Meet Missy: The Feisty Kārearea Calling Clos Henri Home

This spring, we were delighted to be chosen as the new home for Missy, a New Zealand Kārearea, or falcon. 

Interestingly, of 38 species of falcon worldwide, the New Zealand falcon is endemic to this country. It is estimated that the population is likely between 5000 - 8000. Therefore that makes them (and Missy!) rarer than all species of Kiwi.

The story of how Missy came to be released at Clos Henri is shared by Holly Turner, manager at the Kararea Falcon Trust: 

"She has a bit of an interesting story and this release is a little unusual to what we normally do. Missy hatched at Wingspan (Rotorua) to a falcon pair originally from the South Island really late in the breeding season 2022. By the time she was old enough to be sent down to us, she "missed her flip" to be hack-released into the wild as a juvenile: it was too close to winter for her to survive with minimal prey. The decision, made at the time by Diana, was for Missy to join our restoration breeding programme once she reached sexual maturity. 

However, we have since found that she lives up to her name and is a right little-miss! After x2 failed dating attempts, Missy proved that she is too aggressive and has such a high "prey drive" and desire to hunt to safely pair with the other male kārearea in our programme - many of whom have disabilities and are easy targets. We advocated to DOC that with a good release site and supplemental feeding platforms to enable a soft-release/initial support, there is no reason why Missy, a very feisty and able bodied falcon, could not thrive out in the wild like originally planned for her back in 2022. We are stoked to now have formal permission! 

We are thrilled to have Clos Henri on board as the release site for Missy, the supplemental feeders with their network of raptor platforms, and generously as new Community Sponsors of the Kārearea Falcon Trust. Thank you for this support! "

So, on October 6th, we organised a freedom flight for Missy as she was released on our Estate. As Holly opened the door to the cage, Missy took no chances and barrelled out of the cage in the blink of an eye! Missy's silver sponsor, local artist Gareth Barlow, was able to snap a few pictures of her release. 

Our team now spends every chance staring up into the sky in the hopes of a glimpse of this beautiful raptor! 

As with all Trusts, the Kararea Falcon Trust relies on community support to continue to ensure the care and rehabilitation for all their falcons. We highly encourage you to consider donating, becoming a Falcon Sponsor or browsing their merchandise to support the trust here: https://kareareafalcon.org/donate