Cape Sanctuary is ready for 100 new residents thanks to volunteers clearing out Cook's petrel burrows on Saturday.
In March, Cook's petrel chicks will be brought to the predator-free sanctuary where they will fledge, and hopefully return in three or four years to establish a natural colony. Cape Sanctuary manager Tamsin
Ward-Smith said clearing out the burrows was a key part of preparing for the chicks' arrival.
"We are trying to re-establish sea-birds on the peninsula," she said. "The chicks are brought from Little Barrier Island about three weeks from fledging."
This was year two of a four-year project. Last year, 50 chicks were introduced and if they returned to the peninsula it would be the only natural colony that was not an island.
The birds were endangered so the colony would be significant, Mrs Ward-Smith said.
"It's the first time these birds have been transferred. This has not been attempted anywhere else," she said. "They normally go back to the site they fledged."
