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New Zealand Species Wildlife 
10,000 Birds
NOVEMBER 2, 2011
Since everyone loves parrots, I thought I’d post some pictures of one of New Zealand’s many interesting species. The Red-crowned Parakeet is one of three species known also as Kakariki - literally small kaka.
255 
10,000 Birds
MARCH 27, 2014
It is also known for the 500 exotic species of animals and plants that now call the Sunshine State home. Exotic species are animals that did not historically occur in Florida. One such species is the familiar mallard (Anas platyrhynchos). The New Zealand Grey Duck is nearly extinct as species.
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10,000 Birds
MAY 8, 2013
New Zealand can generate some interesting yard birds. We may not have huge numbers of species, but we can find some real specialties. I’ve managed a number of globally endangered or vulnerable species in my own backyard, from Saddlebacks and Stitchbirds to the irrepressible Kaka (which I’m listening to right now).
210 
10,000 Birds
MARCH 2, 2011
home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birds / Petrel Paradise Petrel Paradise By Duncan • March 2, 2011 • 4 comments Tweet Share I’ve mentioned before that New Zealand is a great place for enjoying petrels.
212 
10,000 Birds
OCTOBER 23, 2013
Run along the same lines as the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, the site has had a large fence placed around it and the introduced mammals removed. Rare species, like North Island Brown Kiwi , have been reintroduced. New Zealand fantails were very common. Birding New Zealand New Zealand endemics'
197 
10,000 Birds
FEBRUARY 6, 2013
Conservation was in the news again in the last few weeks here in New Zealand, and unfortunately not in a good way. The subject is one that comes up a lot in this blog and other bird blogs, the subject of cats and their effect on wildlife. The important word in that sentence, however, is ultimately.
178 10,000 Birds
SEPTEMBER 14, 2011
Long before I moved in New Zealand, or visited or even knew much about the wildlife here, way back then I knew about the Poor Knights. In New Zealand I’d even dived the astonishing Milford Sound in Fiordlands National Park, but I didn’t make it to New Zealand’s most famous dive site until January of 2009.
240 
10,000 Birds
JULY 19, 2011
I’m not sure what the collective noun for a group of petrels is, but the vets and wildlife carers of New Zealand might be forgiven for thinking that it might be a wreck after this week. This is the largest species of prion and perhaps the one that best suits the alternative name whalebird.
244 
10,000 Birds
FEBRUARY 29, 2012
Just a quick post today to appreciate one of New Zealand’s most attractive birds, the Paradise Shelduck. This is brought about by a visit to Karori Wildlife Sanctuary/Zealandia, where I was able to catch up with the ducklings that I first saw back in the spring. Both, howveer, are attractive birds. The female.
194 
10,000 Birds
NOVEMBER 3, 2020
I’ve been fortunate to see two Penguin species in the wild (African and Galapagos) and have dreamed of seeing more–maybe even all!–especially –especially when reviewing books like A Field Guide to the Wildlife of South Georgia or Far from Land: The Mysterious Lives of Seabirds.
279 
10,000 Birds
APRIL 6, 2016
As I said last week , I’ve decided to try and knock off a few of the New Zealand endemics and specialities that I haven’t seen before over the coming year, and the first place that sprung to mind was pretty close, just across the Cook Strait in the Marlborough Sounds. Spotted Shags are endemic to New Zealand.
173 
10,000 Birds
MAY 1, 2013
Even people with no other interest in wildlife, who couldn’t tell a sparrow from an ostrich (or even a dolphin from a fish) love dolphins. If you love the idea of swimming with dolphins, New Zealand is a great place to do it. Birding dolphins marine mammals New Zealand endemic' Akaroa Harbour.
204 
10,000 Birds
SEPTEMBER 7, 2011
This makes it a particularly exciting time in New Zealand as the Rugby World Cup begins in two days, and the competition is being held right here in New Zealand (I would imagine they might be more excited if they hadn’t just lost two matches to Australia and South Africa, their big rivals in the Tri-Nations).
157 
10,000 Birds
JANUARY 25, 2012
I live in New Zealand, and while we have some spectacular birds, we don’t have very many. And I don’t know how or where I might get out of New Zealand this year, so it seemed realistic not to expect to beat anyone. On the same walk I got to thinking about birding in New Zealand in general.
189 
10,000 Birds
JULY 8, 2015
The house , along with being my home for all that time, was as fine a place to enjoy urban wildlife as any I have ever seen. I had the pleasure of having four yard birds that are globally threatened or near-threatened; the Kaka , Stitchbird , Saddlback and New Zealand Falcon.
157 
10,000 Birds
JULY 5, 2017
Mainland island sanctuaries are popular in New Zealand for any number of reasons. Dunedin sells itself as the wildlife capital of New Zealand, in no small part due to its impressive seabird colonies (more of which later this month), but in Orokonui they now have a sanctuary to find rarer forest birds.
133 
10,000 Birds
NOVEMBER 27, 2013
Assuming you have a passing interest in wildlife, or at the least you know someone that does, and chances are in the last week or so you’ve become aware that some lady from America shot a lion. I’ve certainly seen the story plenty in my Facebook news feed, and were I more of a Twitter user I am sure I would have seen it there too.
242 10,000 Birds
JULY 25, 2018
We were able to find a very nice RV park, just a couple of miles from one of my all time favourite birding hotspots, Billy Frank Jr, Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. You might remember, or maybe not, that the last spot I birded, prior to boarding a plane for New Zealand, was Nisqually NWR, in a snow storm, and -5 ° F.
172 10,000 Birds
MAY 15, 2013
While all the posts I see in the blog (when I can bring myself to read it and let’s face it, that isn’t often at the best of times) are about spring and migrants and birds that are so gauche they actually dress in pink, here in New Zealand we are experiencing the start of winter. Don’t mind me.
210 10,000 Birds
JANUARY 2, 2019
When we returned to Tucson, from the Bahamas, I was approaching a milestone number, 1300 bird species, and drove myself hard, climbing, hiking, searching, and driving all over the state of Arizona looking for those last eight birds. So below is what the year looked, by the numbers: Total Number of Little Big Year Species: 1302.
192 
10,000 Birds
JANUARY 27, 2016
My first ever story for 10,000 Birds was about the wonderful city reserve of Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, here in Wellington, a city that has been my home for 9 years this week. The species has taken over Germany so I imagine it is only a matter of time before it is ubiquitous in England too.
100 
10,000 Birds
JULY 6, 2019
beats have still managed to share 82 checklists and accounted for 737 species. Our two newest contributors have shared from Mexico and China, bringing the countries birded this month (also including; Costa Rica, Greece, Serbia, USA, UK, India, UAE and New Zealand) to 10. Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. 02 Jun 2019.
171 10,000 Birds
APRIL 25, 2018
After nearly 8 weeks here in New Zealand, the sun is setting on our visit. The local New Zealand people, across the board have been the most hospitable, welcoming folks I have ever met. Hundreds of thousands of native plants were re-planted, and native and endemic species have been reestablished. 93 New Lifers.
170 
10,000 Birds
AUGUST 17, 2011
In New Zealand, however, the austral winter is not a particularly strong, due to the strong maritime influence and proximity to the equator. Combined with New Zealand’s isolation this means there are not the strong seasonal shifts in birdlife here that you’d find in an equivalent area in North America or Europe.
113 
10,000 Birds
JULY 24, 2012
What I don’t understand is why animal rights organizations almost completely ignore wildlife. Habitat destruction and degradation is far and away the number one reason why wildlife populations are extirpated or go extinct. What’s even more frustrating is when animal rights people learn of plans to cull nonnative species.
10,000 Birds
MARCH 16, 2011
home about advertise archives birds conservation contact galleries links reviews subscribe Browse: Home / Birds / Stalking a Kiwi Icon Stalking a Kiwi Icon By Duncan • March 16, 2011 • 1 comment Tweet Share Most people, if asked, would confidently name what they thought the National Bird of New Zealand was.
203 10,000 Birds
JULY 11, 2012
In responding to Suzie’s post defending wildlife rehabilitation I began to think again about the areas in which animal rights and animal welfare overlap with the field of conservation, and the ways in which they don’t. People would often express surprise that I, someone that cared about wildlife conservation, would eat meat.
270 
10,000 Birds
DECEMBER 14, 2011
But the sun woke me up early this morning and I took the opportunity to run down to Karori Wildlife Sanctuary (more correctly Zealandia, snerk!) to see how the nice in theory weather was treating the wildlife. Many plants are in flower, particularly the New Zealand flaxes (genus Phormium ).
237 10,000 Birds
MARCH 9, 2011
Like Kapiti the island is an offshore refuge for many species extinct on the mainland, with a lot of the work being done by the voluntary Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi. One species I really hoped to find on the trip was the Kokako. You start hearing and catching glimpses of birds as soon as you land, particularly the fast moving Tui.
185 
10,000 Birds
NOVEMBER 1, 2022
The latest edition of the Clements Checklist that I could find, last modified in August 2022, lists 965 species (a little more manageable!), including 355 endemics, 28 introduced species, 6 extinct species, and 77 globally threatened species. There are three to four species on each page, for the most part.
278 10,000 Birds
OCTOBER 26, 2011
Here they second only to the kiwi (which are a family as opposed to a single species), and that is because the people here decided for some reason to name themselves after these flightless blind and rather elusive ground birds. (I I guess New Zealanders really like flightless birds.) At any rate Kakapo matter.
240 10,000 Birds
JULY 30, 2014
Not forever mind, I’ll still be living here in New Zealand and carrying on as its beat writer here (I may even write about New Zealand again some time). This time I’ll be working with Wildlife ACT in Zululand, helping that NGO monitor wildlife in a range of reserves and parks in the east of South Africa.
203 
10,000 Birds
DECEMBER 3, 2014
As New Zealand’s beat writer I think I’ve done an okay job of discussing the birding of an entirely different island for most of the year, so it’s only fair that I keep that winning streak going by talking about my target for the trip. It’s a species that has bedeviled and bewitched me over the years.
231 
10,000 Birds
JANUARY 4, 2020
December’s numbers looked like this; 10 beats visited 11 countries (Bahrain, New Zealand, USA, UK, Costa Rica, China, Mexico, Australia Nigeria, Uganda and Serbia) during December. They contributed 150 lists accounting for 1032 species and more than 36,000 individual birds. Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge–East Pond.
241 
10,000 Birds
OCTOBER 28, 2015
While it makes a passing attempt to say not all scientists are like these monstrous fiends (or truly arrogant, as she dubs them) it mostly focuses on these monstrous fiends simply to prove that scientists in wildlife conservation can be monstrous fiends, particularly compared to the environment-loving oil industry of Alaska. Best guess?
219 
10,000 Birds
APRIL 3, 2013
My Easter Weekend plans were up in the air until Tuesday evening, which is hardly the best way to do these things seeing as how Easter in New Zealand is still the tail end of summer (especially this year), and it can be hard to make plans so late. Not a species I have seen myself yet, but it is on my list.
140 10,000 Birds
FEBRUARY 28, 2018
This refuge came up as #4 on a recent list of the top 25 National Wildlife Refuges that were featured in a great story here by 10000 Birds own Jason Crotty. While most major estuaries in Washington state have been filled, dredged, or developed, Nisqually River’s has been set aside for wildlife.
184 10,000 Birds
JANUARY 21, 2016
So close to the pole only a handful of bird species can survive, and even so, death toll is very high, hence their populations must be huge (millions). There are 11 species of birds that breed in the Ross Sea region. Finally – the Seabirds. As a consequence, the Ross Sea has one of the highest concentrations of seabirds in the world.
189 
10,000 Birds
FEBRUARY 1, 2020
This shows the top birders, by species or checklists submitted. 12 beats birded 10 countries (Costa Rica, USA, Brazil, China, India, Serbia, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico), submitting 187 lists and spotting 902 birds. Curu Wildlife Reserve. Curu Wildlife Reserve. Curu Wildlife Reserve. 17 Jan 2020.
229 
10,000 Birds
FEBRUARY 2, 2019
The engaged and generous beats ( 10 of them) have shared 188 checklists during January and have accounted for 859 species from 8 countries (USA, Australia, Costa Rica, Brazil, Argentina, UK, New Zealand and Serbia. Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.
113 
10,000 Birds
APRIL 13, 2011
Last Sunday marked the end of an era in New Zealand with the sad passing of the conservationist and ornithologist and all round inspiration Don Merton. Today the species is secure on a large number of islands and reserves. Kakapo were moved around New Zealand before all eventually being placed on one island off Stewart Island.
252 
10,000 Birds
AUGUST 10, 2011
Many a birding trip starts with a longish drive from the airport to the first birding site with these common roadside birds being the first taste you get of a country’s wildlife, and I feel that many bird trip reports, interested mostly in mega-rarities, gloss over the amazing experience this first drive can give.
233 10,000 Birds
MARCH 1, 2011
These sorts of tests have been done in many species and it has always been assumed (hoped), that what they found in the little white cages at the back of the zoology department had some wonderful relevance to what happened in the real world. Or These Blasts From The Past Preening Juvenile Yellowthroat Welcome to New Zealand!
203 10,000 Birds
AUGUST 21, 2013
I often like to poke fun at how dangerous the wildlife of Australia is, as ever since the giant man-eating Haast’s Eagle went extinct the land life on New Zealand has been mostly harmless. It’s been about 85 million years since New Zealand parted ways with Antarctica and Australia, give or take 20 million years.
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