The July storm that lashed the west coast of the North Island was responsible for the death of over half a million seabirds. This large scale death of birds is known as an avian wreck. Most of the birds were broad-billed prions that spend most of their time at sea.
Hugh Clifford, a Waikato based researcher for the Ornithological Society said that many birds were blown into central Waikato by the storm. His team documenting the aftermath in the Waikato region, said they had counted and identified more than 7000 dead birds on Kawhia, Raglan and Ruapuke beaches so far. “It’s absolutely monstrous, we have picked up around 600 per kilometre. Once everything has been counted I expect the number to be around 25,000 on the beaches west of the Waikato. There are birds being washed up all over the North Island.”
Last week Raglan’s Anexa Vet Clinic received around more than 160 birds that had died and 300 injured birds. Vet nurse Moana Robb said the prions were all very lethargic and most died within a week.
“It was quite heart wrenching – of all the birds brought in on Tuesday and Wednesday there were only 18 left by Sunday. On Monday only three remained.”