Kōtare
KōtareAs you walk from the wharf towards Hobb’s beach you may notice the banks are dotted with holes. Look closer and you’ll find you’re looking at a kōtare/kingfisher housing estate. To create these burrows, kōtare repeatedly fly headlong into the bank piercing the mud with their dagger-like bill! Once a purchase point has been created they will continue to dig with their beak forming an upward-sloping tunnel, and then a chamber in which they will nest. Although the name kingfisher suggests a diet consisting mainly of fish, these birds will eat almost anything, including skinks, crabs, small birds and even mice. Find Out More
Kākāriki
KākārikiKākāriki were the first bird to be introduced to Tiritiri Matangi. In January 1974, 10 years before planting started, kākāriki from Cuvier island were released on the island. Their success prompted scientists to investigate the island as a place to do research . These long-time residents still have a thriving population, despite many new arrivals. Kākāriki are particularly chatty, and their rapid, loud chatter can often be heard overhead as they often vocalise whilst flying. Find Out More
Welcome Swallows
Warou (Welcome Swallows)Welcome swallows are small fast-flying birds found in open country particularly around lakes, coasts, riverbeds and ponds. Their flight is circular and darting in style, and they may be seen singly, in pairs or in flocks. Flocks often perch en masse, lined up on fences or power lines. They were named ‘welcome swallows’ because they appeared in southern Australia as a herald of spring. Due to their elegant shape and flight, and their preference for nesting around buildings, swallows are noticed and appreciated more than most other small birds. Welcome swallows breed on Tiritiri Matangi and are often seen hawking for insects over the open grassy areas, and over the ponds. Find Out More
Spotless Crake
Puweto (Spotless Crake)The spotless crake is a cryptic bird of freshwater wetlands throughout the North Island. It is a small, dark coloured rail (about half the size of a Eurasian blackbird) that is very secretive and infrequently seen. Their furtive nature and good dispersal ability mean that they could be present in areas of suitable habitat far from known populations. On Tiritiri Matangi numbers of spotless crake vary, probably depending on the conditions. They are often heard and sometimes seen around the edges of the ponds, but can occur almost anywhere in the bush areas. Find Out More
Silvereye
Tauhou (Silvereye)The silvereye colonised New Zealand from Australia in the 1850s, and is now one of New Zealand’s most abundant and widespread bird species. It is found throughout New Zealand and its offshore and outlying islands, occurring in most vegetated habitats, including suburban gardens, farmland, orchards, woodlands and forests. Silvereyes are small songbirds that are easily recognised by their conspicuous white eye-ring; their plumage is mainly olive-green above and cream below. It is an active, mobile species that moves about frequently, including making sea crossings. On Tiritiri Matangi they are fairly scarce during the breeding season but move around the Island in flocks during the winter. Find Out More
Pukeko
Pukeko (Purple Swamphen)The pukeko is a widespread and easily recognisable bird that has benefitted greatly by the clearing of land for agriculture. In addition to its brilliant red frontal shield and deep violet breast plumage, the pukeko is interesting for having a complex social life. In many areas, pukeko live in permanent social groups and defend a shared territory that is used for both feeding and breeding. Social groups can have multiple breeding males and females, but all eggs are laid in a single nest and the group offspring are raised by all group members. Find Out More
Pipit
Pihoihoi (Pipit)The New Zealand pipit is a small brown-and-white songbird that resembles a lark, but has longer legs, and walks rather than hops. They are birds of open country, including the tideline of sandy beaches, rough pasture, river beds and above the tree-line. Pipits are members of the wagtail family, and frequently flick their long tails as they walk. In flight their tails have narrow white sides – a character shared with skylarks, chaffinches, yellowhammers and cirl buntings. The New Zealand Pipit is occasionally seen on Tiritiri Matangi Island. Find Out More
Morepork
Ruru (Morepork)The morepork is a small, dark, forest-dwelling owl. Found in both native and plantation forests, its distinctive “more-pork” call is commonly heard at night in many urban parks and well-vegetated suburbs. Moreporks are relatively common throughout much of New Zealand but are sparse through the eastern and central South Island. Their diet consists of insects, small mammals and birds, which it hunts at night. Find Out More
Kingfisher
Kōtare (Sacred Kingfisher)The sacred kingfisher is one of the best known birds in New Zealand due to the iconic photographs published over many years by Geoff Moon. These early images showed in detail the prey, the foraging skills and the development of chicks in the nest and as fledgings. Equally recognisable is the hunched silhouette waiting patiently on a powerline or other elevated perch over an estuary or mudflat which converts in a flash to a streak of green diving steeply to catch a prey item. The Tiritiri Matangi kingfishers are often observed feeding on skinks. Find Out More
Shining Cuckoos
Pīpīwharauroa (Shining Cuckoo)The shining cuckoo (shining bronze-cuckoo in Australia) is a summer migrant to New Zealand. It is common throughout New Zealand but it is small and cryptically-coloured and so is more often heard than seen. It has a distinctive whistling call. Two intriguing aspects of its life history are its brood-parasitic habits and the long annual trans-oceanic migration. The New Zealand subspecies breeds only in New Zealand (including Chatham Islands) but other subspecies breed in southern Australia, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and on Rennell and Bellona Islands (Solomon Islands). Shining cuckoos are heard, and often seen, on Tiritiri Matangi every year, though it is not clear whether they breed on the Island or simply pass through. Breeding is possible, as there are resident grey warblers, though these are not as common on the Island as many other birds. Find Out More