A dotterel chick that recently hatched on Auckland's Karekare Beach. Photo / Adrian Riegen
A dotterel chick that recently hatched on Auckland's Karekare Beach. Photo / Adrian Riegen
They're rarer than Kiwi and are hatching on beaches around Auckland - but the tiny dotterel chicks face an uphill battle to survive.
Beachgoers play a huge part in that life-and-death struggle, including by controlling dogs and staying clear of their nesting areas.
Dotterels nest and feed anywhere from the high tide mark to sand dunes or riverbeds. Parents will come away from their nest to try distract intruders, including curious dogs. This leaves eggs at risk of overheating, and chicks at threat from predators including gulls.
Community volunteer groups or "minders" have played an important role in that hard-fought recovery, by ensuring nests are protected, maintaining dotterel awareness signage and trapping predators.
A dotterel with its chick on Auckland's Karekare Beach. Photo / Adrian Riegen
There are about 25 beaches in greater Auckland where such groups work, on both East and West coasts. Dog-walkers should always check restrictions including where their pet must be leashed.
Last year a dotterel chick was born at Te Henga/Bethells Beach for the first time in nearly a decade. It survived, and six weeks ago three more chicks hatched. They didn't survive, possibly because the beach was too busy.
The same dotterel pair tried again (they'll do so up to five times a season if chicks die), and three more chicks hatched on Wednesday.
Two have survived so far and were spotted on the main beach this morning, said local Lesley Gardner, part of a team of dotterel minders who have been asking beachgoers to take extra care.
A dotterel family on the main beach of Te Henga (Bethells) this morning. Photo / Lesley Gardner
Dog-walkers in particular play a big part by keeping their pet away from the dotterels and obeying the council restrictions (the main beach south of the surf lifesaving tower is an on-leash area).
"The more concern we can get for the chicks, the more likely they are to survive," Gardner said. "They leave the nest immediately after they hatch, so they are super vulnerable because they are running in all directions looking for food - their parents don't feed them at all. So they don't have that shelter of the nest.
"Although your dog might not hurt the bird, if the adults are distracted by dogs coming along the beach they will try and lead the dogs away from the chicks, and that's when the black-backed gulls will swoop in, and with one gulp they just gulp down the chicks. They are just so opportunistic."
A dotterel nest in the sand dunes at Te Henga (Bethells Beach). Photo / Lesley Gardner
A dangerous summer stretches ahead for the dotterels, but their tentative return has added some magic to places like Te Henga.
"They are rarer than kiwi, and yet you can see them on the beach virtually everyday here," said Gardner. "Which I think is pretty special."
