The Chatham Islands oystercatcher is one of the most-threatened species on the island.
But predators including feral cats have been caught eating eggs waiting to hatch, putting its future population at serious risk.
Taking up their positions on the rocks, critically-threatened Chatham Island oystercatchers sound the alarm. They're trying to draw any potential threats away from their precious eggs.
"We're hoping to get at least like one chick from every pair to survive," Department of Conservation biodiversity ranger Jamie Cooper says.
There are dozens of nesting sites around the Chathams coast. The oystercatchers are at high risk of extinction and need a safe habitat to breed.
"You've got your threats such as your feral cats, your hawks, your introduced weka," Cooper says.
Traps are set across the coast as a line of defence to protect the breeding pairs. It's not just animals putting the eggs at risk. Ferocious waves from the Pacific Ocean can also wash them away.
"Moving nests up the beach away from storm surges as well and even putting them in things like tyres," Cooper says.
Keeping an eye on the pairs is a delicate job.
"Each oystercatcher has three bands… and depending on that colour combination we can tell which individual that one is," Cooper says.
Every one counts when the goal is to boost the critically threatened population.
"The Chatham Island oystercatcher is one of our most threatened species, there's only 345 of them really left," Cooper says.
They're now hoping by protecting these eggs that number will grow when the last chicks fledge in March.
