Australian Pelican

Scientific Name: Pelecanus conspicillatus

Population Estimate: 100K - 1M

Range / Habitat: Widespread on inland and coastal waters of Australia, New Guinea, Fiji, and parts of Indonesia. 

Field Notes: The only pelican in the region. Flesh-colored bill. Head, neck and chest while. Wings black with a large white wing bar. 

Personal Notes: Seen in flight off the coast of Melbourne, Australia. Later photographed at the Melbourne Zoo and then seen again in the wild in Manly, Australia.

Laughing Kookaburra

Scientific Name: Dacelo novaeguineae

Population Estimate: 65M

Range / Habitat: Endemic to Australia where found in forest and wooded waterways in the east, southwest, and Tasmania. 

Field Notes: Large white kingfisher with brown crown patch, eye patch, wings and tail. The most distinctive feature is the "laughing" call. 

Personal Notes: Seen initially at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne, Australia where we witnessed a fierce fight between two birds with a third watching (bottom photo). 

Grey Fantail

Scientific Name: Rhipidura albiscapa

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status.

Range / Habitat: Found in forest, scrub and artificial habitats throughout Australia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. 

Field Notes: Small, active grey flycatcher with a long tail, frequently fanned. Tail feathers have white shafts. White eyebrow, grey necklace, yellow belly. Willie Wagtail similar in appearance, but without white throat and with completely different behavior.

Personal Notes: A common, but welcome, sight throughout Australia. Note that some sources consider this bird conspecific with New Zealand Fantail.

Maned Duck

Scientific Name: Chenonetta jubata

Population Estimate: 200K - 2M

Range / Habitat: Endemic to Australia, where found in wetlands throughout most of the continent, including Tasmania.

Field Notes: Overall grey duck with dark brown head and black mane as shown in bottom photo. Speckled breast and black under tail coverts. Female with distinctive eye striping.

Personal Notes: Seen at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne, Australia. Also known as Australian Wood Duck.

Magpie-lark

Scientific Name: Grallina cyanoleuca

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Found in nearly all habitats throughout most of Australia except for Tasmania and the inland desert. It is also found in southern New Guinea.

Field Notes: Medium sized passerine with conspicuous black and white marking. Yellow bill and eye. Australian Magpie larger with grey, black-tipped bill.

Personal Notes:

Little Raven

Scientific Name: Corvus mellori

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to Australia where found in a wide range of environments, including urban, in southeast Australia.

Field Notes: Medium-sized corvid, all black with yellow eye. No shaggy throat, slightly smaller, and with more clipped call than Australian Raven.

Personal Notes: Quite good arial acrobats.

Red Wattlebird

Scientific Name: Anthochaera carunculata

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to Australia where found in forests and shrubland of the southern part of the country.

Field Notes: Large passerine with long tail and curved bill of the honeyeaters. Overall brown with white stippling on breast and yellow belly.  Silvery ear patch, red eyes and red wattle. Male and females similar; but juveniles with less distinctive wattle. Western Wattlebird and Little Wattlebird do not have wattles. Yellow Wattlebird with, well, yellow wattles.

Personal Notes: Seen at Royal Botanical Gardens, Melbourne

Little Wattlebird

Scientific Name: Anthochaera chrysoptera

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to Australia where found in shrubland of the southeast.

Field Notes: Large passerine with long tail and long curved bill of the honeyeaters. Overall brown with white stippling on breast and silvery ear patch. Does not overlap in range with Western Wattlebird. Lacks the wattles of Red Wattlebird or Yellow Wattlebird.

Personal Notes: Seen initially at Royal Botanical Gardens, Melbourne and then later at North Head near Manly and Ben Boyd National Park. Some sources differentiate between the Little Wattlebird and Brush Wattlebird.

Chestnut Teal

Scientific Name: Anas castanea

Population Estimate: 110K

Range / Habitat: Endemic to Australia, where found on inland wetlands on in the southeast quadrant and along the west coast.

Field Notes: Small dabbling duck. Male with dark green head, chestnut breast and sides, and white spot on flank. Female all brown with lighter tips to feathers. Female similar to Australian Grey Teal but darker overall.

Personal Notes: Seen at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne.

Pacific Gull

Scientific Name: Larus pacificus

Population Estimate: 11K

Range / Habitat: Endemic to Australia where found along the western and southern coasts.

Field Notes: Large, black-backed gull with all black tail. Massive yellow bill with red tip. Unmistakable in range.

Personal Notes: Seen on the Melbourne coast.

Red-rumped Parrot

Scientific Name: Psephotus haematonotus

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to Australia where found in a variety of habitats in the southeast quadrant of the country.

Field Notes: Male is brilliant green with unmarked face, yellow lower belly, and red rump. Female is a plain brown-green.

Personal Notes: Seen at Royal Botanical Gardens, Melbourne.

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

Scientific Name: Cacatua galerita

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Year-round in forested and artificial landscapes on the eastern and northern areas of Australia in addition to Paupa New Guinea.

Field Notes: Large, all-white parrot with long yellow crest. Unmistakable in range.

Personal Notes: An excellent find in the Royal Botanical Gardens of Melbourne, made even better since the camera was malfunctioning but Richard managed to the bottom photo anyway. Tens of birds later seen at Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney.

Rainbow Lorikeet

Scientific Name: Trichoglossus moluccanus

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Found is rainforest, coastal bush and woodland areas of eastern Australia, northwest Tasmania, eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

Field Notes: Large, blue-headed lorikeet with orange or red breast. Green wings and tail. Unmistakable in range.

Personal Notes: Quite a fun "urban bird" in Melbourne.

Eurasian Skylark

Scientific Name: Alauda arvensis

Population Estimate: 250M - 1B

Range / Habitat: Found in open country, from coast to subalpine throughout Europe, Asia and northern Africa. Introduced to western North America, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand.

Field Notes: Medium-sized passerine, spotted brown on upper parts and breast, generally buff underneath. Yellow bill and white eyeing. Adult with small crest when alert. In flight, often with M-shaped, broad wings and white outer tail feathers and white trailing edge. Male territorial flight display, singing a sustained and vigorous torrent of varied trills and runs. New Zealand Pipit lacks crest, has dark bill, and is frequently flicking tail up and down. Song Thrush with boldly spotted chest, dark bill, no white markings to face.

Personal Notes: Seen and heard several times before finally photographed outside Auckland.

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.

Wrybill

Scientific Name: Anarhynchus frontalis

Population Estimate: 4.5K - 5K, Vulnerable status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand, where it breeds in the braided river beds of Canterbury and Otago. Then migrates to estuaries of of the North Island, especially Firth of Thames, Manukau and Kaipara.

Field Notes: Small, stocky, pale very wader with short neck and black bill with tip curved to the right. Breeding adults with black neck band. Underparts white, legs grey.

Personal Notes: Seen at Miranda Shorebird Center, outside Auckland.

Southern Royal Albatross

Scientific Name: Diomedea epomophora

Population Estimate: 29K, Vulnerable status

Range / Habitat: Pelagic species which breeds on Campbell and Auckland 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 generally black on top with some white extending from the body onto the leading edge. Wings white underneath with black wingtips. Distinguished from mollymawks by size and all white body. Northern Royal Albatross has no extension of white from body onto upper wings. Some plumages of Wandering Albatross may be similar but lack black line to mandible.

Personal Notes: Maora name Toroa. Seen in Foveaux Strait off Stewart Island. Considered one species with Northern Royal Albatross until recently.

Salvin's Albatross

Scientific Name: Thalassarche salvini

Population Estimate: 62K, Vulnerable status

Range / Habitat: Pelagic bird that breeds in the Snares Islands and Bounty Island of New Zealand as well as the Crozet Islands in the Indian Ocean. When not breeding, widespread throughout the southern Pacific Ocean.

Field Notes: Small albatross with light grey head and neck. Bill grey with faint yellow outline. Upperwings and back dark. Underwings white with clear-cut, narrow black borders and small black triangular notch at base of the leading edge. Buller's Albatross similar but with black bill outlined in bright yellow. Shy Albatross with white cap and head.

Personal Notes: Known as Salvin's Mollymawk in New Zealand. Some sources consider this bird a subspecies of Shy Albatross. Seen in the Foveaux Strait off of Stewart Island.

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.

New Zealand Fernbird

Scientific Name: Megalurus punctatus

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand where found throughout the mainland and Steward Island in freshwater and tidal wetlands, especially with reed beds. Can also be found in drier sparse scrub and bracken fern.

Field Notes: Medium-sized passerine, more often heard than seen. Warm brown above and paler below, though underparts are heavily spotted and streaked. White eyebrow stripe. Distinctive long, frayed tail, which is not present yet in the juvenile above. Flight weak with drooping tail. Call a sharp metallic double-note.

Personal Notes: A wonderful find at Bush Point Fernbirds near Invercargill, where we saw two juveniles and heard mom feeding them. We subsequently saw and heard several of these birds in the Catlins. Maori name Matata.

Buller's Albatross

Scientific Name: Thalassarche bulleri

Population Estimate: 64K

Range / Habitat: Pelagic bird in the southern Pacific Ocean. Breeds on several small islands around New Zealand.

Field Notes: Small albatross with light grey head and neck. Bill black with bright yellow outline. Upperwings and back dark. Underwings white with clear-cut broad dark leading edge and narrower trailing edge. Very similar to Grey-headed Albatross. Salvin's Albatross also similar but bill light grey with subtle yellow outline.

Personal Notes: Seen in the Foveaux Strait off Stewart Island. Known as Buller's Mollymawk in New Zealand.

Cape Petrel

Scientific Name: Daption capense

Population Estimate: 2M

Range / Habitat: Pelagic bird of the southern Pacific Ocean. Breeds on islands of Antarctica as well as Auckland Islands and Chatham Islands of New Zealand.

Field Notes: Medium-sized seabird with distinctive black and white checkered back as able. Head solid dark. Underparts white with black leading edge to wings.

Personal Notes: Seen in the Foveaux Strait off Stewart Island. Known as Cape Pigeon in New Zealand.

Black Stilt

Scientific Name: Himantopus novaezelandiae

Population Estimate: 200 individuals, Critically Endangered

Range / Habitat: Restricted to two braided river basins near Twizel, in the South Island of New Zealand. Eggs taken from birds in the wild, raised in a protected environment, then released back to the wild.

Field Notes: All black, medium-sized wader with long pink-red legs, fine bill, red eye. Juvenile with variable white to the head, neck and chest. White-headed Stilt could be confused for a juvenile, but former has no black at all on belly.

Personal Notes: We had visited the DOC breeding site and saw these birds in captivity but then were given a tip from the owner of Heartland Lodge and were lucky enough to find them in the wild. Quite a treat!

Brown Skua

Scientific Name: Stercorarius antarcticus

Population Estimate: 26K - 28K

Range / Habitat: Seabird of the circumpolar subantarctic. In New Zealand breeds on Chatham Islands, near Stewart Island, Fiordland coast plus a variety of other small islands.

Field Notes: Large, stocky gull-shaped bird. All brown except for conspicuous white flashes on wings. South Polar Skua with lighter body and yellow feathering on hindneck. Juvenile Kelp Gull more mottled in appearance without white wing flashes.

Personal Notes: Seen in the Foveaux Strait near Stewart Island. This excellent flier could take food from the air when thrown. Maori name Hakoakoa.

Bronze Shag

Scientific Name: Leucocarbo chalconotus

Population Estimate: 5,000 - 8,000, Vulnerable status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand. Found year-round near rocky costal areas of Stewart Island and the southeastern portion of the South Island of New Zealand.

Field Notes: Large cormorant, unmistakable in range. All phases with orange base to bill. Pied phase with white stripe on shoulder, which doesn't overlap in range other, near-by, similar cormorants. Bronze phase all dark. Great Cormorant has yellow at base of bill and white on face. Little Black Cormorant has no color on face.

Personal Notes: Seen on Stewart Island.

Bar-Tailed Godwit

Scientific Name: Limosa lapponica

Population Estimate: 1.1 - 1.2M

Range / Habitat: Breeds on inland wetlands and boggy Arctic of Scandinavia, northern Asia, and Alaska. Migrates to coastal East Asia, New Zealand, Australia, Africa and northwestern Europe where found in estuaries.

Field Notes: Large wading shorebird with a long, upturned bill. Most common migrant wader in New Zealand in summer, with non-breeding plumage as above. Overall very mottled, less crisp, than other godwits. Tail is a finely barred, not solid.

Personal Notes: Maori name Kuaka. Seen at Paunawea, South Island, New Zealand. This species makes the longest known non-stop flight of any bird and also the longest journey without pausing to feed by any animal = 11,700 kilometers (~7,300 mi) along a route from Alaska to New Zealand. This journey takes nine days.

Red-crowned Parakeet

Scientific Name: Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae

Population Estimate: 21K - 25K, Vulnerable status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand where prefers forested areas. Very rare in mainland forests, but common on Stewart Island and in sanctuaries.

Field Notes: All green parakeet with red crown, red eye, and red eye stripe. Violet blue on wing coverts. Yellow-crowned Parakeet similar but with yellow crown and without red eye stripe.

Personal Notes: Maori name Kakariki. First seen at Karori Wildlife Sanctuary and then later in the wild on Stewart Island.

Double-banded Plover

Scientific Name: Charadrius bicinctus

Population Estimate: 51K

Range / Habitat: Breeds in inland wetlands of New Zealand. Non-breeding birds form flocks and some migrate to Australia, Fiji.

Field Notes: Medium-sized plover. Breeding plumage as above with black neck band and broad, chestnut chest band (male bands darker than females). Non-breeding adults highly variable, losing facial markings and portions of bands. Non-breeding New Zealand Plover similar but no remnant bands across chest and having white cheeks.

Personal Notes: Seen at Onoke Spit. In New Zealand known as Banded Dotterel. Maori name Tuturiwhatu.

Eastern Rosella

Scientific Name: Platycercus eximius

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Endemic to Australia and Tasmania where it favors lightly wooded areas. Subsequently introduced to New Zealand where it is found primarily on the North Island.

Field Notes: Long-tailed parrot with red head and upper breast, cheeks white. Lower breast yellow. Back, rump, and flanks mottled yellow-green. Blue wings.

Personal Notes: Seen in the Wairarapa, Kenepuru, and even in the hills of Wellington outside Karori.

Little Black Cormorant

Scientific Name: Phalacrocorax sulcirostris

Population Estimate: 110K - 1M

Range / Habitat: In lakes, estuaries and harbors in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, and Paupa New Guinea.

Field Notes: Small cormorant, all black with sculpted appearance, grey bill, and green eye. Juvenile phase of Little Pied Cormorant has longer tail and yellow bill. 

Personal Notes: Known in New Zealand as Little Black Shag.

Spotted Shag

Scientific Name: Phalacrocorax punctatus

Population Estimate: 35K - 150K

Range / Habitat: Endemic to New Zealand, where found in estuaries, harbors, and coastal waters of both islands.

Field Notes: Large, slender cormorant with long brown bill, long tail, and yellow feet. Broad white stripe from above eye and down sides of neck. Light brown wings with darker spots. The white stripe and spotted wings differentiate from Great Cormorant and Australian Pied Cormorant.

Personal Notes: We first saw this bird on the Otago Peninsula, later found it in Wellington Harbour, and finally found a "colony" at Oamaru (top photo). Maori name Parekareka.

Rock Dove

Scientific Name: Columba livia

Population Estimate: 260M

Range / Habitat: Originating from the rocky coastline of the British Isles, this species is now found in cities around the world.

Field Notes: Unmistakable given the habitat, though the bird has a variety of plumages.

Personal Notes: We finally took this photo in Wellington, New Zealand, to get to our 200th bird post of the year!

White-fronted Tern

Scientific Name: Sterna striata

Population Estimate: 1.5M

Range / Habitat: Coasts of New Zealand and Australia.

Field Notes: Pale hooded tern with long black bill and short black or reddish-black legs. Breeding plumage (as above) with black cap separated from bill by white forehead. Black-fronted Tern found inland on South Island and with orange bill.

Personal Notes: A delightful find in Wellington Harbor during a rainy Sunday farmers' market. Maori name Tara.

European Goldfinch

Scientific Name: Carduelis carduelis

Population Estimate: 75M - 350M

Range / Habitat: Found in artificial landscapes, grassland, shrubland throughout Europe, most of Asia, and north Africa. Introduced to Australia, New Zealand, and parts of South America.

Field Notes: Sexes are similar, and coloration is unmistakable: red face, black and white head, brown upperparts, white underparts with brown flanks and breast patches, and striking black and yellow wings. 

Personal Notes: First seen flocking around thistles on a plateau above Kaikoura. On return to New Zealand, they have been frequently spotted at the Kenepuru campus. 

Kakapo

Scientific Name: Strigops habroptila

Population Estimate: 131 individuals in 2011, Critically Endangered status

Range / Habitat: Used to be endemic throughout New Zealand. Now only on a few predator-free islands off the coast. Mating cycle dependent on one specific tree, the rimu, and its erratic fruiting cycle.

Field Notes: Large, nocturnal, flightless. Uses a lek system to mate, the only parrot or flightless bird to do so.

Personal Notes: Probably the only opportunity to see a Kakapo in our lifetimes, this was Sirocco on loan to Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in Wellington. The predator-free islands where Kakapo now live in the wild are closed to the public. For more information see http://www.kakaporecovery.org.nz/. Kakapo translates as "night parrot" or "owl parrot" in Maori.

European Greenfinch

Scientific Name: Carduelis chloris

Population Estimate: 45M - 150M

Range / Habitat: Widespread throughout Europe, north Africa and southwest Asia in artificial landscapes and shrubland. Some northern populations migrate. Also introduced into both Australia and New Zealand.

Field Notes: Similar in size and shape to a House Sparrow, but greenish color with bright yellow in wings and tail. Female more drab than male. Large, conical, pale bill. Other yellow species in New Zealand is Yellowhammer which has smaller, grey bill and rufous wings and upperparts.

Personal Notes: Seen at the Wellington Botanical Gardens.