Whangarei Native Bird Recovery Centre
We had a Morepork come in today who was covered in the seeds and sap of the dreaded Parapara tree or ‘bird catching tree’ as it’s also called, and for a good reason!
In spring and summer, the parapara develops a glue- like coating on its seeds, designed to aid in seed dispersal, but remains sticky for months, trapping birds.
Why do birds get caught?
Birds are attracted to the seeds, possibly because of bugs stuck in the seed pods, and become entangled when they try to feed or fly.
Where it grows?
It’s typically found on islands and coastal areas of the North Island, and is present in Auckland.
We use a citrus based solvent here at the centre which is safe on the birds and won’t cause any irritation like some other common things used at home would. Please - If you find a bird that has been caught in a Parapara tree, bring it up to us rather than trying to remove them yourself
The look in its eyes! It’s like it wants to bite the humans for daring to touch it, but knows it shouldn’t because they just freed it, and it is frustrated with this knowledge.
Amazing work from the people at the recovery centre, and I hope the owl make a speedy return to the wild.
This was an older story (April 2025) but I didn’t see any updates. This was probably a tense procedure for everyone, since they don’t want to damage any feathers. If they had to regrow, little Ru could be stuck there for months until they molted.
At my clinic, they said the glue traps weren’t really that bad since they had something that worked really well de-sticking animals rapidly and painlessly, so hopefully they have something that works equally well on tree-goop!