Department of Conservation is attempting to repopulate Mayor Island, Tuhua, with a rare bird which became extinct in the North Island in the late 1800s.
There are about 100-200 orange-fronted parakeet, kakariki, left in the wild in New Zealand and these are all in the South Island.

The orange fronted parakeet.

This project began in December when the first delivery of birds courtesy of South Island iwi Ngai Tahu arrived, but this was added to this week when 10 more birds were delivered.
Tuhua Trust Board Chair Magda Williams says Mayor Island is the perfect location for this project.
'Given its predator free status, Tuhua is a perfect habitat for the kakariki and we believe that, like the other endangered species on the island, they will thrive,” says Magda.
Having the birds come to Tuhua is particularly beneficial for people in the Bay of Plenty as in the foreseeable future it will be the only place in the North Island where these birds can be seen in the wild.
Mayor Island is becoming quite the nature reserve with a wide range of birds being repopulated there.
'The Tuhua Trust Board is playing a major role nationally by contributing to the restoration of a number of threatened native species. It is already home to a small but thriving population of North Island brown kiwi as well as the pateke (brown teal), tuatara and toutouwai (North Island robin),” says Magda.

The orange fronted parakeet.