Nest Counts of Kororā/Little Penguins on Horomaka/Banks Peninsula, New Zealand

To better understand the population trends of kororā/little penguins ( Eudyptula minor ), the Horomaka/Banks Peninsula Kororā Survey of nesting colonies was conducted across two consecutive breeding seasons (November–January 2020/2021 and 2021/2022). Due to the number of sites and time requirements, volunteers were recruited to search 89 breeding sites. This community science approach resulted in a count of 1969 nests, 14 sites (16%) had 0 nests, 28 sites (31%) had 1–4 nests, 32 sites (36%) had 5–20 nests, 9 sites (10%) had 21–50 nests, and 6 sites (7%) had more than 50 nests. The five largest colonies ranged in size from 51 nests (Te Oka Bay) to 928 nests (Pōhatu/Flea Bay) and contributed 63.2% of the total nests. Habitat type and nest type were also summarised for each breeding area. These findings provide updated nest counts across the region, although future work is needed to survey additional breeding areas and to estimate the total little penguin population size on Horomaka/Banks Peninsula. This project highlights the value of engaging communities in conservation science, demonstrating how local volunteers can contribute to large‐scale ecological monitoring and provide essential data to inform conservation strategies.