The black-billed gull, or tarāpuka, is a small, elegant gull found around rivers, lakes, and coastal areas. They are not common on the Limestone Coast. It is the world’s most threatened gull species, with numbers declining due to habitat loss, predation, and disturbance during nesting.
Tarāpuka breed in colonies on riverbeds and coastal flats, where nests are vulnerable to floods, vehicles, and introduced predators such as stoats, cats, and hedgehogs. Outside the breeding season, they gather in large flocks along estuaries and shorelines, feeding on insects, small fish, and marine invertebrates.