Sign In / Register
A heart-warming children’s book, Iti the Hungry Fairy Tern, was launched at Bennetts Café on October 23, telling the true story of how an orphaned chick helped spark a life-saving programme for one of New Zealand’s most endangered birds.
Written by Snells Beach author Monique Rowe and illustrated by Rebecca Gibbs, the book is sponsored by the Fairy Tern Charitable Trust and published by Mangawhai local David Ling, owner of Duck Creek Press. The launch was attended by trust volunteers, Department of Conservation (DoC) staff and invited guests.
Inspired by real events, the story begins when long-time trust volunteers Reg and Lynn Whale discovered a fairy tern nest while observing an area in Te Arai, which was typically occupied by dotterels.
Recognising its significance, volunteers were enlisted to monitor the nest along with DoC ranger Shelly Ogle. Within a week, two eggs hatched and the team continued to watch over the chicks for five weeks.
“Then I got a phone call asking how quickly could I get to Te Arai,” Shelley says. “We had a suspected abandonment.”
The chicks had wandered away from their nest and were found on the main beach. After coaxing them back to safety, Shelley went fishing.
“I’m pretty good at catching fish for these birds, but as a vegetarian, it’s not exactly my forte,” she jokes. “So I was sent to the weir with a butterfly net to catch as many small fish as possible.”
After several weeks, sadly one chick did not survive, leaving the team to care for the remaining fledgling. Despite efforts to encourage it to feed independently, using small pools set up in the sand, the chick remained reliant on hand-feeding.
Then came a breakthrough. While collecting shells to line the pools, Shelley noticed the chick following her down the beach and realised its attachment to her.
“I turned around and there he was, trailing me like we were on a hunt together,” she says. “I was advised I might be a little attached to him, too. From that day, we stopped hand-feeding and focused on coaxing him to fish on his own and we started to have some success.”
After learning to fend for himself, the chick eventually flew from the nest and was spotted five weeks later at Papakanui Spit, a breeding site at Kaipara Harbour’s South Head.
Although at the time it seemed like a lot of effort for one bird, DoC and volunteers learned invaluable information.
“It was a really big community raising this one little chick, but we had no idea the impact that bird was going to have,” she says. “The experience gave us the tools to start our captive rearing programme with Auckland Zoo. Much of what we now know about raising birds at that age came from that one chick. It’s been such a privilege to be part of this story.”
Author Monique Rowe, who has written six other children’s books, thanked everyone involved in the book for their support. She said she was inspired to write the story to raise awareness of the plight of the tara iti and the ongoing conservation efforts to protect the vulnerable birds.
“I wanted to make an impact somehow, so I did what I do best and that’s write,” she says. “Maybe this book will inspire young readers to become fairy tern fans, and even spark an interest in conservation. I hope this story continues to touch the lives of children and the birds.”
Profits from book sales will go to the Fairy Tern Charitable Trust and chair Heather Rogan expressed gratitude to all those involved in helping with the story, and their time and energy to care for the tara iti.
