The lovebirds nesting on Mount main beach have had their feathers ruffled and local bird enthusiasts are concerned for their safety.

Rosalie Crawford, who runs the birds' Facebook page, says last Friday, the morning of the 7.1 earthquake off the East Cape, she saw Harry and Sophie weren't their usual selves.

Harry and Sophie stroll along the beach together. Photo: Cate Duff.

'One of the birds was so agitated, squawking and running back and forth. I moved quietly closer to get a photo but it got more agitated and moved away.

'So I stopped and just sat and watched them and wondered if people had been chasing them.”

Rosalie says she left when she heard of the civil defense warning and wondered if the bird was agitated because it had 'felt the earthquake”.

The next day she received a message through the Facebook page from a concerned local, who was worried about the birds' safety around people and children.

'I've been visiting the Mount for last few years and watching this pair,” Debby Davies posted on the Facebook page.

Debby visited the beach and says she had to explain to two sets of parents why they should not allow their children to chase the birds.

'I explained to two separate sets of parents not from the region why they shouldn't be allowing their kids to run at the birds and chase them. While talking to one father his kid actually threw a something at one,” she says.

Debby suggested getting a few signs made up to inform beachgoers of safe and respectful bird etiquette.

'I do my best to educate people but sometimes they look straight through me. Some people had their dog off leash and it ran at them and I had to explain that calling it back was a bit too late, it had already stressed them out.”

For the past two years the two oystercatchers nested and raised their babies on the beach, and have returned this year for the same reason.

'Hopefully they will settle down,” says Rosalie.