Ngapuhi leader Sonny Tau leaves the Auckland District Court after being fined and sentenced to community detention and community service for killing and possessing protected kereru birds and for perverting the course of justice.

Ngapuhi leader Sonny Tau has been raising public awareness about the risks facing the native kereru bird in the weeks after admitting to unlawfully hunting the protected species.

Judge Mark Callaghan, when sentencing Tau in the Invercargill District Court on Thursday, said Tau had given power point presentations to raise awareness of the native birds.

Callaghan sentenced Tau for killing or hunting a protected species, unlawfully possessing protected wildlife and conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

LAWRENCE SMITH/Stuff.co.nz Ngapuhi leader Sonny Tau fined for killing protected Kereru birds.

Tau appeared for sentence via audio-visual link from Auckland and was sentenced to three months' community detention with a curfew of 7pm to 7am, 100 hours community work, fined $12,000 and ordered to pay $12,500 reparation for DOCs investigation costs.

The charges relate to an incident in 2015, when Tau was found with five dead kereru at Invercargill Airport.

The Department of Conservation summary of facts says a DOC officer, assisted by police, searched Tau's luggage and found a .22 calibre firearm, food items including crayfish, frozen kina and five frozen, plucked kereru.

DOC The frozen kereru birds found in Sonny Tau's luggage at Invercargill Airport.

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When questioned, Tau said he bought the rifle in Invercargill about four weeks earlier and that he had shot the five kereru from the side of the road near Otautau.

He had shot the birds to give to "the old people, the kaumatua", the summary says.

Lawrence Smith/Fairfax NZ Ngapuhi leader Sonny Tau leaves the Auckland District Court after being fined and sentenced to community detention and community service for killing and possessing protected kereru birds and for perverting the course of justice.

While Tau initially said he killed the kereru, he later said his daughter's partner had shot them and given them to him.

On November 12, he pleaded guilty in the Auckland District Court to hunting and possessing the protected native species.

He had previously pleaded not guilty to the hunting charge.

Judge Callaghan, during Thursday's sentencing, said Tau had not been before the courts in more than 30 years and had contributed significantly to his Iwi over that time.

The kereu found in his possession were for domestic consumption and not for commercial gain, the judge said.

"You were going to give the birds to your kaumatua on return to Northland."

DOC lawyer Pene Williams, speaking outside the courthouse after the sentencing, said it was a fall from grace for Tau who had given a great deal to the Ngapuhi tribe of Northland over the years.

DOC was concerned about all threatened species and kereru were iconic to New Zealand, she said.

"We want to ensure they are protected."

Tau had taken responsibility for his actions and apologied to Ngai Tahu Iwi for his actions.

He had taken steps to educate and inform his people about the risks to kereru and the need to protect them forever.

DOC deputy director-general of operations Mike Slater, in a statement after sentencing, said the sentence sent a strong message that killing protected wildlife was not acceptable.

"The continued poaching of kereru puts extra pressure on a species already under threat from pests and loss of forest habitat," Slater said.

"It also undermines the conservation work by DOC, councils, local communities and iwi to control pests and restore forests to safeguard this much-loved species and taonga."

Tau stepped down as the chairman of the board of trustees for Te Runanga-A-Iwi O Ngapuhi in October after he was charged.

After the sentencing, acting board chairwoman Carol Dodd said "the board notes Raniera Tau's court case has now been finalised following his sentencing earlier today.

"The board will take advice and meet in the coming weeks to discuss and decide the next steps in regards to this matter."

Runanga, including the Board of Trustees would not comment further at this stage, Dodd said.