Successful breeding season for NZ's rarest bird, the tara iti/fairy tern

Friday, 4 March 2022

Watch Department of Conservation staff return critically endangered fairy tern eggs to their nest after a storm in Mangawhai during the 2020 breeding season.

It’s been the most successful breeding season in almost 10 years for New Zealand’s rarest bird, the tara iti/fairy tern, with eight chicks expected to leave the nest.

There are fewer than 40 adult tara iti across New Zealand, and despite massive efforts to increase the population, the rare bird has teetered on the brink of extinction since the 1970s.

The Department of Conservation (DOC) said the success of this season could be put down to ongoing management of the birds and their habitats, as well as strong support from volunteers, and “intensive management techniques” practised by Auckland Zoo.

Working with Auckland Zoo, the Department of Conservation have eight tara iti chicks ready to leave the nest.

Site management designed to prevent tara iti nesting on an exposed area in Northland’s Mangawhai this season resulted in fewer losses of eggs and chicks than in previous seasons.

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Two of the eight chicks were raised at Auckland Zoo.

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It’s been the best breeding season in almost 10 years for New Zealand’s rarest bird.

“By deterring the tara iti from nesting in this undesirable location we’ve seen them move to more stable areas nearby which are well protected from mobile sand during storm events,” DOC biodiversity ranger Ayla Wiles said.

“Mangawhai is the most significant breeding site with six breeding pairs, and all bar one of these pairs successfully raised chicks this year.”

DOC has been busy developing a new recovery strategy for tara iti over the past few years, which includes improving the quality of tara iti habitats, predator control, artificial incubation of eggs, and seasonal monitoring.

“Tara iti often make their nests on shell and sand mounds above spring high tide, which leaves them vulnerable to predators, disturbance by people, 4WD vehicles and dogs,” DOC said in a statement.

“Since September 2021, a dedicated team of six tara iti DOC rangers and numerous community volunteers have been busy trapping for predators, fencing off nesting sites, and preventing nesting birds from being disturbed by humans.”

DOC and Auckland Zoo have also been working together over the past two years to trial raising the rare bird at the zoo.

The team artificially incubated and hatched the eggs, then hand-reared the chicks.

Despite the lack of knowledge and experience of staff using these techniques, one chick was successfully reared and released during the 2020-2021 season.

Building on this successful start, Auckland Zoo repeated the programme this breeding season, with five chicks transferred to a specially designed release aviary, on a beach where the birds are found naturally.

Two of these five were released, making up 20 per cent of the eight birds expected to leave the nest.

“In the aviary, the birds have the opportunity to practice flying and foraging for fish before being released to join the few remaining wild terns,” DOC said.

“If these trials prove to be successful, then captive rearing may become an invaluable tool for improving numbers of tara iti in Aotearoa-New Zealand.”