A rare white heron is being spotted around Pāpāmoa.

EnviroHub Bay of Plenty community coordinator Cathy Donnelly says they have had 'a few” of their followers on social media say they have spotted a rare white kotuku.

She says a strong bird population can indicate the environment is healthy.

'We know a lot about endangered native birds in the bush, but we don't always know what's happening in the populations of all the birds around us, particularly in urban and garden environments.”

Cathy says the rare sighting is a 'good reminder” of the organisation's predator free program, in which they provide free rat traps to households in the Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty areas.

'It is estimated one rat will kill 50 birds in its lifetime so spotting birds like this is a great sign of a healthy bird population.”

Cathy says Professor Bruce D. Clarkson, who leads the cities people and nature research project at Waikato University, mentioned the sightings were so infrequent it became an 'exctiing event” to see birds like the white heron.

Now, with improvements to biodiversity, Cathy asks 'wouldn't it be great to see birds like this more often?”

Spotted the white heron? Get in touch with EnviroHub Bay of Plenty by visting their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/envirohub/.

People are being encourged to completed the organisation's garden bird survey to help data sow what birds are being seen in urban areas.