Chatham Island black robin

How it was counted

The figure counts birds (not pairs or nests) and covers every black robin, all of them on Rangatira (South East Island) and Mangere in the Chatham Islands. New Zealand's Department of Conservation gives it as an estimate with no range, so it reads as about 350 in 2025, not an exact total.

An estimate with no range: New Zealand's Department of Conservation puts the black robin at about 350 in 2025, so read the figure as about this many birds, not exactly this many.

Earlier figures

• 300 in 2021: the previous count. Source: New Zealand Department of Conservation.

What moves it

New Zealand's Department of Conservation names predators and disease as pressures, and says predators brought by accident to Mangere and Rangatira, the islands where the bird survives, are still a threat. It also says all black robins have similar DNA, so the same disease could kill them.

• predation and disease. Predation, disease Source: New Zealand Department of Conservation.
• risk of predators reaching its two islands. The accidental introduction of predators to the two islands where it presently survives is still a threat. Source: New Zealand Department of Conservation.
• low genetic diversity: all black robins have similar DNA, so a single disease could kill them. This means that a single disease could kill them. Source: New Zealand Department of Conservation.

Who is helping

New Zealand's Department of Conservation credits a team of New Zealand Wildlife Service staff, who moved the eggs and young of the last breeding pair, Old Blue and Old Yellow, to Chatham Island tits to raise, which boosted the number of young produced.

The next count

The count is annual. No date for the next figure was known when this record was last checked (12 November 2026).

Sources

• New Zealand Department of Conservation Last checked 12 November 2026.

What changed

• 12 November 2026 Added to Live Species, on the wall (1,000 or fewer): About 350 (Estimate, no range, 2025).

Every change on the site