Kārearea enjoys the taste of tūturuatu on Mana Island

A hungry kārearea played a part in a failed attempt to establish a colony of critically endangered shore birds on Mana Island.

In February the Department of Conservation translocated 29 juvenile tūturuatu, or shore plovers, to Mana, off Porirua, however in July it was reported all 29 birds had vanished. Some were discovered on the mainland, recaptured and placed back on the island with more captive-bred plovers.

Last month it was discovered some had ended up as lunch for a resident kārearea or New Zealand falcon. Others would have been susceptible to being gobbled up by cats, rats and stoats on the mainland.