New Zealand's Endemics to Pelagics: Birding Aotearoa

Embark on an unforgettable birding adventure from Auckland all the way down to Stewart Island, where we’ll be traversing New Zealand’s diverse landscapes in search of endemic and native species. This 15 day itinerary was designed and will be led by two of the Pacific’s top guides and good friends, Sav Saville, co-owner and co-founder of Wrybill Birding Tours; and Mandy Talpas, founder and owner of Hawaii Bird Tours, highlighting New Zealand’s successful bird conservation projects while providing comfortable accommodations, a spacious touring vehicle, and delicious meals.

We have structured our tour around sharing New Zealand’s six endemic families – the kiwi (aiming at two taxa, plus possibly hearing a third), the New Zealand parrots (Strigopoidea, aiming at both kaka subsp. and kea), the New Zealand wrens (aiming for rifleman), the New Zealand wattlebirds (aiming for all of the three extant species), the newly revised stitchbird now in its own Family, the Notiomystidae, and the New Zealand creepers, the Mohouidae (all three species). The expected tour trip list is around 130 species, with around 55 endemic breeding species and 25 – 30 tubenose species!

DAY 1 

Arrival Day to Auckland

We have reserved and included a night at the Auckland Rose Park Hotel into

the cost of your tour. Please make your own way to the hotel. We hope your international arrival allows you time to meet the group for our welcome dinner at the hotel restaurant at 6:30pm, which is also included in the cost of our tour.

Night in Auckland.

DAY 2

Birding from Auckland to Kerikeri (4.5 hours)

We plan on birding at several different habitats as we make our way north to Kerikeri which will include some forest areas, as well as several estuaries and wetlands. We hope to get an introduction to some of New Zealand’s forest species, such as North Island Tomtit, New Zealand Pigeon, Gray Fantail, and Gray Gerygone (Gray Warbler). At wetland areas we hope to look for New Zealand Scaup, New Zealand Grebe (Dabchick), Gray Teal, Australasian Shoveler, Pacific Black Duck

(Gray Duck), Paradise Shelduck, and other waterbirds. We will also spend time looking for Buff-banded Rail (Banded Rail) through some mangrove habitat, in addition to some coastlines for shorebirds, like New Zealand Dotterel (Red-breasted Plover). After we check into our hotel we will have a break before dinner to prepare for our post-dinner walk to look for Northern Brown Kiwi and perhaps New Zealand’s Morepork as well.

Night in Kerikeri

DAY 3

Travel from Kerikeri to Whangarei: Marsden Cove Pelagic (3 hours)

This morning we will head south to a small harbour on the East Coast, called Marsden Cove. The main focus of the day will be to locate the seabirds which are most easily seen in the northern part of New Zealand, such as the rediscovered New Zealand Storm-Petrel (which Sav and Brent, founders of Wrybill Birding Tours, rediscovered in January 2003), as well as Black, Cook’s, and Pycroft’s petrels, Buller’s, Flesh-footed, Fluttering and Little shearwaters, and White-faced Storm-Petrel. Depending on weather and conditions we may vary the locations to increase our chances of these and other targets. If you’ve been on the water with Mandy and Sav before you know we’ll also be on the lookout for cetaceans, like Common and Bottle-nosed dolphins, and Bryde’s Whales as we explore excellent marine mammal habitat with beautiful scenic islands and a stunning coastline.

Night in Whangarei.

DAY 4

Whangarei to Tiritiri Matangi Island (5 hours)

Today we will head to one of New Zealand’s most incredible birding locations. Tiritiri Matangi Island is truly a gem in New Zealand’s conservation crown. A short ferry ride out to the island should give us a chance to see Fluttering Shearwater, White-fronted Tern, and possibly Parasitic Jaeger (Arctic Skua). Upon arrival we will be met and given information about the island by Department of Conservation staff. Once farmed, the island is now an open sanctuary that has been extensively replanted, with some areas of original forest remaining. We will focus on seeing all of the endemics on the island, with North Island Saddleback, Kokako, Stitchbird, Takahe, Brown Teal, and Red-crowned Parakeet being present. Other more common forest birds include Whitehead, Tui, Bellbird, New Zealand Fantail, Gray Gerygone, and North Island Robin, with hopes of a Spotless Crake encounter along pond edges.

After our cookout dinner at the lodge we will head out to look for Morepork and Little Spotted Kiwi, as well as Tuatara, an endemic reptile related to the dinosaurs, and Little Penguin.

Night on Tiritiri Matangi Island

DAY 5

Water taxi off Tiritiri Matangi and drive to Miranda (4 hours)

Miranda is one of New Zealand’s premier shorebird sites, situated in the Firth of Thames. The Firth of Thames is listed under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international significance. We will base our day around the tide times, with a number of different sites to visit. We are likely to see Wrybill, Bar-tailed Godwit, Red Knot, Ruddy Turnstone, New Zealand Plover (Red-breasted Dotterel), Double-banded Plover (Banded Dotterel), Variable and South Island Pied oystercatchers, Black-winged Stilt, Black-billed Gull, and Caspian Tern. There are sometimes less common shorebirds, such as Red-necked Stint, Sharp-tailed and Pectoral sandpipers, and we will be on the look-out for other vagrants.

Night in Miranda

DAY 6

Drive to Pureora Forest

After some more shorebird searching our main destination for the day is the Pureora Forest Park, west of Lake Taupo. This extensive area of forest is one of the best places in the North Island to see New Zealand Kaka (North Island subsp.), Yellow-crowned Parakeet, Long-tailed Koel (cuckoo), Shining bronze-Cuckoo,

Rifleman, with hopes of New Zealand falcon and New Zealand Pipit along the way.

Night in Turangi

DAY 7

Ferry to South Island after Birding Turangi

Early this morning we will concentrate our efforts around Turangi looking for New Zealand’s most extraordinary waterbird, the Blue Duck. Inhabiting swift-flowing mountain streams these birds have declined markedly, even at sites where they were reliable only a few years ago, and there are really only a handful of locations they can be seen without major hikes. We will visit several locations and spend time watching these remarkable birds before we head south to Wellington, where we will catch the late afternoon ferry from Wellington to Picton. The Inter-island ferry leaves from Wellington, heading across to the South Island via the Cook Strait. From the relatively stable platform of the ferry, this is an excellent piece of water to look for seabirds, with approximately half of the three hour trip spent in open water in the Cook Strait. We have good chances for Spotted Shag, Fairy Prion, Fluttering Shearwater, and White-fronted Tern. If weather conditions and prevailing winds are good we also have chances at New Zealand Wandering, White-capped, and

Salvin’s albatrosses, Northern Giant-Petrel, Westland Petrel, and Sooty Shearwater.

Night in Picton

DAY 8

Birding Marlborough Sounds, Blumine Island and travel to Kaikoura

Today we head out onto the Marlborough Sounds, further exploring Queen Charlotte Sound. Our main target for the morning is the New Zealand King Shag, a rare endemic with a population of only about 700 birds. We will also be looking for two dolphin species, the endangered endemic Hector’s dolphin, and the more common Dusky Dolphin, as well as Little Penguin, Fluttering Shearwater, Spotted Shag, and Australasian Gannet. We will have the opportunity to make a stop at a predator free small island sanctuary, where we will try for Orange-fronted Parakeet (Malherbe’s Parakeet), Weka, South Island Saddleback, and other common forest species such as New Zealand Pigeon and Bellbird. On our way to Kaikoura we will also stop at a wetland area where we hope to find waterfowl and grebes, before a brief stop on the scenic coast for excellent views of New Zealand Fur Seals and Spotted Shags. If time allows we will check the surrounding farmland areas for the introduced Cirl Bunting and Little Owl.

Night in Kaikoura

DAY 9

Morning Kaikoura Pelagic and afternoon at your leisure

Today will be spent doing one of the great New Zealand pelagics. Due to the depth of the Kaikoura canyon just offshore, we are able to be in water 1,000 m deep within half an hour, allowing us fabulous opportunities at many tubnoses. Although the species list varies throughout the year, in any season we can expect to have at least 4 species of albatross, normally as close as 5-6 feet away, including Northern and

Southern royals, New Zealand Wandering, Black-browed, Campbell, White-capped, and Salvin’s albatross in addition to Cape Petrel (Pintado Petrel), Westland and white-chinned petrels, Northern Giant-Petrel, the endemic Hutton’s shearwater, which breeds in the spectacular mountains behind Kaikoura, plus the potential for other species like Gray-faced Petrel, Southern Giant-Petrel, Sooty and Short-tailed shearwaters, and you have the makings of a truly memorable morning. This area is also renowned for Dusky and Hector’s dolphins and Sperm Whales.

The afternoon will be at your leisure, with time for a range of options such as doing another afternoon pelagic, whale watching (Sperm Whales are present year round), swimming with dolphins, or just relaxing and enjoying the scenery. Any activities during the afternoon will be at your own expense.

Night in Kaikoura

DAY 10

Travel from Kaikoura to Arthur’s Pass (3.5 hours)

Today we will head deep into the Southern Alps through to Arthur’s Pass, making several stops along the way, and passing through some exceptionally scenic alpine areas. Our target bird for the day will be Kea, which we should be able to find near Arthur’s Pass itself. On the way we will make short stops to break up the journey,

including a stop at an estuarine area, where we will look for shorebirds and terns. We may be lucky enough to find what is almost certainly one of the most beautiful terns, the Black-fronted Tern, which breeds nearby. We should also catch up with some of the South Islands’ forest species, such as New Zealand Brown Creeper, Yellow-fronted Parakeets, and South Island Robin, before checking in to our accommodation near Arthur’s Pass. After dinner we will venture out in the evening to try and listen for Great Spotted Kiwi, which are occasionally heard nearby.

Night in Arthur’s Pass

DAY 11

Travel from Arthur’s Pass to Twizel (4.5 hours)

This morning we will head south, and into one of the driest parts of the South Island – the arid Mackenzie basin. With stunning glacial till-colored lakes, mountains, and red tussocks, the scenery and birds are truly amazing. The focus of the day is the

worlds’ rarest shorebird, the Black Stilt. With a population of around 100 wild birds, they are a species which has a considerable conservation effort invested in them. Depending on our luck, we may find them easily at our first stop, or they may make us work for it. Along the way we will be keeping eyes peeled for New Zealand Falcon, which is sometimes found in this area, as well as stops for introduced Chukar, and waterbirds, including Great Crested Grebe, Eurasian Coot, and the ever difficult Baillon’s Crake (Marsh Crake). On a clear day we can enjoy views of New Zealand’s highest mountain, Aoraki-Mount Cook.

Night in Twizel

DAY 12

Birding from Twizel to Oamaru

We’ve factored in a second chance to search for Black Stilt, and other riverbed specialists, before heading back out to the coast. In the mid-afternoon we will be

aiming for a beach to look for Yellow-eyed Penguins coming ashore. Depending on the weather and prevailing winds, seabirds may also be passing along the coast, with species such as Giant-petrels and Otago Shag being possible, but our search will be mainly for this increasingly rare and difficult endemic penguin.

Night in Oamaru

DAY 13

Oamaru to Bluff and Ferry to Stewart Island (5.5 hours)

Today will involve quite a bit of driving as we head south along the coast and then dive inland aiming for the south of the South Island at Bluff. We will reach there late afternoon, and the van will stay in a secure carpark in Bluff, and we will board the

ferry as foot passengers, with luggage for our two nights on Stewart Island. Everything we take will need to be wheeled or carried the roughly 300 meters on pavement to the accommodation. Depending on the sea and weather conditions the one-hour ferry crossing can be excellent for seabirds, such as Southern Royal, White-capped, and Salvin’s albatross, Giant-petrel, Mottled Petrel, Cape Petrel (Pintado Petrel), Common Diving-petrel, Fairy Prion, Sooty Shearwater, and Brown Skua. We will also search for Foveaux Shag, either as we leave Bluff, or upon arrival to Stewart Island. After checking into our accommodations, we will look for New Zealand Kaka (South Island subsp.), New Zealand Pigeon, and Tui around the township of Oban. After dinner we will head out to search for Southern Brown Kiwi.

Night on Stewart Island

DAY 14

Birding Ulva Island and Stewart Island Pelagic

Today we have two plans, to visit Ulva Island and to do a half-day pelagic. The exact

order of these may differ, and depend a little on weather and other constraints.

Ulva Island is another predator free sanctuary, but home to some of the South Island specialties we may still need. Yellowhead, South Island Saddleback, and some of the more common forest species such as Brown Creeper, Red and Yellow-crowned parakeets, Kaka and Rifleman can all be found here.

The Stewart Island pelagic is so close to the Southern Ocean, and large seabird colonies being on many of the surrounding islands we may be able to find an excellent array of seabirds. Additional target birds for the day are Fiordland Crested Penguin, Southern Royal, White-capped, and Salvin’s albatrosses, both Northern and Southern giant-petrels, Mottled and Cook’s petrels, Broad-billed and Fairy prions, and Common Diving-petrel. Other more common species include Cape Petrel (Pintado Petrel), Sooty Shearwater, Spotted and Foveaux shags, Brown Skua, White-fronted Tern, and Red-billed Gull. Almost any vagrant Southern Ocean seabirds are possible, so we will be keeping our eyes peeled for storm-petrels, and other albatross and petrel species.

Depending on our success with Southern Brown Kiwi the previous night, and the possibility of cancellation due to weather, we may head out again after dark as a back-up.

Night on Stewart Island

DAY 15

Departure Day from Stewart Island to Invercargill

We will leave fantastic Stewart Island on the morning ferry, hoping to catch up with a few more seabirds as we head to Bluff. We will then head to nearby Invercargill, where we will end at the Invercargill Airport around 10:00am.

Plans for flights to depart Invercargill should not be made prior to 12:00pm