By Krysia Nowak, Communications and Media Advisor
The chick is tiny. A ball of fluff on legs, weighing as much as a matchbox – if you’re lucky. She’s* difficult to see, with her speckled sand-coloured feathers blending perfectly with the beach. Camouflage is her natural defence – well, that, and parents who will dramatically feign injury to draw predators away from her. It’s a tight, protective family unit. A threatened beach-nesting bird, they are relatively safe in carefully cordoned-off nesting areas, complete with signs.
Further down the beach, vehicles weighing upward of 3 tonnes race across the sand, the drivers goading each other on. They’re breaching local by-laws, sure, but that’s far from the worst of it. Unable to see nests from the height of their vehicles, the drivers plough through the cordons and into the protected nesting area.
The chick has no defence. Her parents desperately try to distract the massive machines with their ‘broken wing’ act. The vehicles are moving too fast. They’re either oblivious to the birds, or they simply don’t care.
A ranger records the chick deaths, and a breeding failure for the parents.
This is a dramatization based on true events – things like this happen across New Zealand every single breeding season. The species might differ, from tūturiwhatu/ New Zealand dotterel, to tara iti/fairy tern, to annual migrants visiting from distant lands, but the story is the same.
Aotearoa New Zealand is the seabird capital of the world, and it’s a heritage humans are driving all over.
Rewind the clock to a time when there were more birds, more space, and fewer humans. Back in the 1970s, a mere 3 million people occupied our island nation. Some would drive on beaches, which absolutely impacted on shore-nesting birds, but it was a smaller number of people, so a smaller impact.
Fast forward to present day Aotearoa, with more than 5 million people, an increasing number of four-wheel drive owners, and some with an apparent sense of entitlement to drive over anything they can. The birds don’t stand a chance.
No matter that these birds are facing existential threats from other human impacts, including introduced pests and climate change. No matter how small the area preserved for them on the beach. Some people Just. Don’t. Care.
It’s a hard pill to swallow for community groups dedicated to shorebird protection, for rangers monitoring individual nest outcomes, and for all New Zealanders who value the unique biodiversity of our nation. But it’s not a lost cause. You can help by making a commitment to Aotearoa this summer to be prepared, protect nature, and make sure everyone can enjoy this beautiful place into the future. If you see vehicles driving through protected bird areas, or obvious congregations of birds, there are several things you can do:
• Be safe in the first instance. If people are behaving dangerously, call the police.
• Call 0800 DOC HOT to report the behaviour.
• If it is safe to do so, take photos and/or videos of the vehicles, preferably with licence plates visible.
Learn more ways to protect our shorebirds
Get set for summer – protect nature in your adventures
*Sex of the chick is irrelevant, but we chose one for the story to make the chick seem more relatable.
