Motueka

The white-fronted tern/tara (Sterna striata) is often seen in large flocks along the New Zealand coastline. Their relationship with fish is complicated: the white-fronted tern is also known as the kahawai bird, from its habit of flocking over shoals of kawahai. It’s not the kahawai, they’re interested in, though, because terns are after the smaller [...]

Poaka/pied stilts (Himantopus himantopus) are found in warmer parts of the world and are called black-winged stilts outside of New Zealand. The New Zealand subspecies first established populations here in the 1880s; it is also found throughout Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. They seem to like it here and cope okay with our introduced [...]

This is my favourite tūī (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae novaeseelandiae) shot from 2018. He looks like he’s spent a lot of time slicking his hair back into a pompadour that’s kind of fallen flat. Tūī are nectar and seed eaters and so are important in the propagation of many New Zealand native plants.

This is a black swan/kakīānau (Cygnusatratus) with cygnet. The black swan has a rather confusing history in New Zealand. Black swans are widespread in Southeast Asia and Australia, and were introduced to New Zealand in the 1860s. In 1889, bones of a “New Zealand swan” were discovered in a cave in the Christchurch suburb of [...]

Skylark or pipit,it can be hard to tell. They’re both streaky brown birds, roughly the same size, who like hanging out in the same habitats. Pipits are more strongly striped, and the dark stripe through the eye generally distinguishes it fromthe skylark. But how do you tell unless you have them side by side? I [...]

Wingspan-wise, the Caspian tern/taranui (Hydroprogne caspia) is around the same size as the black-backed gull. The Caspian tern is not only New Zealand’s largest tern species, it is also the world’s largest tern species. The black cap and black legs are typical of adults, although the black cap will fade to grey outside of the [...]

This bellbird (Anthornis melanura melanura) is a male and in his olive green colouring, he blends in well with the forest canopy. Because they blend in so well, you’ll often hear bellbirds more than you’ll see them.

I’m struck by the contrast of the pale, uniform underside of this fungus against its dull brown-grey dorsal surface. This is a bracket fungus, which are also called shelf fungi, and the white underbelly is where it forms fruiting bodies. Bracket fungi such as this one are an important part of forest ecosystems, as they [...]

This tūī (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae) in silhouette shows off several gaps in its wings. The outermost feathers on its wings are the primaries and they’re labelled from the centre of its body outward. The 8th primary feather of the tūī (the third from the outer edge) has a gap, while primaries 7 to 4 each have [...]