51�Թ�

Golden beams of light broke through densely clustered supplejack vines and rimu trees.

Vercoe said in an email that much of the success this season was due to the amount of fruit on rimu trees.

The birds breed every few years when the rimu tree fruits.

Males “boom” to attract females, and they only breed every three to six years when the native rimu trees “mast”, or produce large numbers of seeds.

The birds breed only once every two to four years when native rimu trees produce fruit, and this year’s season was expected to be a record length.