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Fenced ecosanctuaries are a high-cost method of creating areas of pest predator-free habitat for species or populations for whom predation is a limiting factor. Past research has focused on ‘inside the fence’ habitat and bird populations, overlooking the potential for ecosanctuaries to augment bird populations ‘outside the fence’. We assessed the amount of habitat around both fenced and unfenced ecosanctuaries in New Zealand, how connected the ecosanctuaries were to the wider landscape, and the overall landscape connectivity around ecosanctuaries, for six bird species at 18 sites (15 fenced; 3 unfenced), assuming a predator-free landscape. We found low levels of high-quality habitat around many fenced ecosanctuaries. There was no high-quality habitat at all around some ecosanctuaries for several bird species. Ecosanctuaries on peninsulas (with reduced fencing costs) tended to have a smaller proportion …