Nga Manu

NGA MANU O TAMAKI-MAKAURAU

Come and see some of Auckland’s best birding sites and enrich your birding with Maori bird lore and cultural traditions. All trips visit the Waitakere Ranges and Tiritiri Matangi, but the other sites visited will vary according to the season.

We begin the day by making our way out to the rainforest, rich in bird life, in the Waitakere Ranges, just west of Auckland. We will spend an hour walking among giant Kauri trees, seeing birds such as Kereru, Tui, Kaka, Robin, Tomtit, Fantail, and Grey Warbler. Our specialist Maori guide at the Waitakere’s will weave his knowledge of Maori bird lore into this walk with information about traditional Maori practices, and legends relating to the birds of Aotearoa.

Our next stop, guided by an experienced ornithologist, is Auckland’s wild, west coast where we experience the pounding surf, and the wheeling seabirds, especially Australasian Gannets, and Southern Black Back Gulls. In the season (October to January) we will go to Muriwai where there is one of Aotearoa’s three mainland colonies of Australasian Gannets.

We will stop for lunch at BeesOnline in Waimauku, a very special restaurant with beautiful food in a wonderful setting.

Then we drive across to the east coast to Gulf Harbour where we take a water taxi to Tiritiri Matangi Island. This is a world-renowned bird sanctuary made possible by a co-operative approach between the community and government. Your guide will tell of the early Maori inhabitants of Tiritiri Matangi, and the community-led revegetation programme that transformed it from a scrub-covered island to a prized haven for endangered endemic species.

Tiritiri Matangi was inhabited by Maori people by the time of the Rangitoto eruptions 6-700 years ago. Maori were using Tiri as a temporary campsite, and a hunting and fishing base. They caught mainly large prey such as marine mammals and fish such as sharks, rays and snapper. Shellfish, tuatara and some coastal birds were also part of their diet. In Maori legend, it is a sign of settled weather if Tiri appears to float above the horizon.

After your visit to Tiri we will take a water taxi down the harbour back to the city with opportunities to see many of Auckland’s inshore seabirds, such as Fluttering and Buller’s Shearwaters, possibly White-fronted Terns, and a variety of cormorants. Your guide will also talk to you about the Maori history of the settlement of the inshore islands and isthmus.

Bird species seen over the day may include Kereru, Tui, Kaka, Toutouwai (North Island Robin), Miromiro (Tomtit), Fantail, Riroriro (Grey Warbler), Pukeko, Takahe, Tieke (Saddleback), Hihi (Stitchbird), Korimako (Bellbird), Popokateatea (Whitehead), Kokako, Brown Quail, Blue Penguin, Pied Shag, Spotted Shag, Black Shag, Little Shag, Caspian Tern, White-fronted Tern, Kotare (Kingfisher), Grey Teal, Grey Duck, Australasian Shoveller, Black Swan, Mallard.