Fairy Prion

Tītī wainui is a small blue-grey prion that breeds around New Zealand and often forms dense feeding flocks over coastal shelf water. It has a black M across the upperwings, white underparts, black tail tip and a small blue-grey bill. Broad-billed prion is larger-billed, while fulmar prion has a heavier head and bill.

Colonies occur around Cook Strait, the Chatham Islands, the Snares and other predator-free islands; birds remain around New Zealand seas outside breeding. Flocks take krill and other small crustaceans by surface-seizing, hydroplaning and shallow dives. Pairs raise one chick in a burrow.

Fairy prion is At Risk — Relict (NZ Threat Classification). Rats, cats and weka have erased colonies from accessible islands, and storms can cause mass wrecks. Cook Strait and southern pelagic trips regularly encounter prion flocks, though close views are needed for identification.