The birdlife of Ohiwa Harbour will be the topic of conversation at this week's Bird Bay of Plenty's meeting.

Bird BOP members Meg and Mike Collins will be discussing the birds of Ohiwa Harbour and the work the pair have done around the harbour for the last 12 years.

Bird Bay of Plenty members Meg and Mike Collins will be presenting a talk about birds in the Ohiwa Harbour this Wednesday. Photo: Supplied

The harbour itself covers around 26km2 and has a number of islands within it. Due to the harbour's variety of both resident and migratory shorebirds it makes it a popular destination for bird watching throughout the year.

Through the Ohiwa Reserves Care Group, both Meg and Mike have focused their efforts on the Ohiwa Spit and Domain as well as Whangakopikopiko, or Tern Island, a shell bank within the harbour.

Meg also organises the Birds New Zealand shore bird count every six months. Monitoring of this kind has been done since 1986 and produces data showing the benefits of predator controls over the years.

Along with shorebirds, there is also a sizeable population of North Island weka that have spread from Motu area to the Ohiwa surrounds but locals have learned to live with wekas. They are known to investigate and interfere with anything new. Changes have had to be made to bait stations and traps to compensate for this.

The talk takes place on Wednesday, June 8 from 7pm at the Tauranga Arts and Craft Centre on Elizabeth Street. Anyone is welcome and a gold coin donation is appreciated.

Birds BOP is the region's branch of Birds New Zealand society. It's all about enjoying and studying birds. Birds BOP holds events like evening meeting such as this one and field trips.

If you are interested in birds, you can pop along to the meeting or, for more information, email [email protected]