Bird minders guard New Zealand dotterel

Forest and Bird, Volume 22, Issue 4, 1 November 1991, Page 8

Bird minders guard New Zealand dotterel

SPECIAL "BIRD MINDERS" have been on hand at Omaha Spit and Stillwater, in North Auckland, since September, protecting threatened New Zealand dotterel while they breed. Local residents and volunteers from Mid-North and Hibiscus Coast branches and the Auckland Environment Centre have been spending weekends at these beaches giving out information leaflets and explaining the need for temporary restrictions on the use of these areas. The total population of NZ dotterels has been declining since the turn of the century. Coastal subdivisions, dogs, vehicles and predators have caused numbers in the upper North Island to drop to only 1400. There are 13 pairs of

NZ dotterel nesting at Omaha Spit and five pairs at Stillwater and the future of these rare birds lies in their ability to breed without disturbance. Minders have been asking people to stay outside fenced areas and to keep dogs on a leash so that the dotterels can nest in peace. If the adults are disturbed from their nests, the eggs grow cold and the embryo chicks die. The success of the bird minding programme will be known in December as hopefully some of the adults will have raised chicks.