sea-birding in New Zealand

Otago Peninsular

The Otago peninsular is situated to the east of Dunedin on the south-eastern coast of the South Island. The key seabirds here are the Royal Albatross that breed around the tip of the peninsular at Taiorora Heads and the Yellow-eyed Penguins, which breed on many of the beaches. The Albatross colony is the only mainland breeding site and allows great views of birds on the deck and in flight, about 25 pairs breed annually. Offshore Sooty Shearwater, Bullers, Shy and Black-browed Albatross, Stewart Island Shag and Spotted Shag can also be seen and other seabirds are possible.

The Yellow eyed Penguins are endemic to New Zealand with 1200 or so pairs breeding around the South Island. A visit to Penguin Place provides a touristy birding experience that allows you to utilise a series of tunnels to see the Penguins return to land each evening at the private penguin reserve. The birds are temperamental and can show to a matter of feet but more distant views are usual. Little Blue Penguin, Fur Seal and Hookers Sealion are also usually seen on the reserve. For the purists there are several sites to see smaller numbers of Penguins without the company of a tour guide but all profits are ploughed back into Penguin conservation and research, so it's worth parting with a few dollars just to support this type of venture.

Foveaux Strait and Stewart Island

35km off the southern tip off the South Island lies Stewart Island. The 450 residents are outnumbered by Brown Kiwi and the habited area of the Island is tiny compared to the hundreds of square miles of undisturbed forest and coastline. The crossing from the mainland is choppy at best and T-shirts are sold to commemorate a survival!! The Catamaran does tend to bounce off the waves and birding is difficult.

However, Albatross, Prions, Petrels and Shearwaters can be seen and entering the calmer waters of Paterson Inlet provides views of Brown Skua, Stewart Island Shag and Mottled Petrel breed on the smaller islands. Shy and Bullers Albatross follow the fishing vessels into port and Fjordland Crested, Yellow-eyed and Little Blue Penguins all breed nearby. For those with money to burn a boat and skipper can be chartered for the day to explore waters south of the Island which will produce Antarctic Tern and perhaps something really special such as Light-mantled Sooty Albatross. Although not a seabird, a must is the 4hr trip to the romantically named Ocean Beach to watch Kiwi feeding along the tideline at night, a truly unforgettable encounter. The New Zealand Sooty Shearwater population is estimated at 20 million pairs and around this coast spectacular numbers can be seen, the greatest density we saw was 250,000 feeding in a long sweeping bay adjacent to the Foveaux Strait.

The West Coast

The West Coast of the South Island has 2 seabird endemics. Firstly the Fjordland Crested Penguin, probably the world's rarest penguin with fewer than 2500 breeding pairs. These birds breed where the temperate rainforest meets the sea at Milford, Dusky and Doubtful Sounds, Jackson Bay and Monro Beach (both near Haast). The Westland Black Petrel was first discovered in 1947 by a local Teacher and class, conducting a project about the 'Sooty Shearwaters' breeding in the nearby forests. The birds they found flying in at night were not the Sooty Shearwaters they had assumed but a species not yet described and breeding only along the thin strip of coastal hills between their village and the next. Adding to the enigma of this species story, the young birds leave the colony for up to 7 years, ranging thousands of miles across the Pacific, before returning at night to breed within a few kilometers of their birthplace.

New Zealand has a limited variety of birds due to its' isolated position. What the Islands lack in avian diversity is compensated by the quality of the species seen. The seabirds are outstanding, the endemics enigmatic and the scenery stunning.

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