Tara iti

Tara iti is the Māori name for the New Zealand fairy tern. It is the smallest tern that breeds in New Zealand, weighing about 70 g, roughly the size of a blackbird. It has a yellow bill and orange legs, which set it apart from the more common white-fronted tern. Each bird wears its own combination of coloured leg bands, so rangers can tell them apart.

DOC lists tara iti as Threatened - Nationally Critical, its highest threat category, and calls it the rarest breeding bird in Aotearoa. The NZ Nature Fund notes that tara iti breed nowhere else on Earth.

Very few, but the numbers are rising.

• 1983: the population fell to an all-time low of 3 to 4 breeding pairs at Mangawhai and Papakānui Spit. Protection began, with site rangers and fenced nests.
• July 2025: DOC counted fewer than 40 adults and only 10 known breeding females.
• June 2025: after the 2024-25 season, monitoring recorded 50 individual birds: 28 adults, 9 sub-adults and 13 fledglings. That season produced 19 fledglings.
• March 2026: DOC's census found about a 15 per cent increase, with nearly 50 birds over a year old in the wild and 11 breeding pairs.

DOC programme lead Ayla Wiles said: "What we're seeing is a net increase off the back of two good seasons." DOC expects the potential for 15 or more pairs in the next breeding season.

Figures differ a little between sources because they count different things (adults only, all birds, or birds over a year old) at different times. Each figure here carries its date.

Tara iti now live only in the lower half of the Northland peninsula. DOC says breeding is limited to four regular sites: Waipū, Mangawhai, Pākiri and Papakānui on the South Kaipara Head. The Te Ārai and Poutawa rivermouths are used now and then.

Mangawhai matters a great deal. In the 2024-25 season, DOC said almost all tara iti nesting happened at Mangawhai Heads. In December 2024 the NZ Fairy Tern Charitable Trust reported that Mangawhai had 10 chicks from 6 nests, and by January 2025 Mangawhai fledglings were exploring the estuary with their parents.

The birds nest in a small scrape in open sand. Nests are often kilometres apart, not in colonies.

The breeding season runs from about September to February, and DOC staff and volunteers watch nests around the clock during that time. The Trust says the season usually starts in early October. Eggs take about 23 days to hatch, and chicks can fly about three weeks later.

That makes summer, the busiest time on Mangawhai's beaches, the most delicate time for tara iti.

DOC lists the main threats on its tara iti page:

• Predators. Rats, cats, hedgehogs and mustelids eat eggs and chicks. In the 2025-26 season Mangawhai had a rat problem, and harrier hawks (kāhu) also took chicks.
• Weather. High tides, floods and storms wash nests away.
• Lost habitat. Housing, pine plantations and farming have degraded the dunes.
• People and dogs. Drones, dog walking, vehicles and horses on the beach, and bonfires scare birds off their nests.

In its April 2026 update, DOC said that during the season members of the public and dogs entered protected areas.

Tara iti eggs are sand-coloured with small dark spots, so they blend in with the beach. DOC ropes off nest sites and puts up signs so people know where not to walk. Nests are also sandbagged against storms and high tides, and predators are trapped around them.

The fences protect chicks as much as eggs. After people camped inside the fenced area at Mangawhai Heads in late December 2024, Joel Lauterbach, DOC Whangārei Operations Manager, explained the risk: "Chicks this young cannot fly, and if they freeze in response to human activity, they risk being trampled." A chick was killed this way in December 2008, when two people entered a breeding area.

His message to visitors was simple: "The fences and signs are there for a reason. We ask for everyone's help in respecting these boundaries."

DOC asks beach users to follow these steps:

• Stay out of fenced areas and use the marked walkways.
• Keep away from nests and chicks on beaches and estuaries.
• Keep dogs on a lead and out of reserves.
• Take bait, fish scraps and rubbish away, so you don't attract predators.
• Don't drive or cycle on the beach.
• If a bird swoops at you or seems hurt, move away quickly. You are probably near a nest.

If you fish, DOC also suggests burying fish remains, because they draw gulls to the area.

Dogs carry legal risk too. Kaipara District Council says owners can be prosecuted and fined up to $3,000 if their dog attacks protected wildlife.

Volunteer. The NZ Fairy Tern Charitable Trust works with DOC and Forest & Bird to improve breeding success. Each summer its volunteers help watch the birds at sites including Mangawhai and Waipū. See the volunteer page for how to get involved. DOC says volunteers record what the birds and chicks are doing and note threats nearby.

Donate to the Trust. The Trust is a registered charity, and it says donations are tax deductible. Details are on its donate page.

Donate to DOC's recovery programme. DOC takes donations through the NZ Nature Fund. The money goes towards new safe breeding sites, shell patch habitat, wider predator control and hand-rearing.

Spot one. Look for a tiny tern with a yellow bill, orange legs and coloured leg bands. Watch from outside the fence.

Tara iti are not the only birds that rely on this coast. The Shorebirds Trust says there are over 65 threatened and at-risk species in the Mangawhai-Pākiri area. One of the birds you are likely to see on northern beaches is the northern New Zealand dotterel (tūturiwhatu). DOC lists it as recovering, with more than 2,500 birds, and says it breeds on beaches along the North Island coastline. The same habits help it too: keep to the walkways and keep dogs on a lead.