migration of godwits between New Zealand and Siberia, believed that they did. The late Dr Allan Berry wished to put the matter to the test by banding chicks, but the Department of Lands and Survey was reluctant to risk allowing banding operations at the then main colony in the saddle. The department's primary duty was the protection of the birds from interference, and it was feared that the disturbance caused by banding operations might lead to the loss of the colony.

Establishment of a plateau colony made banding possible without interfering with the main saddle gannetry, and in 1950 operations were started there by Dr W. Wodzicki and the late Rev. F. H. Robertson. A highly successful method of catching chicks and returning them to their nests evolved and operated equally well with adult birds.

Recoveries of banded birds showed that gannets do not migrate. Their chicks disperse to the eastern coasts of Australia where, with some exceptions, they remain for 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 years until they become adults. They then return to New Zealand and thereafter remain in New Zealand waters.

Banding has been continued and developed by the Wildlife Service which co-operates with the Department of Lands and Survey in matters relating to the welfare of the gannet colony. Information and assistance in supervising visitors during the holiday season is provided by Lands and Survey ranger personnel.

Since 1959 gannets of known age have been banded with numbered bands. This makes it possible for individual birds to be recognised through binoculars and has enabled problems relating to nesting and breeding habits to be solved. Some insight has also been gained into the average lifespan of the gannet which is estimated at between 2540 years.

An Amazing Flight

Most of the young gannets have never been airborne before they leave the colony at Cape Kidnappers.

They set out across 2735 km of stormy Tasman Sea without a practice flight, previous experience in direction finding, leaders, or having learnt how to catch their own food. Nature has provided these young birds with reserves to enable them to survive until they can fend for themselves, and they weigh an average three kilograms, about one

6 kilogram heavier than their parents. Flight speed varies and depends upon weather conditions, but some birds have reached Australia one to two weeks after their departure from the Cape. In one of the fastest crossings recorded, an average of 385 km was covered per day, an amazing feat for a 16 week old bird.

Sometimes they fly until exhaustion forces them to alight on the water to rest. Sharks, barracouta, storms, and exhaustion all take their toll. There is a heavy mortality rate and only about 25-30 percent of the young birds survive the dual ocean crossing and return to Cape Kidnappers.

Most of the bands recovered come from birds in their first year whose bodies were picked up off the New Zealand and Australian coasts, or from banded birds cast ashore exhausted after a storm. One band was recovered from the stomach of an Australian shark! Recoveries of banded chicks show that most of the birds fly north along the east coast of New Zealand and around North Cape before crossing to Australia. A secondary route is also used to the south through Cook Strait and across the Tasman. In Australia most bands have been recovered from the coast of New South Wales and Victoria. But some have been found as far afield as northem Queensland, and one was found at Perth, 5790 km from Cape Kidnappers.

Nesting

From early May to Mid July the gannetry is empty. The only feature which stands out in the stark bareness of the colony are rows of neatly-spaced nesting mounds. These mounds are eroded by the weather and only the older more central nests remain for the birds on their return. It is believed that gannets mate for life, and they tend to return to the same nest site each year.

Following the full moon in July, males which nested during the previous season return to their nesting sites and are later joined by their mates. The numbers steadily increase, and the first pairs begin to gather nesting material about the middle of August. Much pilfering of this material occurs especially if the birds are relatively inexperienced and fail to guard their nests.

During the nesting season some gannets may be seen standing around the edges of the nesting area. They are young birds which have returned from Australia during the previous two or three years and have not yet established permanent nest sites. It is believed that they are laying claim to a piece of territory as a preliminary to establishing their own nests in that particular year or a succeeding year. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT THEY SHOULD NOT BE DISTURBED IN ANY WAY, as this is an important phase in the beginning of a nesting cycle.

Some of these birds undertake tentative mating perhaps even build a rudimentary nest, with the occasional one laying an egg. Nesting in earnest usually begins when the birds are five years old and have attained full adult plumage. The males claim the territory and 'own' the nest.

First attempts at nesting are not always successful because of inexperience and disturbances from other birds or visitors who approach too closely. On the plateau colony a low chain was installed to keep visitors at a reasonable distance from these new nesters.

<<The Greeting Ceremony.

Within one season nests were built between this chain and the established nests, in an area where there had been no previous nesting.

The plateau colony originally consisted of two roughly circular patches with a space between in which visitors used to walk. When the chain was installed and visitors no longer walked through the colony, the two areas became joined together by new nests. On the northern boundary where the chain swings towards the colony there is a corresponding indentation in the nesting area. Clearly the birds build outside a minimum distance from visitors, and it is imperative THAT NO-ONE SHOULD CROSS THE CHAIN AND APPROACH CLOSER TO THEM.

A third group of gannets which return to Cape Kidnappers during nesting season arrive from overseas during December and January and perch in groups at a short distance from the nesting area.

The gannet is very much an individualist and is believed to nest in large numbers for protection from natural enemies. The nest spacing is determined by the pecking range of birds on nests. They will attack any object or bird which strays into their territory. As the season progresses the nest which begins as a dark tangle of seaweed and grasses, gradually consolidates and is bound together by excrete ejected outwards by the sitting adults and chicks. Thus there is a notable gradation in nest size from large mounds at the centre of the colony, to the flat hollows of younger birds at the perimeter.

Reproduction

Mating is accompanied by a distinctive courtship display and occurs early in the season. Eggs are laid about two to three weeks following fertilisation and first appear late in September with the majority laid in October. Normally a single egg is laid but if this is damaged or broken before January, a second egg is sometimes laid. When the egg first appears it is pale green and covered with a white chalky substance. Within a few days the colour changes to a distinctive brown.

<<Nesting Gannets - Saddle Colony

Both male and female gannets take turns to incubate the egg. The sitting gannet waddles slowly onto the nest and places the webs of both feet around and over the egg, before settling its body down on the nest. The hot webs of its feet and insulation of the body feathers incubate the egg, which is often fumed or moved by the gannet's beak.

Chicks

After 43-44 days a small hole appears in the egg, and during the next 24-36 hours the tiny naked chick breaks its way out into the open air. There is a small hard egg-tooth on top of the chick's beak at the tip which is used to cut off the wide end of the egg. More like a reptile than a bird the dark slate-grey chick is blind, completely naked and quite helpless. During the first 10 days of life it grows rapidly, protected by the feet and body of the parent. A faint hint of white down appears after a week, and by the end of a fortnight the now alert chick is transformed into a fluffy white mass.

The parents now have to work very hard obtaining food to appease the voracious appetite of their young chick. While one parent remains on guard the mate is away at sea stocking up the larder.

Designed for Diving

Although the gannet is ungainly on land, it is transformed into a graceful and effortless glider in the air. When a fish is sighted its easy gliding night suddenly becomes a 10 plummeting dive and it enters the water at speeds of up

to 145 km an hour from heights of up to 30 m. In this way fish are caught at depths of 43/: m or more. For local fishermen the sight of diving gannets is often a sign of shoaling fish and a large catch.

The gannet's streamlined shape is well-adapted for this bullet-like entry into the water. The strong front of the skull withstands the impact, and special inflatable air sacs help to cushion the shock. Small squid, and fish (anchovy, pilchard, yellow-eyed mullet, and garfish etc.) are its main food source and many are caught and swallowed under the water. Large Fish are carried to the surface and held firmly by the sharp serrated edges of the beak.

Chick Feeding

When the parent bird returns to the nest with a load of fish the chick places its beak tip near that of the parent, and sways its head from side to side. At the same time it makes a monotonous yapping call which increases in intensity as it becomes more hungry. Convulsive movements then appear in the lower neck of the parent bird as food is brought up from its stomach. The chick inserts its head into the parent's open bill, and regurgitated, partly digested food is transferred.

Tiny chicks are fed on fine almost liquid paste while well developed chicks are fed almost whole fish. Following food transfer both birds point their bills upwards and swallow with convulsive movements. When the food supply is exhausted the adult turns its bill away from the still begging chick.

After 40 days the chick is almost the same size as the adult, and about a week later the first signs of feather quills appear along the wings. From this stage onwards the chick goes through a rapid transition to its juvenile plumage of slate grey feathers speckled with white spots. From late December to late February chicks may be seen in all stages of development. During the next month the parents lose interest in feeding their chick and may desert it for long periods. The young gannets congregate along the cliff edge and vigorously exercise their wings in preparation for the long dispersal Bight which they will undertake when they are about four months old. Wing exercises are begun at an early age and are a regular daily routine at three months old.

By mid-March the number of gannets at the nesting ground has dwindled and by mid-April the colony is almost deserted with only a few adults wandering among the deserted nests.

Gannets and their Distribution

The gannet is a member of the Booby family which consists of tropical birds, and is related to the families of shags, pelicans, and frigate birds. There are three sub-species of gannet which are situated in the temperate regions of the world:

The North Atlantic Gannet (Sula bassana) is the largest of the three sub-species and nests on islands around the coasts of Great Britain, Iceland, and along the south-eastern seaboard of Canada.

The Cape Gannet (Sula Capensis) nests on islands in the Cape of Good Hope region.

The Australasian Gannet (Sula serrator). Although this gannet is the smallest of the three sub-species, adults have a wing-span of up to 2 m and an average weight of 2 kg.

<< General Nesting - Note use of seaweed material in nest building.

New Zealand Gannet Population

In 1980 a census of New Zealand gannetries established a population of about 46 000 breeding pairs. This is a substantial increase from the 1947 census figure of 21 000. The following table gives further details of this 1980 census.

Location                 Gannet Population

Three Kings Island             9800
Poor Knights Island            4200
Great Barrier Island           2700
Colville Island                4500
Waiheke Island (Horuhoro Rock)  260
Muriwai Island                  110
Gannet Island                  8000
White Island                   7000
Cape Kidnappers                5200
Tolago Bay Island               600
Mokohinau Island                350
Marlborough Sounds               30
Nuggets Island                   10
Little Solander Island           60
Farewell Spit                   300

Walking to the Cape

The Clifton Domain is located 21 km south of Napier and 18 km east of Hastings. It contains a camping ground, boat launching area, and is a popular swimming point. To reach Cape Kidnappers Gannet Reserve from Clifton Domain there is a pleasant walk of 13/~-2 hours at low tide along 8 km of beach.

Along the way there are sights to interest everybody. For the geologist there are spectacular views of stratified rock beds featuring gravels, conglomerate and mudstone as well as glimpses of petrified wood and thin seams of lignite. Action of the sea and wind has carved interesting shapes out of the soft sands and shingles of the cliffs. Flotsam and jetsam cast up from the sea are there to interest the beach lover and for bird watchers there are two colonies of black-backed gulls and wild pigeons living on the cliffs. The white-fronted tern nests near Black Reef and usually a few black shags can be seen further out on the reef.

Less than a kilometre from Black Reef is a facility area where a shelter and toilets have been provided for visitors. Beyond this the track continues up a hill, past the Ranger's cottage, and up to the plateau for a closer view of the gannets.

Alternatives to walking to the Cape include the Gannet Safari overland from Summerlee Station and the Tractor and Trailer Gannet Beach Adventures along the beach from Te Awanga.

Hints to Visitors

The walk along the beach may only be undertaken at low tide. You should leave Clifton Domain no earlier than about three hours after high tide and depart from the Cape within l 1/2 hours after low tide.
Note: These times should be used as an approximate guide only as wind and sea conditions affect the tide.

Do not disturb the gannets or molest them in any way. All the habits of the gannets can be seen with patience and careful observation. The best place for close-up photographs is the plateau colony. PLEASE KEEP OUTSIDE THE LOW CHAIN.

The saddle and Black Reef colonies are closed at all times to the public.

Cape Kidnappers Gannet Reserve is closed to the public from l July to the Wednesday before Labour Day each year.

Camping and caravan facilities are available at Clifton Domain and Te Awanga. No public camping is permitted at the Cape and private vehicles are not allowed over the inland route which is on private property.

Cape Kidnappers Gannet Reserve is administered by the Napier office of the Department of Lands and Survey. Donations may be sent direct to the Department of Lands and Survey, P.O. Box 148, Napier.

For further information contact:
The Department of Lands and Survey, P.O. Box 148, Napier. Phone: 8357-369 Napier.
Napier Public Relations Office, Private Bag, Napier. Phone: 8357-182 Napier.
Hastings Public Relations Office, Private Bag, Hastings. Phone: 8769-001 Hastings.