Hope for rare bird

Hopes for the recovery of the world's rarest seabird - the taiko or magenta petrel - have been buoyed by a record crop of chicks.

The birds breed only in a small area of forest on the Chatham Islands.

This summer the highly endangered species - which numbers between 100 and 180 birds - produced seven chicks.

The previous record was six in 2000, and five hatched last year.

"It's fabulous news," said Department of Conservation spokeswoman Hilary Aikman.

"We are optimistic that we'll get more each year."

Though other native birds have smaller populations, none is as vulnerable as the taiko, which produces only one egg a year.

From a very young age the chicks are left alone in a burrow while the adults search for food - leaving them vulnerable to predators. There are now at least eight breeding pairs.

- NZPA

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