The southern subspecies is critically endangered and was nearing extinction with about 70 individuals remaining in 1992.

The New Zealand plover was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae.

[3] Gmelin's description was based on the "Dusky plover" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his A General Synopsis of Birds.

[11] Conservation measures were put in place involving the poisoning of feral cats and rats and the population has gradually risen, with about 250 individuals being recorded in 2005.

[12] In the Hawke's Bay region, the species was locally extinct from the late 19th century.

Coastliine surveys conducted in 2011 and 2021 found that numbers in the region had more than doubled over the ten year period, with 222 birds counted in 2021.