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Ngā Manu (birds) in Aotearoa New Zealand

Aotearoa New Zealand is home to many distinctive ngā manu (birds) that evolved in interesting ways due to our once isolated and predator-free environment. Explore these resources to find out more about our manu, their behaviour, habitats, history and significance to te ao Māori, as well as conservation efforts to save our threatened and endangered species. SCIS no. 5418466.

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Photograph of a sub mature adult Southern royal albatross (Diomedia epomophora epomophora), Campbell Island

Photograph of a sub mature adult Southern royal albatross (Diomedia epomophora epomophora), Campbell Island

Sub mature adult Southern royal albatross (Diomedia epomophora epomophora), Campbell Island. Photographed by Philip George Poppleton in about 1959 Quantity: 1 colour original transparency/ies. P...

Ngā manu (birds) teaching and learning resources

Explore these great teaching resources to support learning about manu (birds) of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Many Answers

Many Answers has useful links to websites about our native birds.

Loading Docs 2017 - Ajax the Kea Conservation Dog

Loading Docs 2017 - Ajax the Kea Conservation Dog

This short Loading Docs documentary from 2017 follows conservationist Corey Mosen as he heads into the forest with a special canine — his border collie cross Ajax. The pair play a vital role in the...

Artwork of ngā manu (birds) of Aotearoa New Zealand

Artwork of ngā manu (birds) of Aotearoa New Zealand

A collection of artwork featuring manu (birds) of Aotearoa New Zealand by New Zealand artists.

New Zealand Birds Online

The digital encyclopedia of New Zealand birds

Why New Zealand needs predator control

Why New Zealand needs predator control

Predator Control in New Zealand, why it is necessary and how you can be part of the Predator Free 2050 vision.

Meet the Locals: Sirocco the Kākāpō

Meet the Locals: Sirocco the Kākāpō

Join Nicola Toki (née Vallance) as she meets the kākāpō, the world’s rarest and most ancient flightless bird. Department of Conservation Ranger Leigh Joyce introduces us to Sirocco, a kākāpō hand-r...

Predator Free 2050

Predator Free 2050 is an ambitious goal to rid New Zealand of the most damaging introduced predators that threaten our nation’s natural taonga, our economy and primary sector.

Tāne Mahuta

Tāne Mahuta is the god of forests and birds. In this artwork by Adam Williams and Joshua Watene he is rising from a tree trunk, surrounded by his creatures.

He Paki Taonga i a Māui: Te Ngarohanga o ngā Parirau o te Kiwi | How the Kiwi Lost Its Wings

He Paki Taonga i a Māui: Te Ngarohanga o ngā Parirau o te Kiwi | How the Kiwi Lost Its Wings

Tāne asks Kiwi to help save the forest - but it comes at a great price. Episode 10. *** He Paki Taonga i a Māui: Whakapiri mai ki a Māui me āna paki taonga mā ngā tamariki mai i ngā kohinga taonga ...

He Paki Taonga i a Māui: Ko te Pakanga a ngā Manu | Battle of the Birds

He Paki Taonga i a Māui: Ko te Pakanga a ngā Manu | Battle of the Birds

Seabirds and land birds battle over tasty kai! Who will win? Episode 7. *** He Paki Taonga i a Māui: Whakapiri mai ki a Māui me āna paki taonga mā ngā tamariki mai i ngā kohinga taonga a Te Papa. J...

In a country known globally for its unique bird diversity and the tragic loss of its birdlife following human arrival, no species resonates more in the stories of the formation of our nation than t...

He tūī, he kōkō rānei?: Māori names for native birds matter – ecologist

A team of ecologists are collaborating with Māori experts to establish correct Māori language name conventions for native birds. Ecologist Dr Priscilla Wehi says there's hidden knowledge in Māori n...

Birdlife Pacific: A overview of the pest eradication initiatives from Birdlife partners

Birdlife Pacific: A overview of the pest eradication initiatives from Birdlife partners

Presented at the Birdlife International Congress 2013, http://www.birdlife.org/community/2011/09/the-birdlife-world-congress-2013-information/

World Albatross Day: How NZ became the world's albatross capital

The world's only mainland royal albatross breeding colony, in Otago, came about because of the threat of war, but the birds now face their own existential threat.

Threats to endangered coastal birdlife

Threats to endangered coastal birdlife

With Keith Woodley - The manager of the Miranda Shorebird Centre on the Firth of Thames.

North Island brown kiwi

The kiwi is a symbol of Aotearoa – and one of the strangest birds in the world.

Māori weavers used feathers to adorn cloaks, creating prestigious kahu huruhuru. Discover the beliefs around birds that make these cloaks so special. Find out why certain feathers were chosen and h...

Tales of Taonga - Manumea

Tales of Taonga - Manumea

"It's part of our Samoan culture and part of our heritage" The Manumea bird was made famous by MaryJane Mckibbin-Schwenke's popular siva for Miss South Pacific*, but this treasured bird that is onl...

NZ's Smallest Bird

NZ's Smallest Bird

University of Auckland PhD student Sarah Withers introduces the rifleman, NZ's smallest native land bird.

Meet the Locals: Tiritiri Matangi

Meet the Locals: Tiritiri Matangi

Season 3, episode 10: Travel to Tiritiri Matangi, where you can hear and see some of New Zealand’s rarest birds, including takahē and saddleback/tīeke. This island sanctuary open to the public. Mee...

Kapiti Island nature and conservation

Kapiti Island is host to one of the largest accessible island bird sanctuaries in New Zealand, set in one of the nation’s most valuable nature reserves.

Keulemans, John Gerrard 1842-1912 :New Zealand pigeon. Carpophaga Novae Zealandiae. (one-half natural size). / J. G. Keulemans delt. & lith. [Plate XXIV. 1888].

Keulemans, John Gerrard 1842-1912 :New Zealand pigeon. Carpophaga Novae Zealandiae. (one-half natural size). / J. G. Keulemans delt. & lith. [Plate XXIV. 1888].

Shows wood pigeon or kereru, sitting on tawa tree. Inscriptions: Inscribed - Recto - bottom right: Judd & Co. Limited, Imp.. Quantity: 1 colour art print(s) in book.. Physical Description: Lithogra...

OUR NEW ZEALAND BIRDS. (New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, 01 May 1900)

NATIVE BIRDS. (Ohinemuri Gazette, 08 April 1907)

Kerry-Jayne Wilson: flying with the seabirds

Kerry-Jayne Wilson: flying with the seabirds

New Zealand is the seabird capital of the world! We also have more than twice as many threatened species of seabirds than any other country. Our seabirds are more threatened than our land birds and...

New Zealanders! protect your native birds

New Zealanders! protect your native birds

The Native Bird Protection Society (now known as Forest & Bird) was formed at a meeting in March 1923 - the same year this poster was published. The meeting was convened by environmentalist Captain...

The growing mana of the kākāpō

The rimu are expected to mast in the South this summer, supporting the kākāpō population to breed again. Following highly successful breeding seasons in 2016 and 2019, the kākāpō population is doin...

Birds - The Coming of the Maori

The extensive forests of New Zealand teemed with bird life and methods of procuring forest birds for food were developed that were unknown in Polynesia. The principal forest birds sought for food w...

Wooden water trough used for catching birds

Wooden water trough used for catching birds

Wooden water trough with snare loops, or waka waituhi, used for snaring birds, particularly kereru. Photograph taken by Albert Percy Godber. Inscriptions: Verso - [Written in Albert Percy Godber's...

Te Kupenga: Custom meets colonisation

For Māori, harvesting and preserving manu (birds) like tītī (muttonbird) is a centuries-old customary practice involving kaitiakitanga and tikanga. But colonisation affected this practice. Find out...

Island Migrations BIRDS AND SEA CURRENTS AIDED CANOE NAVIGATORS (1 August 1955)

Island Migrations BIRDS AND SEA CURRENTS AIDED CANOE NAVIGATORS (1 August 1955)

Pacific islands monthly : PIM. Vol. XXVI, No.1 ( Aug. 1, 1955) Island Migrations BIRDS AND SEA CURRENTS AIDED CANOE NAVIGATORS REFERENCES to birds as an aid to Polynesian and Micronesian navigatio...

Māori and Kōkako

For Māori the ngahere (forest) is a taonga and birds were valued for food and korowai (cloaks). Bird behaviour was used to predict the weather and the future.

Māori And Birds Of Prey

When Māori first arrived in Aotearoa (New Zealand) some 800 years ago, the land they encountered was dominated by birdlife. The land, sea, rivers and mountains would have overflowed with the riches...

Oral traditions show that early Māori recognised the extinction of the moa

Oral traditions show that early Māori recognised the extinction of the moa

After Europeans arrived, moa were used a metaphor for the feared extinction of Māori themselves, write the authors of a new study. Tracing extinctions that happened centuries ago is difficult, but...

Nightclub

This song from the mysterious duo Fatcat & Fishface is from the Birdbrain album, praised by the Sunday Star Times as “the best children's record of 2009, and as witty as it is educational.” A colla...

Expedition to Snares Island

The remote Snares Islands, 105km south-south-west of Stewart Island, are teeming with rare wildlife – including tomtits, albatross and penguins. They seldom have human visitors. In late 2013, four ...

Gannet warden and junior wildlife wardens checking young gannets

Gannet warden and junior wildlife wardens checking young gannets

Original caption reads "gannet warden and junior wildlife wardens check the birth and development of the young birds and record their findings on the observation sheet". Quantity: 1 b&w original p...

The secrets of seabird feathers: a new indicator of climate change?

Research which tests the stress levels of seabirds from their feathers can help chart the effects of climate change on threatened populations

Top results for Ngā Manu (birds) in Aotearoa New Zealand from AnyQuestions

Many Answers

Many Answers

Many Answers has useful links to websites about our native birds.

Junior Secondary

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