All the weather prophets are predicting a severe El Nino event over the coming summer.
Tony, our weka guru at the Department of Conservation, has sent us the message below :-
We are about to enter another very problematic period for the Kawakawa Bay weka population if the El Nino is as bad as 1997-1998. I hope that we can hold the adults so I will not be all that concerned if we have very limited breeding this spring. We really do not want the birds over-taxed with breeding if they cannot find food for the chicks and more importantly to recover themselves.
What does it mean for our wildlife? And our weka? The bush will be drier, the leaf litter will have fewer little bugs, and the streams where they normally find water will be lower or even dry. Some plants will produce smaller and fewer fruits. All our birds will be hungry!
What can we do here in the Bay if the dry period happens and is as intense as forecast?
Water, water, water!! 
Not just water for the weka but for all our birds.
Fill up your bird baths! Or put out bowls of water. Ice-cream containers work well. On the ground of course if you are in the weka area.
How to feed the weka – a few tips
If you have a compost bin, open it up. The weka will forage for food scraps and also the worms and other invertebrates that live there. Any food you give a weka should be in small pieces. Simple foods includes dry rolled oats, whole kernel corn, small pieces of WET wholegrain bread, apple cores, grated cheese, a chicken carcass or even corn cobs after you have eaten the corn.Weka are omnivorous!
For tui and silvereyes you can put out half an orange; it will disappear in hours! Once you get them coming to the fruit you can wean them onto a dish of sugar water – I tablespoon of brown sugar to a cup of warm water. But do remember to keep all bird feeders out of the reach of cats!
DO NOT FEED MOULDY BREAD TO ANY BIRDS!!! It will give them a disease called aspergillosis! Don’t ask!!