A native swamp harrier brought to a New Zealand animal clinic for what appeared to be a head injury has quietly rewritten the country's timeline of avian influenza's arrival — confirmed as the nation's first H5 bird flu case, a day before the seabird previously believed to hold that distinction. Found in Wairarapa on July 9, the kāhu's infection was discovered almost by accident, a reminder that disease does not announce itself at borders or wait for official notice. The finding carries a weight beyond chronology: New Zealand's raptors, including the already-endangered kārearea falcon, now fac