A tiny, feisty alpine bird is making gains with a little help from its friends.

Numbers of rock wren/pīwauwau/tuke – Aotearoa’s only true alpine bird and the country’s bird of the year in 2022 – have improved after predator control (trapping and aerial 1080) was used both in their rocky alpine homes and in the bush beneath, according to five years of Department of Conservation (DOC) data, a departure from the earlier practice of focusing the pest control in forested areas.