The birds are severely at risk, but there is little public awareness or sympathy for their plight

Squawking, chip-stealing seagulls are under threat in New Zealand, with some colonies experiencing “unbelievable declines”, and others disappearing altogether over the past few decades.

New Zealand is home to three species of seagull but the native red-billed seagull – the beady-eyed interloper who makes an appearance at every beach picnic up and down the country – is the most common.

Despite seeming to be in abundance because of their noisy antics and attraction to urban and inhabited environments, experts say the birds are severely at risk, with just 27,800 breeding pairs left nationwide, and the main offshore breeding colonies suffering population plummets of 80% to 100% since the mid-1960s.

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By comparison the kiwi – which has millions of dollars of conservation funding directed towards its survival – is much healthier, with 68,000 animals left. But in the conservation world, cuteness counts.

Graeme Taylor, a seabird scientist at the department of conservation, said: “Red-bill gulls have bad press because they are too friendly and too aggressive, they do not endear themselves to people. People see these big groups of birds hanging around for food and think ‘they’re fine’– it is very hard to break that perception. But in reality they have had quite a substantial decline and their decline is ongoing.”

The threats against seagulls are three-fold. Plunging fish stocks due to changing marine conditions and intensive fishing have meant less food for chicks. Coastal grounds converted to livestock and agriculture has threatened their natural breeding grounds, and introduced pests such as stoats and rats eating their young has further decimated an already vulnerable population.

Seagulls are too friendly and too aggressive. They do not endear themselves to people. Graeme Taylor, department of conservation

Hungry from a lack of their natural marine diet, seagulls have adapted into excellent scavengers, but even that comes with problems. Improved waste management storage and facilities mean the gulls find less rubbish to consume than ever before, Taylor says, and chicks who grow up being fed by people at the height of summer often die when winter nears, as they never learn the skills to forage in the ocean.

At the Royal Albatross Centre at Taiaroa Head there is some good news. Extensive predator control work to protect the northern royal albatross has also benefitted the local seagull population, and there are now close to 2,000 nesting pairs at the colony – the only colony in the country that is thriving – albeit slowly.

“These aren’t a pest, they are a key part of the marine environment out here on the edge of the Pacific,” says Hoani Langsbury, the manager of the Royal Albatross Colony.

“Stealing chips from humans is a learned behaviour. We’re in discussions with schools at the moment to try and improve relations between young people and the seagull population. This is their natural environment – it is us that have to adapt to them.”

Taylor says New Zealand’s goal to be predator-free by 2050 is good news for the gulls, and should benefit the south island population particularly.

But he believes steady and ongoing decline will continue for the vulnerable north island populations – unless people start caring about the bird in the way they do the iconic kiwi.

“The seagull is inherent to the character of our beaches. It would seem a quiet, deserted sort of place if they were to disappear.”