It’s a small bird, but its fight for survival is huge. And this year, RealNZ are helping to spotlight the pukunui/southern New Zealand dotterel’s fight in the 2025 Bird of the Year campaign.
Over the last few years, a passionate team of supporters, led by DOC pukunui ranger “Dotterel Dan” Cocker, have pushed hard for pukunui awareness through the Bird of the Year platform. The goal is to raise awareness for the plight of these critically-endangered manu, to encourage advocacy and funding for their work protecting the pukunui breeding habitat on Rakiura Stewart Island.
“These birds were once found throughout the South Island, breeding in the Southern Alps. As of April 2025, there are estimated to be just 105 pukunui left in the world. Before last season, we’d been losing 40-50 adults each breeding season, so there’ve been massive declines in the last few years,” says Cocker.
“The situation is critical. They’re one of the most endangered birds in the country – they need all the help they can get.”
For 2025’s Bird of the Year campaign, South Island conservation and tourism business RealNZ is adding their voice to calls for the pukunui to take the title.
“Awareness is half the battle for the pukunui, in a long-term war to save this precious bird from extinction,” says RealNZ Chief Conservation Officer, Paul Norris. “It’s time to put the pukunui in the spotlight – they need it now more than ever.”
The theme for Bird of the Year 2025 is “20 years of ruffling feathers”, and the RealNZ team are rolling up their sleeves to challenge Aotearoa to get behind the pukunui.
“We see some of New Zealand’s biggest businesses getting behind Aotearoa’s most well-known manu. But we’re backing the little guy, asking voters to do the right thing and cast their vote for a bird they might not have heard of before… but needs their support the most,” says Norris.
RealNZ is also putting its money where its mouth is. From July to the end of September this year, the business is donating 1% of all online sales to the Pukunui Recovery Project. The business’ annual Conservation Ball will also raise funds for the project. RealNZ’s targeted fundraising goal is over $200,000.
Money raised by RealNZ goes straight to the Department of Conservation’s on-the-ground work to protect the pukunui’s breeding grounds from predators. The project is also supported by the New Zealand Nature Fund, where public can also make donations online for this taonga bird.
“Pukunui are really good breeders, so if we can protect them on the hilltops, the population should be able to bounce back. The last breeding season went really well – we were able to protect adults on the hills and have good chick survivorship,” says Cocker.
“It gives me a lot of hope that if we can get that right, these birds can be around for future generations.”
You can follow RealNZ’s Bird of the Year campaign on their Facebook and Instagram, and Dan’s team and their pukunui memes on the Pukunui Project Instagram.