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"New Zealand is one of the major seabird centres of the
world. Because of the country's extensive coastline and many
inshore and offshore islands, it is possible for the keen observer
to see more seabirds here than in most other countries. Three-quarters
of the world's albatrosses, penguins and petrels and half the
shearwaters and shags are to be found here, along with numerous
representatives of a number of other groups. Moreover, a good
proportion of these can be viewed without going far offshore".
Brian
Parkinson: Field Guide to New Zealand Seabirds.
Learn more about Natural
history/Sea birds of New Zealand.
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Taiaroa Head on Otago Peninsula is the
only place in the world where northern royal albatrosses, the
largest of all albatross species, have a colony on the mainland,
a few minutes drive from Dunedin City. Photo courtesy of Tourism
Dunedin.
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REGION
from N to S |
LOCATION
|
DETAILS and SPECIES |
| Locate
these places in maps: North
Island - South
Island |
| Northland |
Bay
of Islands (especially from boats) |
Shags, gannets, blue
penguins |
| Northland |
Poor
Knights Islands (boat trip to) |
Shearwaters and petrels,
especially Buller's shearwaters (2.5 million of them around
the Poor Knights, their only breeding ground in NZ) and
Pycroft's petrels |
| Northland |
Great
Barrier Island (boat trip to) |
Shearwaters, petrels,
blue penguins, gannets, terns, arctic skuas (in summer) |
| Auckland |
Hauraki
Gulf |
Gannets, gulls, terns,
arctic skuas (in summer) |
| Auckland |
Hauraki
Gulf (from boats) |
Gannets, shearwaters,
petrels, blue penguins |
| Auckland |
Muriwai |
Gannet colony on
mainland |
| Hawke's
Bay |
Cape Kidnappers |
Gannet colony on
mainland |
| Wellington
and Marlborough |
Cook Straits (from
ferries) |
Albatross, mollymawks,
shearwaters, petrels. Gannets. |
| Marlborough |
Kaikoura Peninsula |
Albatross, mollymawks |
| Nelson |
Farewell Spit |
Gannets |
| Canterbury |
Oamaru |
Blue penguin colony,
yellow-eyed penguins |
| West
Coast |
Monro Beach (Lake
Moeraki), Knights Point, Jackson Head |
Fiordland crested
penguins |
| Otago |
Moeraki lighthouse |
Yellow-eyed penguins |
| Otago |
Otago Peninsula |
Yellow-eyed penguins,
northern royal albatross colony |
| Southland |
Catlins coast, Nugget
Point |
Yellow-eyed penguins |
| Southland |
Stewart Island |
Yellow-eyed penguins |
| Southland |
Foveaux Straits ferries |
Albatross, mollymawks,
shearwaters, petrels |
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Specific references for this page:
Brian Parkinson 1999: Discover
New Zealand Wildlife - What to See and Where to Find it.
Penguin.
Ewen Cameron, Bruce Hayward, Graeme Murdoch 1997: A
Field Guide to Auckland. Godwit.
Harold J. Anderson: Unique
Kaikoura: Whales, Rails and Tales. Craig Printing.
Neville Peat 1998: The
Catlins and the Southern Scenic Route. University of Otago
Press.
Neville Peat 2000: Stewart
Island, A Rakiura Ramble. University of Otago Press.
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