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Biography: Merton, Donald Vincent

Releasing black robins

Don Merton crouches in front of an old fallen tree, with an open carrying crate in front of him. A small black bird perches on the ground nearby.

Don Merton releasing the first Chatham Island black robin on South East Island, Chatham Islands, in January 1983. 

Using this item

Department of Conservation

by Nigel Miller

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How to cite this page

Alison Ballance. 'Merton, Donald Vincent', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2022. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/47676/releasing-black-robins (accessed 4 June 2026).