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title: "How to handle a breeding Westland Petrel: the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa explains"
---

# How to handle a breeding Westland Petrel: the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa explains

“The last vestiges of light are fading over [Paparoa National Park](http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/west-coast/places/paparoa-national-park/), Westland in the South Island of New Zealand.  As the skies darken, a magnificent silhouette can be seen soaring above a small group of scientists.  Soon one silhouette becomes many and within fifteen minutes of the first sighting, birds begin to plummet down into the bush, hitting the ground with a disarming crash.  There ensues a cacophony of sound as birds call to their nesting partners, or perhaps to each other – a wild kind of party on the forest floor in this remote part of the country.”

 Kate Whitley of the [Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa](http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/) explains in her illustrated on-line account how to extract an ACAP-listed and [Vulnerable](http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=3924) Westland Petrel *Procellaria westlandica* from its burrow at the species’ only breeding site.  A [burrowscope](http://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2015/07/30/life-through-a-burrowscope-lens-part-6-subterranean-paparoa-national-park/) is first used to check for presence, the birds are then carefully removed (with gloves!) so that previously fitted GPS loggers can be downloaded of the birds' at-sea movements.

 ![](https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Petrels/W/Westland/Westland Petrel Susan Waugh s.jpg) 

 Westland Petrel, photograph by Susan Waugh

 “The local community [is] embracing the fact that they have a unique Petrel colony on their doorstep, and this year launched the inaugural ‘[Return of the Westland Petre](http://community.scoop.co.nz/2015/05/inaugural-return-of-the-westland-petrel-festival-takes-off/)l’ festival.  The highlight of the festival was a beach parade where locals could witness the birds soaring in overhead on their return to the nesting site.”

 One of the May festival’s highlights was also the unveiling of a huge model petrel in a tree above the entertainment stage ([click here](https://www.facebook.com/ReturnoftheWestlandPetrelFestival)).

 [Click here](http://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2015/08/11/a-bird-in-the-hand-how-to-catch-a-westland-petrel/) for the whole article by Kate.

 *John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 17 August 2015*