Birdlife is rising from the ruins of the Christchurch earthquakes.
In an unusual development, the world's rarest gulls have chosen an unlikely spot in the heart of the city centre for a breeding colony.
More than 300 black billed gulls, or tarapuka, now call the remnants of the PWC office block home.
"We're so lucky that in the middle of Christchurch that this environmental nook exists," Department of Conservation ranger Vanessa Mander told 1 NEWS.
Usually the gulls - which only live in New Zealand - are most at home next to rivers.
So when the Department of Conservation realised they were the latest tenants in the ruined building, it saw a unique chance for the public to observe the gulls.
"I don't know any other central cities that get to see this kind of behaviour close up," Ms Mander said.
Each of the 130 nests could produce at least one chick, and every chick counts in a dwindling population.
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