Shorebird chicks at Auckland’s popular Omaha Beach are dying before they reach adulthood due to beachgoers disturbing them in their sanctuary, a bird study group says. According to Stuff, a fenced off area on the northern end of the beach provides a safe place for northern New Zealand dotterels, variable oystercatchers, pied stilts, caspian terns and banded dotterels. But despite the predator proof, fenced sanctuary taking up a mere 500 metres of the 3-kilometre beach, some people have made the sanctuary “their own private beach”, with adult birds being scared away from feeding their young, and both eggs and chicks being squashed during games of cricket. People also walk their unleashed dogs in the sanctuary despite signs stating dogs are banned.
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