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New Zealand birds have some of the best names.... For instance, this is the Pipipi, a small songbird endemic to New Zealand. Participant David Woods captured this shot of a curious individual.

New Zealand is a country that is like no other. It is “at the end of the world” in some respects, having been isolated for millions of years from the rest of the world. Its flora show its link to other southern land masses with such native species as Podocarp conifers, Nothofagus beeches, and fuchsias, all shared with Australia and Patagonia, harkening back to the time of Gondwanaland. The native fauna was all but exclusively made up of birds, but thanks to the arrival of humans (particularly Europeans), what is present today is but a shadow of what once was. Nevertheless, we still can see an impressive variety of birds, including six endemic families, and a whole host of native species. Happily, New Zealanders seem to have taken their unique avifauna to heart, and have made great strives to remove the exotic mammalian predators that have been responsible for the extinction or rarity of so many species. As a result, native bird voices once again fill the beech and podocarp forests, and the predator-free offshore islands are havens for communities of native species.

Out tour took us from the southern end of the South Island to Stewart Island, and back north again, crossing Foveaux Strait, along the length of the South Island (and both sides!) to the Cook Strait, and then north across the North Island to Auckland. Those who remained for the extension then enjoyed two additional days in the area along the Hauraki Gulf north of Auckland before we said our final goodbyes and headed for home!

Highlights from the tour were many, ranging from experiences such as the gorgeous scenery and lodging at Arthur’s Pass, where the sheep farmer showed us how his dogs rounded up sheep, to the seabird smorgasbord at Kaikoura, to the sneaky Betty the male Okarito Kiwi who was decidedly uninterested in showing himself to us. In addition to these experiences, we also enjoyed some iconic NZ birds such as the South Island (or Rock) Wren, who performed pushups on the rocks at Homer Tunnel, the rather bizarre Wrybill, which we enjoyed watching as it flicked pebbles aside with its right-turn bill, the curious Australasian Bittern that responded by *climbing atop* the cattails and showing itself to us brilliantly(!), or the gawky Salvin’s Albatrosses as they squabbled over chum behind several of our boats, or glided effortlessly on their elegant wings over the water, or our first penguins: the Fiordland Crested that hopped about on rocks along Milford Sound. The Saddlebacks, a native “wattled crow” that showed well for us on several offshore islands, were another favorite, as were the elegant Tuis that regularly sported orange foreheads from the flax pollen. The endemic members of the Mohuidae, including the bold Yellowhead, the sneakier Pipipi (or Brown Creeper) and the loud Whitehead… NZ’s answer to titmice and chickadees. The bold and mischievous Wekas were another bird that warmed our hearts, particularly the one that stole the sandwich bag of the French campers on Blumine Island. Speaking of mischievous, both Kaka and Kea showed off this side of their personalities to us. The latter is famous for its destructive ability, and the collection of rubber gaskets at a parkinglot at Arthur’s Pass attested to this! The cute and friendly NZ Fantails, with their broad, white tails that they flipped around actively as they foraged etched their way into our memories, as did the hyperactive and tiny Rifleman, the nest of which we enjoyed at the Arthur’s Pass Lodge. The goofy Pukeko (Australasian Swamphen, a decidedly less interesting name) earned some fondness, as did the loud and attention-grabbing Masked Lapwings. The lovely songs of Bellbird, Tomtit, and NZ Robin filled the forests we walked through and gave us an inkling what it must have been like to walk through those same forests hundreds of years ago when a fuller compliment of native species would have been present. The cryptic Fernbird was a lovely species to see in the marshes we stopped at. Coastal localities were also enlivened by the likes of the New Zealand (Red-breasted) Dotterel, the two attractive oystercatchers: Variable and South Island. And of course the pelagic and nearshore boat rides and ferries were made more interesting by the albatrosses, Cape Petrels, penguins, buzzy-winged Diving-Petrels, and other seabirds we encountered.

Overall, it was a fun tour! I sure am glad you all decided to accompany me and our hard-working driver/local guide Mark for this visit to Aotearoa, land of the long white cloud! Whakawhetai koe or thank you, and I hope we are able to bird together again somewhere down the road!

Good birding until then!

Dan

KEYS FOR THIS LIST
One of the following keys may be shown in brackets for individual species as appropriate: * = heard only, I = introduced, E = endemic, N = nesting, a = austral migrant, b = boreal migrant

We saw some amazing landscapes, including the gorgeous mountains of Fiordland on the South Island. Photo by guide Dan Lane.

North Island Saddleback was easy to see at Tiritiri; we were able to watch them as they pollinated some of the local flowers. Photo by guide Dan Lane.

Participant David Woods got this great shot of a White-capped Albatross.

Guide Dan Lane got this lovely portrait of one of the Blue Ducks we found near Whakapapa.

Here is a portion of the many Hutton's Shearwaters that were in the Kaikoura area when we took our pelagic trip there. Photo by guide Dan Lane.

We had some great views of the unusual Fernbird on both islands. Photo by participant David Woods.

We also got some great views of the Tui, one of the native honeyeaters of New Zealand. Photo by guide Dan Lane.

We had to wait a bit before this South Island Wren showed itself, but we had a nice look at it eventually. This little bird is known in NZ as the Rock Wren; no relation to the North American bird! Photo by participant David Woods.

We had another opportunity to get on the water at Milford Sound in Fiordland National Park. Photo by guide Dan Lane.

This Kea looks like he has a plan..... We saw these mischievous parrots at several places, and evidence of their activities as well. Photo by participant N.M.

What looks like a 6-legged creature is actually a Pied Stilt sheltering two chicks. Photo by guide Dan Lane.

Salvin's Albatross is a common species near the northern part of the South Island. This squabbling crew was caught by participant David Woods.

This is a North Island Robin, one of three subspecies of New Zealand Robins that we saw. Photo by participant David Woods.

Bitterns are generally shy and hard to see, but this Australasian Bittern proved anything but difficult! It actually climbed up onto the cattails, where we got a great look at it. Photo by guide Dan Lane.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Totals for the tour: 143 bird taxa and 12 mammal taxa