Up to 18 takahē are being moved today to a new home in the Kahurangi National Park.
A young wild takahē in Fiordland's Takahē Valley. Photo: RNZ / Alison Ballance
The Department of Conservation says the native birds are being flown on a special charter flight from Queenstown to Nelson, and then by helicopter for release into the park in northwest Nelson.
A DoC spokesperson said the takahē came from a wild population in the Murchison Mountains in Southland - where the species was rediscovered 70 years ago.
Plans to shift the birds last winter were delayed by bad weather and the birds' breeding season.
DoC said today's release was a significant step for the recovery of takahē, which now number more than 300, with the population growing at 10 percent a year.
It has moved two steps further away from extinction in the species threats classification.
The South Island takahē is a relic of the flightless, plant-eating bird that once ranged abundantly throughout New Zealand.