An ambitious plan to restore the flora and fauna of the eastern Bay of Islands took another leap forward on Saturday with the release of 40 popokotea (whiteheads), a gregarious, noisy little bird absent from Northland for more than a century, and 40 tieke (saddlebacks), a rare black-and-orange bird about the size of a tui.
![Lynette-Jovan Te Tai of Russell releases the first of the popokotea (whiteheads). Photo / Peter de Graaf](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/LJVB7VJ6O5TG7YM7K4NMOPZ2S4.jpg?auth=a1872441d22c4b1ea64f4ba1fbb64afaf3e04b1c3d4576d5402fb690a224e8ed&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)
![Project Island Song co-ordinator Richard Robbins, left, with MPs Peeni Henare and Winston Peters. Photo / Peter de Graaf](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/5C3SBNC3AKMDCAIAKYHVHZNXO4.jpg?auth=aff660f80bafc062fe6a8287c0e2500abe9b2e5a9b678e8c7e62089d20f542d1&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)
The birds were caught on Tiritiri Matangi in the Hauraki Gulf and transported to their new homes - Motuarohia Island for the popokotea, Moturua and Urupukapuka for the tieke - by helicopter. Waiting to welcome them were conservation workers, volunteers, schoolchildren, hapu members, three Members of Parliament and a couple of TV stars.
![DoC rangers Ana Mules and Andrew Blanshard carry boxes - each containing five popokotea from the chopper. Photo / Peter de Graaf](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/MXB5VK63QIENGDQSZQC5K2KTOE.jpg?auth=feccb1ef4494884143c71723cb1234e9a25b05a753392f4ae47fa2215472c346&width=16&height=12&quality=70&smart=true)