Conservation Minister Maggie Barry says a new breeding aviary for the world’s rarest wading bird, the black stilt, is about to be built in the Mackenzie Basin near Twizel.
“DOC’s captive breeding programme is a key component in the bird’s recovery and the department had been working intensively hatching and rearing chicks in aviaries before releasing them in to the wild. A snow storm two years ago destroyed one aviary and seriously damaged another,” Ms Barry says.