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Welcome to "Not a Lot of People Know That" — a series celebrating the weird and wonderful side of Aotearoa’s wildlife. From giant insects heavier than birds to snails that hunt worms, nature here is full of surprises. Through these stories, we’ll reveal the hidden quirks that make New Zealand’s ecosystems so unique — and remind us how much there is still to discover. 02: Not all red-billed gull pairs are male and female. Red-billed gulls (tarāpunga) might be known as chip thieves at the beach, but they’re far more complex than their reputation suggests. At a colony on the Kaikōura Peninsula, scientists observed something fascinating — some red-billed gull pairs were made up of two females. In these cases, one female mates with a male to fertilise the eggs, then both females share incubation duties and raise the chicks together. Despite their noisy nature and scavenger behaviour, tarāpunga play a vital role in coastal ecosystems. But they’re also in trouble. Once one of the most common seabirds in Aotearoa, red-billed gull numbers have been declining, with some colonies dropping by over 50% in recent decades.