A petrel that's not even native to these shores is threatening to jostle Northland's fairy tern off its fragile perch in the quest to find New Zealand's most popular seabird.
The Fiji petrel has flown into equal place alongside the New Zealand fairy tern, thought to be the world's most endangered seabird, in the Forest and Bird popularity contest for Seabird of the Year, which ends this week.
The lead in the poll has swung dramatically between the two species over the last two weeks, and at midday on Monday, the fairy tern led the Fiji petrel by just 124 votes.
The petrel was included in the poll because Fiji is one of New Zealand's closest Pacific neighbours, and because only 50 Fiji petrels are thought to remain. The seabird is considered a tabu (taonga) in Fijian custom.
The fairy tern only breeds at four sites in Northland, and only 8-10 breeding pairs are thought to remain.