This large black and white bird is seen on the river, on the beach and flying overhead. It’s often observed with wings outstretched, sunning itself. There’s a whole colony of them in the trees just upstream from the footbridge. He aha tērā? What is that? Answer: it’s a Kawau | Pied Shag:
Identification: Length: 65 - 85 cm; Weight: 1.3 - 2.1 kg Similar species: Little shag, New Zealand king shag, Stewart Island shag, Black shag A large, relatively slim black-and-white shag with white face, black feet, blue eye-rings and yellow facial skin.
I have much to learn about taking photos of shags in trees. They don’t seem really photogenic up there. Still, this one was looking delightfully dorky!
Photos by Miraz Jordan and used with permission.
Photo by Fred Hirst. Used with permission. This very colourful bird has been spotted in the village recently [December 2021], but shouldn’t be here at all. It has a red bill, blue head, yellow neck, green body and red breast. It’s not an eastern rosella though. He aha tērā? What is that? Answer: it’s a Rainbow Lorikeet:
Identification: Length: 28 cm; Weight: 120 g
Similar species: Eastern rosella Brightly coloured medium-sized parrot with red bill and blue head.
You’ll see these large elegant all-white birds sweeping their long black bills with rounded ends through the water in the estuary or the lakes. The crest on the top of their head gives them a regal appearance. He aha tērā? What is that?
Answer: it’s a Kōtuku Ngutupapa | Royal Spoonbill:
Identification: Length: 74 - 81 cm; Weight: 1.4 - 2.0 kg Similar species: Yellow-billed spoonbill, White heron A large white heron-like bird with long black legs and a large black spoon-shaped bill.
Coot with 3 chicks, and another bird. It’s the right time of year for the Australian coots on the Strathnaver lakes, Waimarie and Te Puna a te Ora (Tranquil Waters and The Wellspring of Good Health) to have babies. I spotted these today.
Coot with 4 chicks. Length: 35 - 39 cm; Weight: 520 - 570 g
Similar species: New Zealand scaup | Pāpango
An entirely slate-grey medium-sized rail with a white bill and frontal shield, red eyes and very large grey feet with large lobed toes.
Glance at the lakes at the corner of Reay Mackay Grove and Strathnaver Drive and you may think they have many ordinary ducks. Look more closely though and you’ll discover a variety of birds.
One is the Pāpango | New Zealand scaup. New Zealand scaup are gregarious diving ducks common throughout New Zealand. Compact and blackish, they have the silhouette of a bath-toy duck.
New Zealand scaup are quite unlike any other resident duck species.
You’ll hear its long melodic song trilling 30 to 100 metres high above you before you can spot this bird. Search the skies and you may spot it over the dunes or the paddocks. He aha tērā? What is that? Answer: it’s a Kaireka | Skylark:
Identification: Length: 18 cm; Weight: 38 g Similar species: New Zealand pipit, Yellowhammer A small brown and creamy-buff bird with off-white underparts, streaked breast and throat, variegated brown upperparts, a sturdy horn-coloured bill that is yellow-brown at the base, and pink legs and feet with a long slightly curved hind toe.
They’re so graceful and elegant. Often seen in pairs on the lakes. At the right time of year these large black birds may have a half dozen fluffy white or grey young in tow. He aha tērā? What is that? Answer: it’s a Kakīānau | Black Swan:
Identification: Length: 110 - 140 cm; Weight: 5 - 7 kg (male), 4 - 6 kg (female) Similar species: the only other swan in New Zealand is the larger and all white mute swan, which is very rare.
You’ll have no trouble with this very common medium size water fowl. Its quacking will be very familiar. We see them on lakes and the estuary. He aha tērā? What is that? Answer: it’s a Rakiraki | Mallard:
Identification: Length: 50 - 70 cm; Weight: 1050 - 1300 g Similar species: Grey duck A large dabbling duck with a yellowish or grey and orange bill, dark eyes, orange legs and feet, chestnut breast, and metallic blue speculum.
Look closer and you’ll see this isn’t a regular duck on the Reay Mackay Grove lakes. This colourful bird has a dark head and large dark bill, with a splash of white between the two. The body’s an almost luminous brown. They seem to hang out in groups. He aha tērā? What is that? Answer: it’s a Kuruwhengi | Australasian Shoveler:
Identification: Length: 46 - 53 cm; Weight: 570 - 850 g (male); 545 - 745 g (female) Similar species: Northern shoveler A medium-sized dabbling duck with a large black spoon-shaped bill, yellow eyes and orange legs.
The honking. The V-formation flying. The New Zealand population of these large birds with a distinctive white chin-strap is primarily descended from an importation of 50 birds in 1905. He aha tērā? What is that? Answer: it’s a Kuihi | Canada Goose:
Identification: Length: 85 –95 cm; Weight: 4.5 - 5.5 kg Similar species: Greylag goose, Cape Barren goose A large light-brown goose with black head, neck, bill, legs and feet, white ‘chinstrap’, and light brown barring on the white breast and abdomen.
What a surprise and a delight to find this large all-white bird at Waikawa Beach. It’s not a Royal Spoonbill though. These critically endangered birds are usually found only at their breeding site, Okarito Lagoon on the West Coast, but one recently found its way to wetlands on Reay Mackay Grove. He aha tērā? What is that? Photo by Kezna Cameron. Used with permission. Answer: it’s a Kōtuku | White Heron:
You see these very common white and grey birds on the beach, with their distinctive red bills and legs. He aha tērā? What is that? Photo by Miraz Jordan. Used with permission. Answer: it’s a Tarāpunga | Red-Billed Gull:
Identification: Length: 37 cm; Weight: 240 - 320 g Similar species: Black-billed gull A medium-sized white gull with pale grey mantle, back and wing coverts, black main flight feathers with white tips, white iris, and bright red bill, eyelids and legs.
They dart and swoop around with their v-shaped wings and forked tails. They line up on wire fences. At certain times of the year you’ll find their mud nests above an outside light fitting, or high in the garage. He aha tērā? What is that? Photo by Stephen Betts. Used with permission. Answer: it’s a Warou | Welcome Swallow:
Identification: Length: 14 - 16 cm; Weight: 9 - 20 g Similar species: Tree martin, Fairy martin, Fork-tailed swift, White-throated needletail A small bird with rufous on the forehead, neck, breast and flanks, a black eye stripe, a short broad black bill, blue-black back and upperwings, pale buff underparts, long dark tail with white spots towards the ends of the feathers, and a deeply-forked tail and long pointed wings.
We don’t have a lot of Tikaokao | California Quail at Waikawa Beach, but they do show up from time to time with their distinctive “Chi-ca-go” cry. This one was strolling along Strathnaver Drive near Sarah Street on 16 December 2021.
[Update]: Then on 14 October 2022 one came and hung out on our deck railing for a while. It let me take a bunch of photos.
Photos by Miraz Jordan and used with permission.
This large bird has been seen around Strathnaver Drive, and seems to have taken up residence in the ‘rainy season’ lake on the bend. He aha tērā? What is that? Answer: it’s a Kuihi | Greylag Goose:
Identification: Length: 80 cm; Weight: 3 kg Similar species: Cape Barren goose, Canada goose, Mute swan A large long-necked goose with orange bill and legs. Males are entirely white and females have large greyish brown patches, especially on the neck, lower breast and sides.
Some may describe this bird as ‘a fancy sparrow’, but look closely and you’ll see the greenish colours and the yellow stripe on the wing edge. This one was feasting on rosemary. He aha tērā? What is that? Answer: it’s a Greenfinch:
Identification: Length: 16 cm; Weight: 28 g Similar species: Bellbird, Silvereye, House sparrow A small songbird species in which adult males are green with yellow on the abdomen, bright yellow bars on the leading edges of the wings, a pinkish conical bill and pink legs.
You see these large birds at the beach, or maybe flocking around a fishing boat, or perhaps inland. The adults are black and white; the juveniles speckled brown. He aha tērā? What is that? Answer: it’s a Kororo | Black-Backed Gull:
Identification: Length: 60 cm; Weight: 1.0 kg Similar species: Subantarctic skua A large black-and-white gull with a white head and underparts, black back, yellow bill with a red spot near the tip, and pale green legs.
This large bird has a special squawk that alerts you when an earthquake is coming. Or it startles as you go by and throws itself into the air with a clatter of wings then clumsily flaps a short distance. Or it strolls along the road in front of you. He aha tērā? What is that? Photo by Jan Jordan. Used with permission. Answer: it’s a Peihana | Ring-Necked Pheasant:
You see this distinctive long-legged black and white bird with its fine black bill down at the beach or on flooded paddocks. There is usually a group of them, and they often hang out with the Oystercatchers. He aha tērā? What is that? Answer: it’s a Poaka | Pied Stilt: Identification: Length: 35 cm; Weight: 190 g Similar species: Black stilt A compact, black-and-white stilt with long red legs and a long fine pointed black bill.
Tauhou | Waxeye on flax spear. Late afternoon, Thursday 09 December 2021. It was a bird bounty! Warou | Welcome Swallow. Manu-kai-hua-rakau | Thrush. Hurukōwhai | Yellowhammer singing. Greenfinch singing.
Photo by Kezna Cameron. You’ll be very lucky to ever see this large long-legged bird as it prefers to hide. You may see it in grass near water, or ‘sloping’ across the road. If you listen closely on a still night you may hear its faint booming call. It’s been spotted or heard a few times around Waikawa Beach and has 3 feeding areas locally: in a private wetland at the south end of Reay Mackay Grove, at the lakes at the corner of Reay Mackay Grove and Strathnaver Drive, and near the speedbump furthest from Sarah Street along Strathnaver Drive.
You see this large bird soaring above the paddocks, perhaps ‘squeaking’ sometimes. Or maybe it flies up in front of your car, from a dead rabbit on the road. He aha tērā? What is that? Photo by Jan Jordan. Used with permission. Answer: it’s a Kāhu | Swamp Harrier:
Identification: Length: 50 - 60 cm; Weight: 650 g (male), 850 g (female) Similar species: New Zealand falcon, Black kite A large long-legged harrier with long taloned toes, long pointed wings, prominent facial disks and a strongly hooked bill.
You’re on the beach, perhaps just south of the river and see these birds, probably in pairs, maybe running around on the sand. He aha tērā? What is that?
Answer: it’s a Tōrea Pango | Variable Oystercatcher:
Identification: Length: 48 cm; Weight: 720 g Similar species: South Island pied oystercatcher, Chatham Island oystercatcher A large heavily-built wader with black upperparts and underparts that vary from all black through a range of “smudgy” intermediate states to white.