This dotterel was killed by a four-wheeler that was driven through her breeding area at Gooches beach. Photo: Supplied
A South Island community is outraged after a four-wheeler drove through a coastal native bird breeding site, killing birds and chicks.
Now, those studying the banded dotterel in Kaikōura are calling for motorbikes to be banned on beaches.
Study lead Ailsa McGilvary-Howard said she found tyre tracks through a breeding area at Gooches beach, near Kaikōura township, when she went to check on a hatch last week.
She said it was heartbreaking, as a dotterel found dead was one the study had followed for years .
"I know, with watching the nest and seeing the dates and everything, I know when she's going to hatch. So I went down to deal with recording the hatch and signing it off, and what I saw ... she'd been killed, during the hatch."
There are only about 50,000 banded dotterels or pohowera throughout Aotearoa, and their population is declining.
Tyre tracks left on the beach after the incident. Photo: Supplied
McGilvary-Howard said the community had been outraged by the death of the birds.
"The thing that completely blew me away was the profound amount of love there is for the species. It was almost absolute outrage.
"There was a huge outpouring within our community - in the wider New Zealand community and the bird community, there was an outpouring."
A post on social media has racked up hundreds of comments expressing that outrage.
"Awful. Dreadful for you, and for the species. Ban quadbikes on beaches," one comment said.
"It's simply not good enough to allow vehicles on beaches in this area," another said.
McGilvary-Howard said the breeding site was marked with signs, but the vehicle that drove though - likely a four-wheeler quad bike - must have done so at night, on a "joyride".
She said vehicles and bikes driving through coastal areas was "incredibly destructive on wildlife".
She wanted the rule that treated all beaches as roads unless specified otherwise to be changed to protect birds during their breeding season.
"This bird [the banded dotterel] is not everywhere. This bird is only in highly nutritious and selected places.
"We could have a rāhui that would specify behaviours in three months of the year, and the rest of the year, the beach is free for everything."