Welcome to the home page for New Zealand's rarest and most critically threatened endemic bird, the New Zealand fairy tern.
Known to Maori as Tara-iti, most New Zealanders will never get to see a New Zealand fairy tern, but those who do rapidly fall in love with these gutsy little birds who will swoop and poop on you if you get too close to their young or their nests.
First chick of the 2016-17 season
These birds need your help! Please join us.
You can help save this bird by joining our trust, becoming an NZ fairy tern volunteer with DOC and letting others know you care about these birds.
Facts about the New Zealand fairy tern
Threats to NZFT survival
The Waipu family 2015-16 season. Both chicks fledged successfully
About the New Zealand Fairy Tern Charitable Trust (NZFTCT)
The possibility of this bird becoming extinct in the next 50 years is high without your help.
Become a member
and to join us:
Download our membership form (49kb PDF)
For further NZFT reading - NZFT (Sterna nereis davisae) Recovery Plan, 2005-15. Katrina Hansen - Threatened Species Recovery Plan 57.
Volunteers needed now!
Volunteers are urgently needed to help save our most threatened endemic bird, the New Zealand fairy tern (Tara-iti). Each summer dedicated volunteers help DoC by keeping an eye on these tiny, plucky birds. There are currently abut 40 birds and by watching out for them during the nesting season, the numbers could increase.
It is very rewarding to observe courtship, sitting on eggs and the hatching of the bumble bee sized chicks and eventually watching them learning to fly.
Introductory workshops are held where you meet other volunteers.
Jane Vaughan Volunteer Coordinator Ph 09-431-5828