Environment – The chip thief

Sitting on the beach staring out to sea eating hot chips can be hazardous in Kaikoura, where I’ve spent some time over summer and visit often. But it’s hazardous, not just for me and the hot chips, but also for the chip thief, the red-billed gull/tarāpunga, who will come down and steal the chips between the paper wrapping and the lips.

Last year, a tarāpunga was taken to the South Island Wildlife Hospital with a hole in his throat, probably caused by a hot chip that burnt through his oesophagus and neck. Yesterday, I saw a tarāpunga with a missing foot, most likely from entanglement in fishing line. Kaikoura conservationists reckon 10 tarāpunga are being killed each week by cats. And around 20, including two juveniles, were killed by a dog or dogs in one event in March last year.

Tarāpunga are a protected native bird, taken for granted because they’re “the everywhere bird”. They’re the most commonly seen of New Zealand’s three gull species, often encountered at rubbish dumps, fish factories and meat works, and at the beachside sites of hot chips, especially in Kaikoura.

Tarāpunga at Kaikoura and other colonies disperse over autumn and early winter, going as far as Invercargill and Auckland. Not so different from my movements actually, though I’ve been travelling the coast raising awareness for Hector’s dolphins, yet another threatened species. One of the Kaikoura birds was even found in Australia.

Tarāpunga egg laying can extend from September to January, and they are monogamous (sometimes even in same sex pairs). The longest recorded tarāpunga marriage is 17 years. Both parents make their nests from grass, seaweed and twigs. They normally lay two eggs, sometimes three, and the eggs hatch after three or so weeks, with the chicks fledging around a month later.

Though the colony at Otago seems to be growing, the country’s largest colonies are in decline, including the one at Kaikoura, and it’s no wonder. As well as the threats from introduced cats, dogs and mustelids, climate change impacts also appear to be taking their toll, as the unavailability of krill can have a major impact on breeding success. The harsh coastal weather, storm surges, parasitic ticks and people’s mindless killing of them ‘for fun’ are also leading to the collapse of breeding colonies. Only one in 12 eggs survive to become an adult bird of two years old.

Tarāpunga are a beautiful bird, delicate, curious, softly feathered. Hot chips are not a great gull diet, nor for humans either. Some threats they face may be out of our personal control (imagine being eaten alive by ticks), but I didn’t eat any hot chips to inadvertently share with the local tarāpunga at Kaikoura this summer. And I’ll leave them to their krill. Locals really need to keep their cats and dogs under control for Kaikoura to continue being a haven for tarāpunga and many other special birds. Long live the chip thief, with a better diet!