Kōrero: Gulls, terns and skuas

Fairy tern chick and egg

Fairy tern chick and egg

Well camouflaged among shells and sand, a tiny fairy tern chick sits beside an egg (centre). They are so small, they would barely count as a canapé for a hungry predator, yet stoats, rats, hedgehogs, cats, dogs and gulls pick them out. New Zealand’s subspecies of fairy tern is extremely endangered. The Department of Conservation (DOC) is attempting to save them from extinction by protecting them from predators and vehicles. Just four pairs were breeding in 1996, but in 2015 DOC estimated that there were now about 12 breeding pairs.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Department of Conservation
Reference: 10026326
Photograph by G. R. Parrish

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Te tuhi tohutoro mō tēnei whārangi:

Gerard Hutching, 'Gulls, terns and skuas - Caspian and fairy terns', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/photograph/6130/fairy-tern-chick-and-egg (accessed 29 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Gerard Hutching, i tāngia i te 12 Jun 2006, reviewed & revised 17 Feb 2015