Wardens to protect endangered terns

KHAKI-CLAD "fairy godmothers" will be patrolling Northland beaches this summer protecting one of the country's most endangered birds during their breeding season.

Alice Fairs and Mailee Stanbury have a very important role this summer - they're the Department of Conservation's (DOC) fairy tern wardens tasked with protecting New Zealand's most critically endangered bird.

Once widespread across the country, the fairy tern, or tara-iti, came close to extinction in the 1980s, when numbers dropped to an all-time low of three to four breeding pairs. DOC stepped in with a protection plan and there are now 40 fairy terns, including 10 breeding pairs. They are confined to the lower half of Northland and breeding is limited to four wildlife refuges in Waipu, Mangawhai, Pakiri and Papakanui.

As wardens the pair will work tirelessly to protect the birds from predators, human disturbance and the elements during the summer breeding season. A key part of their role is educating beach-goers about just how vulnerable the birds are. Fairy terns build their nests in "scrapes" among shell-strewn patches along the sand and can be almost impossible to see.

"One of the greatest challenges of working with these birds is educating people not to ride motorbikes or walk their dogs on the beaches where the fairy terns are breeding," Mangawhai warden Ms Stanbury said.

"Even the sight of a dog on a lead can scare the birds and cause them to abandon their nests. We've also had instances where people have stood on chicks. Fairy tern nest sites are cordoned off by fencing tape and we're trying to educate people how important it is not to cross any of these barriers."

The wardens' job also includes protecting vulnerable nests from sand and rain storms, banding each bird so they can be identified and responding if a parent bird is unable to look after the eggs or chicks adequately. Abandoned fairy tern eggs are taken to Auckland Zoo where they are incubated in the same facility that rears Kiwi eggs.

In Mangawhai five scrapes have produced two surviving chicks so far this season and there is a new scrape with an egg in it, which Ms Stanbury is monitoring closely.

The breeding season started early at Waipu this year, with the first egg being laid on October 25 and a second a few days later. The eggs hatched in November and the chicks are now flying distances of up to 200m. Waipu fairy tern warden Ms Fairs said the birds were intriguing to observe.