What's bringing all the seabirds to Northland?

Two northern giant petrel are the latest seabirds to visit Northland this month as winds continue to bring their webbed feet to land.

Whangārei Native Bird Recovery Centre co-founder Robert Webb captured a pair of distressed northern giant petrels at Whangaumu Bay last week.

"Seabirds often need three to four days' rest and a bit of tucker."

Webb nursed the birds back to health and released them back to the sea with the help of Dive! Tutukaka.

"The petrel were costing me $25 each every day in fresh fish," Webb said of his hungry guests.

The big-bellied pair certainly aren't the first seabirds that have ended up on land instead of water this year in Northland.

Release day for the pair of giant petrels at Tutukaka. Photo / Robert Webb

So, what's bringing in the birds from the sea?

Webb pointed to the easterly winds Northland has been experiencing since Christmas.

"The wind upsets the birds and their sense of direction, a lot of that is because of the easterly."

Webb explained some seabirds require water to take flight, and without it become grounded and stuck on land.

"It brings in the oddball birds."

MetService meteorologist Andrew James said easterly winds were due to a low-pressure system.

"An area of low pressure formed north of Cape Reinga and tracked southeast. Lows in the Southern Hemisphere generate clockwise winds, so south of that low centre is a band of easterly winds."

The same system brought rain on Wednesday morning.

"The prevailing wind flow over Aotearoa is westerly, so this wind is the opposite direction to usual."

James said the system is expected to move south and a southwest flow develop over Northland through the weekend bringing partly cloudy weather and the odd shower, mainly in the west.

Webb said he'd also been called to help grounded shearwaters that landed on a farm after being disoriented by bright lights.

The weather also interrupts the food chain of the birds, sometimes causing starvation.

"If it's been too rough, the little fish [the birds eat] don't swim up.

"The birds then take risks looking for food."

Around 100 dead little blue penguins were found dumped along the DoC track in the Cable Bay area. Photo / Supplied

Webb thinks this might be the reason 100 dead blue penguins were found dumped along a Department of Conservation walking track in Cable Bay.

DoC Kaitaia operations manager Meirene Hardy-Birch urged everyone to leave dead penguins on the beach where they lie, to be washed out to sea or to decompose naturally.

"It is a seasonal event due to La Niña conditions. This brings increased sea-surface temperatures and onshore winds to New Zealand.

"These conditions can make it more challenging for kororā to nest and feed."

A rare white-tailed tropic bird was found barely alive, washing up in the waves on the shore in Onerahi earlier this year.

Whangārei Native Bird Recovery Centre co-founder Robert Webb cared for the juvenile white-tailed tropic bird until it was strong enough to be released. Photo / Michael Cunningham

It was the first live white-tailed tropic bird that Webb has come across in his 36 years of working at the centre, brought in by extreme weather events in the Pacific.

"We follow the weather because it gives us a gauge of what birds we can expect," Webb said.

Call 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468) immediately if you see anyone catching, harming or killing native wildlife.

Some facts about the northern giant petrel (Macronectes halli), also known as Hall's giant petrel

• Length: 80cm to 95cm.

• Weight: 3kg to 5kg.

• Location: Antarctic up through into subtropical regions of South America, Australia, New Zealand and Africa.

• Diet: Carrion, birds, krill, squid, fish.

• Appearance: Mottled grey or brown. Hooked bills. Body-configuration resembles that of the albatross, though petrels tend to be more hunch-backed.