UPDATED 4.55PM:   Ngapuhi elder Sonny Tau has today pleaded guilty to hunting a protected bird - and is now facing one of perverting the course of justice.

Tau made the admission in the Auckland District Court this afternoon after earlier admitting to possessing five dead kereru.

He was found with the protected birds at Invercargill Airport in June.

NZME reporter Patrice Dougan said the Department of Conservation brought the first two charges relating to the dead birds - but the latest charge of perverting the course of justice was laid by police.

Sonny Tau's entered no plea to that and will be back in court in January.

The maximum penalty for taking a protected species is a fine of up to $100,000 or two years in prison.