New Zealand is dwelling to a few of the rarest birds on the planet. And this isn’t accidentally. It would possibly shock you to study that New Zealand’s biodiversity is uncommon and really completely different from the remainder of the world. And the South Island birds are a few of the most original.
As an island, birdlife dominated the land and skies and advanced with out the specter of mammals strolling the shores, that’s, till people arrived round 1300 AD. The solely native mammals in New Zealand had been two sorts of bats.
The first people launched rats and canine into the wild right here, after which in a while, settlers introduced in pigs, goats, deer, extra rat species, cats, rabbits, mustelids (ferrets, stoats, and weasels), and possums. Since then, dozens of fowl species have change into extinct, and others are endangered and hanging on for expensive life. In reality, a conservative estimate is that launched mammals kill greater than 25 million native birds yearly. Combined with different elements like land clearance, habitat loss, meals competitors, and drainage, most birds face a difficult future.
But the kiwis are preventing again—each the individuals and the birds.
Instead of giving up and letting many extra species go extinct, the Department of Conservation (DOC) in New Zealand, together with many different teams, non-public, public, trusts, and nonprofits, like Predator Free NZ, are working around the clock to combat the extinction on our shore. With big efforts of predator management across the nation, it offers the birds a a lot better likelihood at survival. Without it, we will just about kiss most of them goodbye inside our lifetimes.
Protecting these uncommon South Island birds is essential to me. If you’ve adopted me for a very long time, you most likely have observed how I’ve shifted my content material an increasing number of towards conservation and sustainability. I attempt to align myself with manufacturers that look after the planet and its creatures.
For the previous decade, together with DOC, certainly one of my largest supporters has been RealNZ (previously Real Journeys). Founded by native legends Les and Olive Hutchins again within the 50s, they helped combat the great combat to save lots of Lake Manapouri and defend Fiordland. These conservation values have lengthy been the core of the corporate ever since. We suppose alike and see how distinctive our taonga (treasured) species are first-hand on the South Island in Fiordland and Rakiura (Stewart Island).
I’ve traveled throughout New Zealand for the previous decade and located a few of the greatest locations for assembly a few of our uncommon and endangered South Island birds round Fiordland and Rakiura.
Get prepared to satisfy a few of my favourite South Island birds. Enjoy!
1. The cheeky Kea
The prime contender for each probably the most cherished and most despised fowl in New Zealand needs to be the kea. The world’s solely alpine parrot is taken into account one of the clever birds on the planet, which suggests they usually stand up to no good. Farmers claimed they killed their sheep, so there was a government-sponsored bounty on their beaks for a century – killing over 150,000 kea.
Almost extinct, lower than 7,000 kea are left in New Zealand, and they’re nationally endangered and declining. Beautiful and cheeky, they’re a fan favourite of vacationers, that’s, till they rip your automobile window rubber to items or destroy your tent and throw your mountaineering boots off a cliff. With massive personalities and probably the most stunning feathers, kea are particular. We’re fortunate to have them.
Because the populations of kea are so small now, it’s not at all times simple to seek out them. One place you possibly can see them is alongside the Milford Road in Fiordland. They love hanging out by the Homer Tunnel and at a few of the pullover spots. If you are taking a day journey to Milford Sound with the bus switch from Queenstown or Te Anau with RealNZ, they cease at these locations, and you’ll see them up shut and private.
But keep in mind, NEVER FEED THE KEA. As we are saying right here, a fed kea is a useless kea. Feeding kea is unhealthy for a lot of causes – you possibly can learn extra right here.
2. The alpine rock wren/pīwauwau
While most individuals affiliate the kea as New Zealand’s iconic alpine fowl, the reality is they’re solely partly alpine as they nest within the forest. Rock wren/pīwauwau are literally New Zealand’s solely true alpine fowl. Ka-boom, take that, kea!
Weighing lower than an AA battery, they’re tiny however mighty. I’ve been recognized to waste a ton of time whereas tramping, ready round, and searching for rock wren once I’m within the mountains. Just final summer time, I made an epic mistake by spending two hours watching the rock wren on the Gillespie Pass, which means I needed to end the tramp at the hours of darkness in a forest the place the path was mainly invisible. 10/10 don’t advocate. But hey, it’s fairly cool there are rock wren up there! I’ve additionally seen them just a few occasions whereas tramping in Fiordland.
Rock wren are in deep trouble. Stoats love them, and local weather change will affect them too. When critical predator management efforts exist, about 85% of nests are profitable. Without predator management, nests virtually at all times fail.
3. The quirky weka
If I had a greenback for all of the occasions that vacationers have instructed me they had been so fortunate and noticed 20 kiwi in Fiordland who got here proper as much as them, I might most likely have round $20. Striking a steadiness between bursting their bubble and holding them completely satisfied, I discover myself kindly explaining that it was positively not kiwi; as a substitute, it was most likely the weka.
If anybody sees 2o curious kiwi in the course of the daylight that come proper as much as you, please let me know as a result of that doesn’t occur, haha. Kiwi are uncommon, elusive, shy, solitary, and, most significantly, nocturnal. Weka? You see them in all places, particularly in Fiordland. They’re so ample they eat them on the Chatham Islands.
Weka have a tendency to not get lots of love. They come throughout as bizarre, scavenger-esque, and infrequently even a complete ache, particularly for conservation employees. They are predatory with different native species (though they’re additionally threatened and declining), so that they’re usually not welcome on predator-free islands.
Weka poop their very own weight in a day, which earns them respect, for my part!
4. The takahē: the fowl that got here again from the useless
Takahē have lengthy been certainly one of my favourite fowl success tales in New Zealand. Declared extinct after not being noticed for 50 years, takahē had been rediscovered in 1948, hidden deep in Fiordland’s Murchison Mountains.
Takahē are New Zealand’s largest flightless fowl, with mammals being the most important menace to their survival. In 2007, a stoat plague halved the takahē inhabitants within the Murchison Mountains, and these days, there are about 400 birds. Another great but bizarre poo reality is that the takahē can poo as much as 9 meters a day.
While it’s tougher to see them within the wild as a result of their populations are protected, you possibly can see takahē in many sanctuaries across the nation. These massive blue flightless birds give us all hope for different species. For instance, the South Island kōkako was listed as extinct till 2013 when DOC reclassified its standing as ‘data deficient,’ with many individuals recording sightings and songs of the fowl because the hunt continues to seek out them.
5. The most expressive tawaki/Fiordland crested penguin
The Fiordland crested penguin/tawaki is the one penguin on the planet to dwell deep within the rainforest right here in New Zealand. With their jaunty, bushy yellow eyebrow feathers, they’re very uncommon, with the present tawaki inhabitants sitting between 2,500 and three,000 breeding pairs.
For the previous 70 years, they’ve been in decline, so seeing these guys within the wild makes it all of the extra particular.
Doubtful Sound is likely one of the locations the place I’ve frequently seen tawaki. On the Doubtful Sound in a single day cruises with RealNZ, you could have a greater likelihood of seeing them at daybreak or nightfall they go/return from the ocean. The greatest time of 12 months to see tawaki is in the course of the breeding season, from July to November.
6. The white-water rafting blue duck – the whio
Did you realize our endemic duck right here in New Zealand doesn’t quack? The whio/blue duck could be very uncommon, with solely 3,000 left; the males whistle whereas the females growl. Also, a superb reminder that the ‘wh’ in ‘whio’ is pronounced as an ‘f.’ Fee-oh. Say it with me, fee-oh.
The white water rafting duck, whio want clear, fast-flowing rivers to thrive. You’ll additionally spot them on the 10-dollar be aware right here. Whio Forever helps take care of these South Island birds in a partnership between Genesis Energy and DOC. RealNZ additionally contributes in direction of Whio Recovery as a part of its conservation initiatives.
While the kea are likely to get all the eye on the Milford Road, I’ve noticed many whio there too, in addition to round Fiordland.
7. The cute little $100 mohua/yellowhead
So lots of our flashier, greater South Island birds get all the eye right here in New Zealand, and it’s simple to neglect concerning the little guys. The mohua/yellowhead is a small, insect-eating fowl that lives solely within the forests of New Zealand’s South Island. Mohua are uncommon and declining; in actual fact, there are lower than 5,000 mohua left.
Nowadays, you’ll find mohua gracing our $100 be aware right here in New Zealand.
Early settlers known as it the ‘bush canary’ due to its coloration and delightful music. You can discover mohua in pockets across the South Island, together with Fiordland. They’re a fowl you kinda need to be on the hunt to seek out. I’ve seen them probably the most in Fiordland, round Dusky Sound, the place there may be lots of predator management. In partnership with DOC, RealNZ runs some critical predator management efforts round Dusky Sound, together with the formidable Cooper Island Restoration Project.
8. The different noisy and loveable parrot – the kākā
The forest-dwelling cousin of the kea is the kākā, stunning brown, crimson, and yellow coloured parrots which can be making an actual comeback throughout most of New Zealand; even if you happen to don’t see them, you possibly can hear them chattering and shrieking away within the treetops.
Like lots of our different South Island birds, they’re nonetheless in danger from predators, but in addition habitat loss – kākā want lots of forest to thrive.
9. The iconic kiwi/tokoeka, our nationwide treasure
The kiwi positively is likely one of the world’s weirdest birds. Unique, curious, and nocturnal, kiwi can’t fly, and so they have unfastened, hair-like feathers. There are 5 species of kiwi throughout New Zealand, with lower than 70,000 left. Down south right here, we’ve the tokoeka kiwi, which accurately means ‘weka with a walking stick.’ And there are three genetically distinct types of the tokoeka kiwi: Haast, Fiordland, and Rakiura (Stewart Island).
Your greatest likelihood of seeing kiwi within the wild is on Rakiura. Realnz’s Chief Conservation Officer, Paul Norris, can also be chair of Predator-Free Rakiura, whose aim is to rid Rakiura of launched predators to assist greater than 20 threatened species. RealNZ works arduous to help this marketing campaign.
Nationwide, roughly 20% of the kiwi inhabitants is below administration. In areas with predator management, 50-60% of chicks survive. Without predator management, 95% of kiwi die earlier than reaching breeding age.
10. The beloved, drunken kererū
New Zealand’s pigeon, the kererū, is a big, superbly inexperienced, bronze, and white fowl you possibly can usually see across the nation. With a tiny head, you possibly can at all times hear the woosh-woosh sound it makes because it takes flight within the forest.
But maybe what kererū are most recognized for is that they often get drunk on fermented berries and fall out of timber. And not only one, both.
Population-wise, they’re doing okay, although the kererū is declining in areas with no predator management.
11. The musical bellbird/korimako, with its haunting songs
When I lived in Dublin Bay in Wānaka, a bellbird/korimako lived within the massive tree exterior my balcony. At sundown, he would start singing. I’ve such stunning recollections of it, and every time I hear the decision of the bellbird within the forest, I keep in mind that chapter of my life.
The music of the bellbird might be probably the most simply recognizable name right here in New Zealand.
12. The boisterous little fantail/pīwakawaka
Known for its iconic ‘cheet cheet’ music and energetic flying antics bopping round all around the forest, the fantail/pīwakawaka is likely one of the most typical native birds right here in New Zealand. Because they’ve many chicks, fantails have fared comparatively nicely with the incursion of mammal predators. You would possibly even see a strong black fantail if you happen to’re fortunate.
In Māori tales, the fantail was answerable for bringing information of loss of life. It’s horrible luck to see a fantail in a home.
Maui (the trickster demi-god), considering he may eradicate loss of life by efficiently passing by way of the goddess of loss of life, Hine-nui-te-po, tried to enter the goddess’s sleeping physique by way of the pathway of start. The fantail, warned by Maui to be quiet, started laughing and woke Hine-nuite-po, who killed him.
13. The crowd favourite – the tūī
It looks as if all the things in New Zealand is called after the tūī. Beers, manufacturers, and even canine are sometimes known as tūī, certainly one of our most prolific and noisy songbirds. If you hear a music within the forest, it’s usually the tūī. The tūī is great at mimicking sounds and calls from different birds.
With stunning coloring and a white feather on the chest, they’re simple to identify. Sometimes they’re a bit territorial.
14. The pleasant little South Island robin/toutouwai
The New Zealand robin/toutouwai is at all times certainly one of my favourite South Island birds as a result of they’re so curious. Now that I’m into birdwatching, I usually decelerate whereas tramping and take the time to hear for calls and to soak within the place I’m exploring. Inevitably, a robin normally exhibits as much as hold me firm.
If you sit nonetheless and watch them lengthy sufficient, they’ll usually come proper as much as you. I’ve had them land on my cameras or perch on my boots. They like that our boots churn up the bottom revealing bugs for them to munch on.
While they’re declining, I usually see them mountaineering within the nationwide parks. There are three varieties: North Island robins, South Island robins, and Stewart Island robins, all of that are carefully associated. With their chubby spherical our bodies perched on lengthy spindly legs, they’re tremendous cute to watch within the wild.
15. Our guardians and fortune tellers – the tīeke/saddleback
Sadly there are solely about 700 South Island saddlebacks are left right here in New Zealand; you possibly can generally see them in Fiordland and on Rakiura. All these birds are descended from the survivors of the 36 saddlebacks rescued in 1964 when a ship by chance introduced rats to their remaining island refuge.
Saved from the brink of extinction, tīeke are one of many nice conservation success tales, and it’s stunning to see them within the wild.
16. And my all-time favourite – the kākāpō
You guys know that I’ve been OBSESSED with the kākāpō since I moved to New Zealand. My absolute favourite, the kākāpō, takes the highest prize for the good, weirdest, most fascinating native fowl. Nocturnal and flightless, kākāpō are the one lek-breeding parrot species on the planet, and so they solely breed when rimu timber put out sufficient fruit, normally each two to 4 years. They are additionally one of many longest-lived fowl species on the planet, clocking in at round 90 years outdated and being the heaviest parrot.
The historical past of the kākāpō is a tragic one. Once, they had been the third most typical fowl in New Zealand. But when people and predators arrived, they didn’t stand an opportunity. They had been decimated, and it wasn’t till the 70s that conservation started actively searching for them once more to save lots of their species. A number of had been present in Fiordland, all males, after which a tiny inhabitants was discovered on Rakiura with females. While they don’t have a lot genetic variety, the kākāpō are slowly making a comeback.
With solely 248 kākāpō left in New Zealand, all of them have names and are sorted by DOC and Kākāpō Recovery, who work around the clock to deliver these guys again from the brink of extinction. Sadly you most likely received’t see any kākāpō in New Zealand, and so they dwell solely on offshore, predator-free islands, with restricted entry.
I’ve been fortunate sufficient to go to them each on Whenua Hou and Anchor Island, the place RealNZ generally helps with trapping. I’ve even been privileged sufficient to satisfy and maintain Sirocco just a few occasions – our well-known Spokesbird for Conservation. You may need seen him in that viral video with Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine.
But if you happen to get fortunate and are right here when there’s a breeding season with many chicks, usually Kākāpō Recovery will usually have a few of the hand-reared chicks on the mainland in particular locations the place you would possibly get the prospect to see them. And we will all dream about seeing them within the wild once more in the future!
What South Island birds did I miss? How many have you ever seen? I need to hear all of your tales – share!
Many due to RealNZ for all of their arduous work in conservation and for being so inspiring, and for supporting me to assist inform these highly effective tales – like at all times, I’m holding it actual – like you might anticipate much less from me.