Tara iti sighting raises hopes of return to Northland breeding ground

Department of Conservation rangers and local hapū hope New Zealand's rarest bird is returning to a Northland beach, where it hasn't nested for almost 40 years.

Fewer than 50 tara iti - or fairy terns - are thought to survive, almost all of them nesting on a handful of east coast beaches between Pākiri, north of Auckland, and Waipū, in Northland's Bream Bay.

However, recent sightings of a young pair at Ruakākā, south of Whangārei, have sparked cautious excitement among conservationists.

DOC tara iti programme lead Ayla Wiles said the pair had been seen fishing in the Ruakākā Estuary and landing on a specially prepared shell patch near the river mouth, raising hopes the area could once again become a breeding site.

The last confirmed record of tara iti breeding at Ruakākā was in 1989, when David Lange was Prime Minister and the Berlin Wall was about to fall.

Wiles said it was an exciting sign of progress for the critically endangered shorebird.

"While it's still too early to know whether they'll nest here this season, seeing them using the shell patch is a really promising first step."

The female was a two-year-old reared at Auckland Zoo.

DOC worked with Auckland Zoo on the tara iti recovery programme, hand-rearing chicks and releasing them into the wild to boost the wild population, Wiles said.

Breeding this season was far from certain, given the pair's age and inexperience, but the team would watch them closely.

Wiles said the sightings came before what could be a record breeding season. Up to 15 breeding pairs were expected, the most for many years.

The growing number of breeding pairs was creating opportunities for tara iti to expand into areas beyond their established breeding sites.

'Very much a team effort'

If the critically endangered shorebirds breed at Ruakākā this season, it could be thanks to the local community's efforts.

During winter, DOC went looking for potential new tara iti breeding sites at Ruakākā, northern Waipū and Ōmaha.

When the northern side of the Ruakākā River mouth was chosen as the most suitable site, local hapū Patuharakeke helped prepare a shell-covered nesting area and Bream Bay Coastal Care expanded its predator-trapping network in the area.

Juliane Chetham of Patuharakeke Te Iwi Trust Board said the hapū had an environmental mission to revitalise the mauri (life force) of taonga tuku iho (treasures handed down from past generations).

"The return of tara iti to Ruakākā is a very significant and special tohu, or indicator, that together we can improve the health of our taiao [environment], so that these species can survive and thrive in our rohe."

Shell patches provided suitable nesting habitat for tara iti, which laid their well-camouflaged eggs directly onto the ground.

Wiles said protecting tara iti was very much a team effort.

Volunteers from Waipū About Tern and Bream Bay Coastal Care had monitored activity at Ruakākā in the lead-up to the breeding season. They would be supported by DOC's tara iti ranger team as the season progressed.

"We're fortunate to have passionate iwi, community groups and volunteers, who put an enormous amount of time and energy into helping these birds."

"Ruakākā is a great example of why it's important to prepare suitable habitat ahead of time, so these birds have somewhere safe to settle. It really shows what can be achieved, when everyone works together towards a shared goal."

Tara iti currently breed only at Waipū Sandspit, Mangawhai Sandspit, Pākiri Beach, Papakānui Spit (in the Kaipara Harbour, the only west coast site) and occasionally at the Te Ārai Stream mouth.

The birds lay their eggs in shallow scrapes in shell and sand banks, with nests often kilometres apart.

Their habit of nesting close to the water on low-lying ground makes their eggs ad chicks highly vulnerable to storms, extreme tides, human disturbance, 4WD vehicles, dogs and introduced predators such as rats, cats and stoats.