Top 10 Birds You’re most Likely to See on Your NZ Roadtrip

While traveling around New Zealand you’re guaranteed to see lots of birds. I compiled a list of 10 of the coolest birds you are most likely to encounter on your trip, including a few photos I took throughout the years and some fascinating facts on these special animals. Most of these birds can be found nowhere else on earth!

Kea

The Kea is one of my personal favourites. It is the world’s only alpine parrot and can be found only in the South Island of New Zealand. You’re most likely to encounter Kea in Arthur’s Pass and Fiordland National Park. Kea are incredibly intelligent and curious. Watch your belongings closely when you are around Kea, as they like to investigate everything, and are infamous for destroying and disassembling all kinds of things, including cars. It’s no joke! In areas where Kea are active, the car parks are littered with rubber parts, valve caps and plastic bits. They even work in groups to distract you. Kea are so smart, the Institute of Cognitive Biology in Vienna named them the world’s smartest bird. They can solve complex puzzles and use tools and touchscreens.

Kea have olive-green plumage with orange, red and blue feathers on the undersides of their wings. They are super trusting, so you have a chance to get pretty close to them. Please don’t touch or feed them, though!

Fantail/Pīwakawaka

Fantails love to display their long tail feathers, which make up around half of their size. They are very active birds, hopping from branch to branch. You will often find them trailing you on your walks through the forests of New Zealand, as they are very friendly. They flick their fanned tails to disturb little insects, which they then catch in spectacular flight manoeuvres. Sometimes it feels like they just want to show off their tails, though. Especially when they follow you around it really feels like they interact with you. According to Māori legend, the fantail is a messenger of death, and a fantail flying into your house means bad luck. But don’t worry, we’ve had Fantails come inside our home before, and nothing bad has happened to us.

Tui

Tui are unique to New Zealand, where they can be found on all three main islands - not only in forests but also in cities. There always used to be a Tui in the Pohutukawa Tree in front of my place in Auckland. Their song is very loud and strange, but beautiful. Tui have a dual voice box, so they can make two sounds at the same time. And they can sing very complex melodies. Māori used to train them to replicate human speech. Their plumage is quite pretty: They have a white throat tuft and there is an iridescent sheen to their feathers that makes them seem to change colour depending on the light - blue, green and black.

Pukeko

Pukeko can be found all over New Zealand’s three main islands in wetlands, paddocks and parks. Not being particularly good at flying, they mostly wade and run. Pukeko are large birds up to half a metre in size. They have adapted well to humans and changing habitats, so they are not threatened. You will often find them next to highways or on farmland, that’s why the photo below was taken through a fence.

Weka

This flightless endemic rail used to be widespread throughout all three main islands but can now mostly be found on the west coast of the South Island. They are curious and cheeky. Apparently they even steal hikers’ gear sometimes. They are omnivorous and relatively large and heavy. Males can weigh up to 1.4kg and they can even kill stoats and rats! We’ve seen loads of Wekas on the Paparoa Track and in the Marlborough Sounds, but I’ve also had one Weka hide underneath my car on a car park next to the Great Coast Road, so you don’t necessarily have to go to remote areas to see them.

Northern Royal Albatross

Albatross are amazing animals and one of my favourite birds to encounter in New Zealand. The Northern Royal Albatross can be found on the Otago Peninsula, in the South of New Zealand’s South Island. There, at Taiaroa Head, you can visit the only mainland breeding colony in the world. These Albatrosses are huge, their wingspan of up to 3.5m being the largest in the world. Albatrosses mate for life, raising one chick every 2 years. They can fly up to 1000km per day and spend the first 4 years after fledging at sea, without touching land a single time.

You can get up close to the Albatross colony by booking a tour with the Royal Albatross Centre at Taiaroa Head. If you can’t or don’t want to pay the admission, you might still see Albatross in flight - if you’re lucky, no promise! - from Aramoana Beach opposite to Taiaroa Head or from the car park in front of the Royal Albatross Centre.

Kereru/Wood Pigeon

Kereru is New Zealand’s native pigeon. They are very large pigeons - up to 51cm - with a wingspan of 75cm! Their flight is noisy so you will definitely hear when they land or take off close to you. They love to feast on the fruits of native trees like miro, kahikatea and nikau. Sometimes they eat so much of these fermenting fruits that they get drunk and even fall from trees. Their plumage is a pretty iridescent green with a white belly, their eyes are red. They put on impressive aerial displays during breeding, in which they ascend slowly and steeply before diving down at high speed. Like most pigeons, Kereru are monogamous and not very good at building nests. I’ve seen Kereru in a lot of places all over New Zealand, but most often in the forests of Fiordland and Westland.

Most of the time this will be your perspective on Kereru, as they like to sit high up in trees or Nikau Palms.

New Zealand Robin

Like their European cousins, New Zealand Robins are very friendly and inquisitive. Sometimes, when you are on a hike in the forest, they will follow you to see if you disturbed any insects on the hiking path. If you stand very still they might even come and sit on your boots. They are grey with a cream white belly.

Little Blue Penguin/Kororā

I converted these photos to black and white because the only light source was a red torch.

The Little Blue Penguin, also known as Fairy Penguin, is the smallest penguin in the world (40-45cm). They can be found on all three main islands, where they come ashore at dusk after a day fishing out at sea. Their conservation status is „at risk“, with domestic dogs being the main factor contributing to their declining population. Little Blue Penguins nest in burrows or holes, mostly in sand dunes, but in areas populated by humans they oftentimes nest underneath houses and other artificial structures. You can pay to see Little Blue Penguins come ashore in their hundreds at the Little Blue Penguin Colony in Oamaru, or you can just stroll around the harbour in Oamaru or Timaru and see if you can spot them coming ashore and crossing streets to get to their burrows. Keep in mind that they come out of the water once it is dark and are easily spooked. So be quiet, don’t shine bright lights on them, and drive slowly! I’ve seen Little Blue Penguins in other places like the Coromandel Peninsula on the North Island, but Oamaru and Timaru are probably your safest bet.

Australasian Gannet

Gannets can easily be identified by their yellow head, white body and black wing feathers. They can be found in the waters of all three main islands, but if you want to get up close you can visit the Gannet Colony in Muriwai (Auckland) or Cape Kidnappers (East Coast). You don’t have to pay to visit the Muriwai breeding colony and these birds are truly fascinating to watch, especially during mating season and when they have chicks. Auckland’s West Coast beaches are beautiful and almost every traveler will get to Auckland sooner or later, so visiting Muriwai Gannet colony is definitely something I recommend doing!