Birding new Zealand (1 Viewer)

[leovb]

As I am planning a trip to New Zealand around nov/dec2004-jan2005 I am looking for all the information about birding and wildlife-watching in New Zealand.
Black Stilt, Kiwi-spec and other NZ-endemics are some of the treasures I would like to see. But also seabirds and all the other birds I am interested in.
It would be nice to see species like Cirl bunting in NZ instead of Spain, Greece or Southern France!

Hope you NZ-travlers or NZ-birdwatchers can help me in gathering lots of "inside" information.

Leo van brunschot

 

[Swift]

Tiritiri Matangi-An island off North Island (just North of Auckland)
Stitchbird,Saddleback,Grey Gerygone,Tui,Bellbird,Kokako,Little Spotted Kiwi,New Zealand Pigeon ,Fernbird,Morepoke,Blue Penquin,Takehe,Red Crowned Parakeet,New Zealand Robins an overnight stay is required for the Kiwi, this is easy to arrange.
Miranda is a bit of a wader paradise- Wrybill, SIPO,Variable Oystercatcher,N Z Dotterel,Sharp Tailed Sandpiper, Red Necked Stint etc. Rotoura for N Z Dabchickand N Z Scaup the rest of the ducks are pretty easy.
South Island-Kaikoura is a must for pelagics thay last an hour or so book on a couple over different days if possibe.
Haast Pass-Yellowhead,Rifleman,Kaka,Brown Creeper.
Homer Tunnel-Rock Wren ,Kea.
Stewart Island -Good ,take a trip to Ulva Island where you will see a lot of the above plus Weka.
Seabirds-Not only Kaikoura ,try and get the slow boat to Stewart Island that can be very impressive, anywhere of the South Island tends to be good for Albatross , try the Dunedin Northern Royal Albatross centre take the boat that runs under the headland (Monarch Wildlife Cruises) you will get fantastic views and will see the breeding Royal Spoonbills,. Sandfly Beach is good for Yellow Eyed Penguin.
On Stewart Island go on a pelagic that can be good for all sorts including Fiorldland Penguin.
One pelagic that is good is out of Ti Point (North Island) run by Kiwi Wildlife Tours
Killer& Brydes Whale are regular, Cooks ,Pycrofts ,White Faced, Black Petrel etc, also a chance of the rediscovered New Zealand Storm Petrel, contact Karen Baird for details, if you pm me with your e-mail i will send you more details for Kiwis, etc , hope this whets your appetite. :t:

 

[Bubbs]

As I am planning a trip to New Zealand around nov/dec2004-jan2005 I am looking for all the information about birding and wildlife-watching in New Zealand.

Leo, If possible try getting hold of 'Birding World' Volume 16 No 4. Inside is an article on Kaikoura, New Zealand: the world's No.1 site for seabirds and marine mammals. You will find all the info needed, along with some stunning photographs.

John Barclay.

 

[HelenB]

Leo,
We visited friends in NZ in 2000 and while there did as much birding as we could fit into the 2 weeks. We did not search out any of the difficult specialties, as it was also a sightseeing holiday, but we got a pretty good count of the endemics.

I really would recommend Tiritiri Matangi Island (near Auckland), as was much easier to get to than Kapiti Island (near Wellington) and we saw the same birds on both islands, with the exception of the Kokako, which we only saw on Tiritiri.

I have written up a 4 part report and it is on my website. It includes links to the websites I explored while planning our trip. Here's the URL: http://helensbirds.homestead.com/NZ00.html

There is also an excellent website called New Zealand Birds, maintained by a NZ birder. Here's the URL:
http://www.nzbirds.com/index.html
Narena Olliver, who maintains the website, also runs Godwit House, a birder's homestay (guesthouse) near Whakatane, Bay of Plenty, NI - http://www.nzbirds.com/Homestay.html

If you want to look for more trip reports, try this great resource, which has 56 NZ reports: http://www.eurobirding.com/tripreports/

Good luck with your planning and let me know if any of my links are not working.

 

[Gorgon]

I agree with everything Swift said. Ulva and Tiritiri are the best places to see most of the NZ species. Birding in NZ can be difficult (the North Island is particularly depauperate) but islands and seabirds can quickly add to the list (I spent 3 months in 1996 and saw 127 species missing the two Spotted Kiwis, Yellowhead and Rock Wren). I also spent time on Little Barrier and Chatham Island, but these are much more difficult to organise (both were volunteer work with Department of Conservation).

If you get to Stewart Island there are tours that will take you to a beach where Brown (or possibly South Island Brown depending on who's taxonomy you believe) can be seen - they are so quiet one came and actually smelled my boot on the tour.

Good Luck,
Cheers,
Peter