Kororā Kōrero Updates - April 2026

Bird Survey Along the Coast

The New Plymouth District Council has just finished another survey of kororā/little penguins along the coastline from Urenui to Ōakura, and found plenty of penguin signs (feathers and footprints) as well as a few birds in residence!

These checks are vital as they help the Council ensure they aren’t disturbing any birds before they start any projects on the coastline.

These photos show Joanna from DabChickNZ and dog Miro checking for penguin burrows, as well as penguin feathers and footprints outside burrows.

The coastal walkway has Kororā/Little Blue roosting and nesting under the rockwalls – listen out for them!🐧

Colony Update

In the weeks of fine weather we had in February-March the kororā were out at sea. We hope the fishing was good. Only a couple of birds were seen on land at Ngā Motu during this period. With the bad weather last week many of them were back in their nest boxes. We now see many pairs beginning to prepare their homes for the winter.

These photos show screen shots from a video of a couple digging a very deep hole in one corner of their home - the better to have their nest and chicks away from our eyes, and snug below ground. Digging is exhausting work! (Scroll down here to view full video). Last year we could not read the microchips of the birds because they were so far down the tunnel.

Sadly, the variable weather this last summer, with heavy rain and storms at critical times when chicks needed food, seems to have impacted the survival of chicks, with the lowest rate of chick survival in 5 years, despite having more nesting birds.

The graph below shows our records for the last five breeding seasons.

Birds preparing their burrow

Keen on more more videos?

  • Keep an eye on our YouTube Live – the birds come and go. This camera  is live with a bird down the back of the box digging.

  • On a second nest cam there are two kororā who are home – see the video below of a clip of them purring to each other.

  • Click HERE to view a video of a moulting bird in January.