Special Locals

Who: Keiko Hashiba (Terrestrial Ecologist) and Bernie Kelly (DOC/Birds NZ – Hawkes Bay rep)
Where: Please email: greendrinks@environmentcentre.org.nz for specific meeting spot.
When: Wednesday 21st April. 5.30 pm start. Allow for 1.5 hours. Rain date: 28th April

Attendees: Maximum 25 attendees. If you RSVP but then cannot come please advise day before i.e. email greendrinks address.

BYO: Bring binoculars (if you have them), warm jacket and wear comfortable footwear as we will be walking around on gravel and grasslands.

Hawkes Bay is very fortunate to have one of the world’s most threatened bird species nesting on Pandora spit and estuary. With a nationally critical status, the black-billed gull numbers declined massively from the 1970s and numbers sadly have not increased.

Major threats to the black-billed gulls include introduced predators and human disturbance. People can help black-billed gulls to survive by leaving nesting colonies alone during the breeding season - between September and January.

“They’re really vulnerable because when the parents get food or when they’re threatened they fly up and leave the eggs and chicks exposed to the cold, hot, and other threats. Because of this it’s important to keep a respectful and very safe distance” comments Terrestrial Ecologist, Keiko Hashiba.

Besides learning more about the black-billed gulls the talk on 21st April will cover:

- Other birds – banded dotterel, NZ dotterel, crakes and bitterns and other migratory birds
- On habitats - estuarine vegetation (turf community)
- Issues – weeds, predators