People need to be reminded it is "totally not OK" to shoot native kereru (wood pigeon), Project Kereru's Nik Hurring says.
The birds are a protected species, classified as in gradual decline, and harming one can result in charges under the Wildlife Act.
"You can go to prison for it," Ms Hurring said.
There had been a number of cases nationally in the past 12 months where kereru had been shot, including one in Otago where a Dunedin man used an air rifle to take a pot shot at a kereru.
He was fined $2000 and had his rifle destroyed.
That kereru received a serious neck wound and was rescued by a neighbour.
"This was one of the lucky birds . . . many kereru that are shot fall to the ground and eventually die a slow, painful death."
It took a month of help, encouraging it to feed, giving it supplementary food and helping it to fly again before it could be released, she said.
"It was touch and go whether it would survive because of the shock let alone be able to be released into the wild again, as initially it couldn't fly."
Ms Hurring rehabilitates injured kereru; she cares for about 60 of the birds each year voluntarily before releasing them back to the wild.
"Most kereru come to me with impact injuries from flying into something but when they are deliberately injured, it makes it all the more heartbreaking and totally frustrating."
Department of Conservation biodiversity assets programme manager David Agnew said the department had heard of birds being shot and had sent birds suspected of being shot for autopsies, but it was hard to prove.
"We imagine some of it must go on."
