The South Island Robin research reflection.

I started to do my research on Monday in preparation for my research reflection in ESOL.

I've looked at two websites to gather information about the South Island Robin, Notornis and Nzbirdsonline. I found out that the South Island Robin is a native bird in New Zealand with the size of a sparrow, they are 18 centimetres in length and 35 grams in weight. They have a few differences in their appearances by gender: the male robin is a dark-grey black over their head, neck, mantle and upper chest. Their flight feathers are brownish black.  Their lower chests and bellies' colour is white to yellow with a sharp differentiation between black and white on the chest part. Meanwhile, the females are light to grey in the upper body. Their bellies and chest area are smaller, having less distinction between grey and white feathering.
They use specific hunting methods at different times of the year. They use scanning, hawking (hunt on the wing for food) and flycatching (the method of catching flies) during late November and December. They use hawking and flycatching during January to mid-March and hawking during the late summer. During this part of the research, it was my first time encountering the words hawking and flycatching.
The robins live in mature forests, scrubs and exotic plantations. They also prefer moist areas with plants growing underneath forest canopies.
South Island Robins are monogamous, having only one partner in breeding. Their breeding seasons starts from July to March and they lay their eggs from July to December.
They are decreasing in population due to predators like rats, stoats and feral cats and loss of habitat. The robins have been tried to translocate where there are no predators, the translocation caused the inbreeding, cause problems to reproduction and have genetical consequences.

Willowbank Wildlife Reserve

 It was the 4th of June; we, the students of 11 ESOL went to the Willowbank Wildlife Resort to prepare for our reading assessment.

After our first period class, we went to our classroom in B-block to assemble. Miss Briggs started a headcount to check our attendance and we made our way to Willowbank.
Upon arriving, we were divided in three groups with different teachers leading us, our group went inside and saw the eels. After that, we went to the deer yard where the fallow deer are, we saw some swans on our way.
Next, we saw different birds; the geese, pukeko and the emus and shortly after we went to see the wallabies and many more animals.
We all met in one place after that, we went inside the kea enclosure to study about the kea. We met Rachel who taught us what the keas are, what they eat and about their peaking orders. Some keas even flew and rested on top of my classmates' heads. Afterwards, we went to the nocturnal house to see the kiwis, we gathered in one spot because we saw two walking. They look really small.

We all finished our tour by answering the questions in our booklet, we went around more time and spent the rest of our time in the cafe to eat and answer. The bus arrived and we all went back feeling very satisfied with our trip.

The Kea

   The Kea is a type of parrot found in the South Island of New Zealand. They are known for being one of the most intelligent birds.

 Their name was based on their in-flight call "Keee ah." Keas are medium fast flyers, they fly 40 kilometres per hour. They weigh 800 grams but they can lift more than a kilogram. Their lifespans differ depending on their environment and lifestyle. Keas living in the wild live from approximately 5 to 25 years, keas living in captivity can live up to 50 years.
   No one knows why they are intelligent, it can somehow be explained because they are part of the parrot genealogy. They test things with their beak and they are the most aggressive when they are being fed. Keas don't hunt for food however they are after bugs.
  Males keas act tough on other males and they like to play with female keas. They don't migrate to other countries, they usually live in the lower part of the South Island mountains. Their natural predators are hawks.