Storms kill birds in thousands | Manawatu-Wanganui News | Local News in Manawatu-Wanganui

Wanganui's Bird Rescue Centre was kept busy last week responding to calls from people finding hundreds of seabirds blown ashore in storms.

Centres around many parts of the country were inundated with calls from people finding seabirds.

Dawne Morton, who heads Bird Rescue in Wanganui, said they received many calls from around the city and district at the height of the storms, with seabirds found on beaches along the coastline. Ms Morton said most of the birds were small prions.

"We started getting calls from New Plymouth on Monday and Tuesday and then Palmerston North were rushed off their feet with birds being brought in on Thursday," she said. "Then on Friday we had at least 50 prions delivered to us for care."

But she said many other birds had perished.

"We've had reports of thousands of prions being found dead on Himatangi Beach."

Calls had come from Tasman Tanning, where some birds were found in the carpark, Wanganui Hospital and the Springvale area.

The birds dropped off to her were taken through to Massey University on Sunday. "The birds need to be properly waterproofed, and they've got all the facilities at Massey to take care of them."