Many CoastCare groups are involved in work to protect the shorebirds nesting on their local beach.

Threatened northern New Zealand dotterels / tūturiwhatu (Charadrius obscurus aquilonius) and variable oystercatchers /tōrea (Haematopus unicolor) which nest on many Northland beaches are very vulnerable, as they usually nest on the open beach and their breeding season coincides with the busy summer period. Threats include predation of eggs and chicks, disturbance and death from vehicles and dogs, as well as loss of habitat.

We support CoastCare groups, and other community members, to protect our threatened shorebirds by providing them with signage and fencing materials.

Groups provide us with information on shorebird breeding success and presence of other wildlife. We have been working to make this information more consistent and comprehensive by providing groups with forms and maps to record dated observations. We then collate this data to obtain a better understanding of shorebird presence and breeding success around Te Taitokerau.

We are working on a new Shorebirds page and interactive reporting solution for the CoastCare section of the NRC website. In the meantime, if you would like to report sightings of threatened shorebirds then please email us [email protected]

We have refreshed versions of our shorebird nesting signs available (see the image below). Contact us at [email protected] to request some.