Native tara iti boasts best breeding season in ten years

22:37 pm on 7 March 2022

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The tara iti or fairy tern is native to New Zealand and is the country's rarest breeding bird with fewer than 40 adult birds across Aotearoa. The problem is they they lay their eggs on a little 'scrape' directly on the sand and pull a few shells up around them which offers no protection. Shelley Ogle is a biodiversity ranger from DOC and has some good news for us... some new baby fairy terns have hatched.

Tara-iti (new Zealand Fairy Tern) Photo: Glenda Rees