Blue Duck

Scientific Name: Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos

Population Estimate: 1200 birds

Range / Habitat: Year-round in rapid-flowing rivers and streams in relatively predator-free areas of both North and South Islands.

Field Notes: Unmistakable in range. Blue-grey dabbling duck on rapidly flowing waterways. Black head, flesh-colored bill with black tip, and rust-speckled breast.

Personal Notes: Maori name Whio. Part of an amazing weekend where we saw this rare bird and also the Okarito Kiwi (Rowi) in the wild.

New Zealand Plover

Scientific Name: Charadrius obscurus

Population Estimate: 2K, Endangered status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand were found on beaches, estuaries and in river mouths of northern North Island. Also a population which breeds on mountain tops of Stewart Island and then moves to estuaries of Stewart Island, Southland and Farewell Spit.

Field Notes: Squat plover with robust bill. Back is brown-grey with whitish feather edges. In breeding plumage underparts can be pale orange to rich rufous. Non-breeding adults (as above) are distinctly pale, all white underparts and only grey shoulder patches, no complete breast band. Non-breeding Double-banded Plover lacks white cheeks and still has remnant of both breast bands.

Personal Notes: Seen at Miranda Shorebird Center, near Auckland. In New Zealand known as New Zealand Dotterel. Maori name Tuturiwhatu.

Black-fronted Tern

Scientific Name: Chlidonias albostriatus

Population Estimate: 2.5K - 10K, Endangered status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand where found on inland gravel riverbeds of the South Island, primarily east of the alpine range.

Field Notes: Small hooded tern with markedly blue-grey wings. Bill and legs orange. In breeding plumage, black cap present which extends down to bill. Antarctic Tern similar but does not overlap in range. White-fronted Tern rarely seen inland and with black bill.

Personal Notes: A great end to our South Island holiday. Seen outside of Methven on the Rakaia River. Maori name Tarapiroe.

Brown Teal

Scientific Name: Anas chlorotis

Population Estimate: 910 individuals, Endangered status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand where found year-round in select wetlands in Northland, Fiordland, and Great Barrier Island. 

Field Notes: Similar coloration to Chestnut Teal of Australia (rare vagrant to New Zealand) but with white eye ring in both males and females. Mallard larger and without white eye ring. 

Personal Notes: Seen in captivity at Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, Wellington. The Maori name is Pateke.  

Takahe

Scientific Name: Porphyrio hochstetteri

Population Estimate: 150-220 individuals, Endangered status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand. Year-round in grassland and pastureland in the Murchison Mountains in Fiordland and four predator-free off-shore islands.

Field Notes: Large awkward bird, similar coloration to Purple Swamphen but larger with more prominent beak and shield.

Personal Notes: We missed these birds on our Kapiti Island trip, but soon found these two at Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in Wellington.

Gouldian Finch

Scientific Name: Erythrura gouldiae

Population Estimate: 2-10K, Endangered status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to tropical savannah and woodlands in northern Australia.

Field Notes: Unmistakable in range as above. Many are bred in captivity.

Personal Notes: Seen at a small zoo in Victoria, BC

White-headed Duck

Scientific Name: Oxyura leucocephala

Population Estimate: 8-13K, Endangered status

Range / Habitat: Freshwater in Spain, Algeria, Tunisia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan.

Field Notes: Small, stiff-tailed diving duck. Distinctive in range.

Personal Notes: Originally seen in captivity at Disney's Animal Kingdom, but then later found in the wild in southern Spain. 

Whooping Crane

Scientific Name: Grus americana

Population Estimate: 50-250, Endangered status

Range / Habitat: Found in fields near water. Summers on reserves in Canada and Wisconsin. Winters on reserves in Texas and Florida.

Field Notes: Tallest bird in North America. All-white crane with black wing-tips and red forehead and cheek. Call is a single, bugle-like note. Sandhill Crane is overall grey / brown with a distinctive rattling call.

Personal Notes: Seen in captivity at the International Crane Foundation near Necedah NWR. Only 15 adults of this species remained in 1938, but it has been increased to current levels through active breeding programs and guided migration via ultralight planes.

Red-breasted Goose

Scientific Name: Branta ruficollis

Population Estimate: 37K, Endangered

Range / Habitat: Breeds in the Arctic tundra of Russia, winters in grasslands and inland wetlands of Eastern Europe.

Field Notes: Unmistakable in range as above.

Personal Notes: Seen at Minnesota Zoo.

Yellow-headed Amazon

Scientific Name: Amazona Oratrix

Population Estimate: 7K

Range / Habitat: Formerly included both coastal slopes of Mexico from the Tres Marías Islands and Jalisco to Oaxaca and from Nuevo León to northern Chiapas and southwestern Tabasco, as well as a disjunct area including most of Belize, and another comprising a small part of northeastern Guatemala and northwestern Honduras.[

Field Notes: The Yellow-headed Amazon (Amazona oratrix), also known as the Yellow-headed Parrot and Double Yellow-headed Amazon. Nominate race green with yellow head, thighs and carpal area. White orbital ring. Red bend of wing and speculum. Dark blue tips to flight feathers. Yellow tips to tail with red marks on base of outer feathers (tresmariae subspecies has yellow extending on to chest and glucose wash to underparts). Immature has yellow restricted to crown, lores, ear-coverts and throat. Subspecies belizensis and "guatemalensis" resemble immature nominate but have greyish orbital ring and lack yellow on throat. Yellow can be only forecrown patch and flecking on nape. Voice Raucous, rolled screams.

Personal Notes:

Black-billed Gull

Scientific Name: Chroicocephalus bulleri

Population Estimate: 96K, Endangered status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand where it favors inland wetlands, primarily on the South Island though some appearances in the southern North Island as well.

Field Notes: Small, white-headed gull with delicate features and black bill as shown above. Adults unmistakable in range.

Personal Notes: Seen in Fiordland, New Zealand. 

Yellowhead

Scientific Name: Mohoua ochrocephala

Population Estimate: 1,000 - 2,500 individuals, Endangered status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand, primarily Fiordland, Stewart Island, Catlins, West Coast. Prefers tall native forest, especially red beech.

Field Notes: Small, round passerine with bright yellow head and chest contrasting with black eye and bill. Upperparts brown. Call a loud, staccato chattering with trills and slurs. Yellowhammer only other passerine in New Zealand with similarly bright yellow head, but has distinctive dark facial markings and streaked chest.

Personal Notes: Maori name Mohua. Seen in the Fiordlands and then later captured on film on Stewart Island.

New Zealand Kaka

Scientific Name: Nestor meridionalis

Population Estimate: 2.5K - 10K, Endangered status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand where prefers forested areas. Found in select pockets in North and South Island.

Field Notes: Unmistakable in range.

Personal Notes: A cheeky character who has grabbed at our belt loops at Mount Bruce, tried to take food from our picnic table on Kapiti Island, and sat on our arms to get nuts on Steward Island.

Northern Royal Albatross

Scientific Name: Diomedea sanfordi

Population Estimate: 17K, Endangered status

Range / Habitat: Pelagic bird which breeds at Tiaroa Head and Chatham Islands of New Zealand. Widespread in the southern Pacific Ocean when not breeding.

Field Notes: Huge seabird with long narrow wings. All white head and body, flesh-coloured bill with black edge to upper mandible. Wings black on top, white underneath with black wingtips. Distinguished from mollymawks by size and all white body. Southern Royal Albatross has extension of white from body onto leading edge of upper wings. Some plumages of Wandering Albatross may be similar but lack black line to mandible.

Personal Notes: Maora name Toroa. Seen at Tiaroa Head, which is the only mainland breeding colony of these majestic birds. Considered one species with Southern Royal Albatross until recently.

Yellow-eyed Penguin

Scientific Name: Megadyptes antipodes

Population Estimate: 4,800 individuals, Endangered status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand where found on the rocky southeastern coast of the South Island, Stewart Island, and Auckland Island.

Field Notes: Medium-sized penguin, unmistakable in range as above.

Personal Notes: Maori name Hoiho. We were privileged to first see these birds outside of Dunedin. We saw them on the same beach as sea lions, mostly ignoring one another. It was painful to watch them hop up steep hills and rocks to their nests. We later got a local tip on where to see them on the Catlins coast, which required a climb down essentially a cliff, but well worth the effort.