"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.
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."
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.
