For several weeks in autumn, a dedicated band of volunteers hit the pavement for an early morning walk in Auckland’s CBD.
They’re looking for seabirds called Cook’s petrels, or tītī, who become disoriented by the city lights and crash land or collide with buildings.
Ariel Heswall (front) and volunteers on Petrel Patrol in Auckland's CBD. Photo: Ariel Heswall
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Ariel Heswall, a PhD candidate at the University of Auckland, leads the Petrel Patrol. She became concerned after encountering tens to hundreds of Cook’s petrel patients as a volunteer at Birdcare Aotearoa, an avian rehabilitation facility in West Auckland.
“We saw so many Cook’s petrels coming in from light pollution,” she says. “We had 156 last year and had 150 the year before. So just seeing all these grounded Cooks was like, oh, we could really try to do something about it.”
We join Ariel and the Petrel Patrol to search for Cook’s petrels and learn about how light pollution affects seabirds.
Listen to the full episode to go behind the scenes at Birdcare Aotearoa and meet some recuperating Cook’s petrels.
A Cook's petrel ready to be fed by Birdcare volunteers. Photo: Ellen Rykers / RNZ
