While still regularly seen along our coastlines, the oft-derided tarāpunga or red-billed gull is in serious decline.
They are now more threatened than the North Island brown kiwi.
One of our most iconic seabirds, the population of red-billed gulls is projected to drop 50 to 70 percent over the next 30 years.
They need our help. Please make a donation to help save our gulls.
Predators: on land, their main threat - as with so many of our native species - is that their nests are being decimated by introduced predators. Cats, ferrets, rats, and stoats prey on the defenceless eggs and chicks of red-billed gulls.
Plastic: It’s been estimated that 90% of all our seabirds ingest plastic at some point in their lives. And it is killing them. Red-billed gulls are no different. They eat plastic at sea and on shore, and it, sometimes terminally, affects their digestion, growth, and survival.
Starvation: Red-billed gulls, despite having a reputation for eating almost anything, prefer to eat krill and small fish, particularly during the summer breeding season. But their real prey is disappearing, resulting in many birds and chicks starving to death.