Endangered birds nesting in Auckland construction zone

Four native tūturiwhatu (dotterel) birds have been found by construction workers in a downtown Auckland construction zone, Stuff reveals. There are only about 2500 tūturiwhatu left in Aotearoa, and ecologist John Dowding said many tūturiwhatu in Auckland are being pushed from their beaches further inland. “We’ve taken away all the dunes, we built homes up to the beaches. There are cats and dogs everywhere,” he said. Tūturiwhatu often settle on construction sites, because it mimics wide open dunes and sands, Dowding said. “There really aren’t a lot of places for them.”