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🪵 Ngahere Neighbourhood – Reticulated Stag Beetle

Meet one of our forest’s lesser-known residents: Paralissotes reticulatus, the reticulated stag beetle. Like all beetles, it has two pairs of wings — the outer pair (elytra) form a tough protective shell, while the inner flight ...wings are vestigial: tiny and nonfunctional. This common trait among New Zealand beetles means P. reticulatus is completely flightless, well suited to life in the damp decay of rotting native wood..

Glossy black and beautifully patterned, its name comes from the net-like (reticulate) pattern of depressed scaly areas and non-scaly areas. Males and females look similar, with modest mandibles and a stocky frame that ranges between 13–22 mm.

🕯️ Mostly nocturnal, these beetles are sometimes spotted during the day if it’s wet enough — so keep an eye out near decaying logs or leaf litter when you're walking through the ngahere.

🪱 Their larvae live deep inside rotting wood
A true forest recycler, quietly doing the mahi beneath your feet.

🌿 Ngahere Neighbourhood
There’s more to the Sanctuary than birds! This series celebrates the rich biodiversity thriving in the Brook — a connected community of unsung flora and fauna making the Sanctuary their home.

#NgahereNeighbourhood #BrookSanctuary #StagBeetle #ParalissotesReticulatus #NZInvertebrates #ForestFloor #BiodiversityNZ #InsectConservation #NocturnalNature #DecayingWoodEcosystem #FlightlessBeetles

🟠🟡 How Do Kākāriki Karaka Raise Their Young — and How Are They Bred in Captivity? 🟡🟠

🌿 In the wild
Nesting in beech tree hollows, the female kākāriki lays around 7 eggs between December and April, incubating them alone while the male provides food. Once hatched, ...the chicks remain hidden in the nest for 5–6 weeks, with both parents eventually feeding them as they grow. If food is plentiful, a pair might raise multiple clutches in one season, sometimes laying a new clutch while still feeding older chicks!
But even in a good year, raising chicks in the wild is risky. Eggs and chicks are especially vulnerable to shiprats — and a single plague of rats can devastate a population.

🧡 In captivity
Captive breeding has played a huge role in the survival of the species. Since 2003, eggs collected from the wild have been hatched and raised at facilities such as The Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust and Orana Wildlife Park. Hundreds of birds have since been released into safe sites — including the Brook Sanctuary, where our translocated population began breeding just weeks after arrival.

From vulnerable nestlings to forest-ready fledglings, it’s a story of aroha, patience, and teamwork.

📸: The pictures were taken by Sean McGrath right here at the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary

@forrestandbird

#BirdOfTheYear2025 #KākārikiKaraka #BrookSanctuary #SaveOurNatives #TaongaSpecies #ConservationSuccess #BOTY2025 #BringingBirdsBack #NgahereWhānau #BirdParentGoals #ForestAndBird

🌙 A Night to Remember at the Brook Sanctuary 🌿✨

“We loved our nighttime visit to the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary. Within five minutes of setting off we were serenaded by a kiwi pukupuku — very exciting to hear it this close to home. A tuatara was hanging out in the entrance to ...its burrow (much bigger than I expected!) and the banks of glowworms were magical. The guide was great and made the whole tour much more interesting. We’ll definitely be going again and looking forward to taking friends from overseas. Very lucky to have this on our doorstep.”
– Ali, Night Tour attendee

✨ That’s the magic of a Night Tour at the Sanctuary — where glowworms light the way, kiwi calls echo through the bush, and ancient creatures like tuatara make surprise appearances.

🌿 Tours run until mid-September, with only 10–12 spots per tour
🦉 Led by knowledgeable, passionate guides
💚 All proceeds support our vital conservation mahi
📅 Book now to secure your spot: https://www.brooksanctuary.org.nz/night-tours

Come see the forest as few ever do — after dark, alive, and unforgettable.

#BrookSanctuary #NightTours #GlowWorms #KiwiPukupuku #Tuatara #NelsonNZ #SupportConservation #NatureAtNight

🍄 Ngahere Neighbourhood – Fischer’s Egg (Claustula fischeri)

Tucked in the undergrowth from April to July, this rare and mysterious fungus is one of the strangest treasures in our ngahere.

Fischer’s Egg is unlike most fungi — instead of releasing spores into the air, it... hides them inside a hollow, cream-coloured ball, thought to be dispersed by invertebrates, gravity... or perhaps extinct ground birds like moa and adzebills. 🐦

Originally discovered near the Sanctuary in 1923, it’s now listed as Globally Endangered and Nationally Critical — possibly having declined alongside the extinction of Aoteroa’s megafauna. At the Sanctuary, we’ve found it in around ten locations, and we’re on the lookout for more.

This peculiar starts as a pinkish orb before splitting open and squeezing out an egg like mushroom. It is a distant relative of the bizarre stinkhorns — evolutionarily distinct, but just as fascinating.

Every discovery of Fischer’s Egg is a reminder of how much is still hidden in our forests.

🌿 Ngahere Neighbourhood
There’s more to the Sanctuary than birds! This series celebrates the rich biodiversity thriving in the Brook — a connected community of unsung flora and fauna making the Sanctuary their home.

#NgahereNeighbourhood #BrookSanctuary #FungiNZ #FischersEgg #ClaustulaFischeri #SanctuaryStories #BiodiversityNZ #RareSpecies #HiddenWorlds

🟤 INCREDIBLE NEWS for Kiwi Conservation 🟤

For the first time in nearly 50 years, a little spotted kiwi (kiwi pukupuku) has been found on the mainland, discovered by chance in remote South Westland by a tahr hunter working with DOC.

This is a breathtaking moment for ...Aotearoa’s most vulnerable kiwi species, a bird once thought extinct on the mainland. The discovery reinforces hope, especially for places like the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary, where kiwi pukupuku were reintroduced just a few months ago.

These two kiwi are likely to carry genetic traits lost in current populations, which all descend from just five individuals. Their genetics could be crucial for the species’ long-term survival by increasing genetic diversity and, consequently, resilience.
The rediscovery reminds us why conservation matters and just how resilient our taonga species can be.

#BrookSanctuary #LittleSpottedKiwi #KiwiPukupuku #KiwiConservation #BackFromTheBrink #TaongaSpecies #DOC #Kaitiakitanga #SouthIslandKiwi #KiwiComeback #BirdOfTheYear2025

🟠🟡 What is a Kākāriki Karaka, and why are they our Bird of the Year? 🟡🟠

Kākāriki karaka — or orange-fronted parakeet — is Aotearoa’s rarest parakeet, and together with the kākāpō, our most endangered terrestrial bird species.

🌿 Small, green, and ...long-tailed, these bright-eyed beauties are easy to confuse with other kākāriki — but look closely and you’ll spot the orange band above their eyes and orange rump patches that give them their name.

Once widespread across the motu, today they survive in just a handful of remote South Island valleys — and, thanks to conservation efforts, on a couple of pest-free islands. The BWS is the only fenced sanctuary to which they have been reintroduced, and they are thriving here.

So why are they our Bird of the Year pick?

Because they’re a quiet success story worth shouting about — a taonga species with deep cultural and ecological roots, brought back from the brink not once, but twice. They’re rare, hard to spot, and full of life. And with your support, their story is far from over.

🗳 Vote #1 Kākāriki Karaka from 15–28 September

📍Follow us for 10 weeks of kākāriki facts, fluff, and fierce campaigning

💬 Share the kōrero, spread the word, and back the bird

📸: @aptenodytes42 Photographed by Sean McGrath here at the Sanctuary

#BirdOfTheYear #KākārikiKaraka #BOTY2025 #SaveOurNatives #BrookSanctuary #NgahereWhānau #ForestAndBird #BringingBirdsBack