More Room to Grow! Tara Iti Recovery Opens Door to New Breeding Sites
Breeding season is underway for tara iti, our most endangered bird, and as population numbers slowly climb, the Department of Conservation (DOC) is assessing where these tiny taonga could nest next.
The 2025/2026 breeding season brought the tara iti population to 45 birds aged one year or older - another small but hard-won step forward for a species that has spent decades on the brink of extinction.
More birds means more pressure on the handful of sites tara iti currently call home. DOC is now assessing potential new breeding sites at Ruakākā, Northern Waipū and Ōmaha.
The northern side of the Ruakākā river mouth was chosen for habitat enhancement this year, following recent sightings of tara iti at the site. Patuharakeke and Bream Bay Coastal Care helped DOC to set up a shell patch and step up predator trapping in the area, laying the groundwork for tara iti to nest there safely.
Once widespread around North Island coasts, the tara iti hit their lowest recorded point in 1983, when only three to four breeding pairs remained in the wild- pushed there by habitat loss and predation from introduced predators.
More than 40 years on, tara iti are still fighting. They now live on the narrow stretch of beach between Auckland and Whangārei, a coastline under constant pressure from sand mining and human activity. Remarkably, 78% of the entire species' breeding population feeds along this single stretch of coast, which makes protecting it non-negotiable. Safeguarding their habitats will also be key to giving this precious taonga the future it deserves.
Every egg and every chick still matters enormously to a species this small.
You can help support our awareness campaign to help keep nesting seabirds safe over summer by donating to our Help Cute Chicks campaign.
Every year on our beaches, in our forests and rivers, native birds are hatching. These places are their homes and their nurseries. There are many threats to these precious taonga, like wild and domestic cats, and dogs off-leash.
When you sponsor a cute chick, you will receive an official certificate and a link to a flyer about you can help keep cute chicks safe.
Your donation will go towards raising awareness of how people can make a difference, so together we can ensure greater protections for some of our most vulnerable, native chicks.
