A call has gone out to help save a much loved native bird which lives among us but which many Waiheke residents and visitors may be unaware of.

Numbers of little blue penguins or kororā are falling on Waiheke and over the busy summer season face the additional threat of visiting pets. Karen Saunders of Native Bird Rescue has seen up close the effect of what she describes as “a man-made warzone” on a range of birdlife but says the little blue penguins suffer more than most because of where they live – sometimes in the most surprising places.

“So many people don’t realise that our kororā, our little blue penguins, live amongst us,” she says.

“If you live in rocky area near the coast, even high up, for example in Rocky Bay, Matiatia, Headlands, Oneroa, Sandy Bay, Enclosure Bay, Palm Beach or Onetangi, you are living in little blue penguin habitat. • James Belfield

Full story in this week’s Gulf News… Out Now

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