Twelve taxidermied birds on a black background

Birds of Aotearoa New Zealand

Birds are an important part of New Zealand's nationhood. We are the only nation where the people are colloquially known by a bird name – 'Kiwi'.

A man in a blue t-shirt is holding a grey fluffy chick on the side of a mountain by the sea.

Every Last Bird: Birds of Te Araroa Trail

Between November 2023 and March 2024, Natural History curator Colin Miskelly walks the length of Aotearoa New Zealand on Te Araroa Trail counting every last bird on the way.

Birds of the Great Walks of Aotearoa New Zealand

Aotearoa New Zealand has ten official Great Walks. Te Papa natural history curator Dr Colin Miskelly has walked (or paddled) them all and kept records of the birds that he encountered along the way.

Close up of a kererū wing, showing an iridescent display of colours, from red through orange to green and blue

Quiz: Can you identify the manu | bird from its feathers?

In Aotearoa New Zealand we’re lucky to have such unique native manu (birds). Using close-up photos of specimens in our collections, can you pick them?

Round brown taxidermied bird with open beak in the air on a black background

North Island brown kiwi

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

Birds collection

Birds are an important part of New Zealand's nationhood. We are the only nation where the people are colloquially known by a bird name – 'Kiwi'.

An image of the NZ Birds Online homepage, containing a search box and a background image of a Kākāriki

New Zealand Birds Online

Find detailed information about all species of New Zealand birds, including all living, extinct, fossil, vagrant, and introduced bird species.

Member of the expedition holding a takahē

Watch: Rediscovering the 'extinct' takahē in 1948

We've resurfaced colour footage not seen since the 1940s. One of New Zealand's greatest wildlife stories – the rediscovery of the 'extinct' takahē in 1948, found alive in Fiordland.

Buller’s Birds of New Zealand: The Complete Work of JG Keulemans (New Edition)

New Zealand's best-loved birds come alive in luminous colour in Buller’s Birds of New Zealand: The Complete Work of JG Keulemans.

Kingdom of the Birds: An Expedition to Solander Island

The remote Snares Islands are teeming with rare wildlife – including tomtits, albatross, and penguins. They seldom have human visitors. In late 2013, four Te Papa scientists spent two weeks on the Snares, carrying out a range of seabird and plant research projects.

Over-looked for a century: Macquarie Island shag added to the New Zealand list

‘Presumably no-one bothered to check till now whether Ogilvie-Grant knew one shag from another.’ Curator Colin Miskelly shares his research resulting in the addition of a new (or old) bird to the official New Zealand bird list.

extinct_adzebill_skulls._photo_by_rachael_hockridge.jpg

Martinborough’s cave of bones: How thousands of flightless birds met their end

Fossilised bird grave sites are common in New Zealand, but one particular cave in Martinborough has revealed thousands of bones of flightless birds who plunged to their deaths.

Closeup of orange, brown and white feathers

Jigsaw: Kākā feathers

North Island Kaka, Nestor meridionalis septentrionalis, collected 24 April 1988, Waiterimu, near Ohinewai, Waikato., New Zealand. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (OR.024148/1)

Jigsaw: North Island Kākā egg

North Island Kākā, Nestor meridionalis septentrionalis, Te Papa (OR.026927)

Quiz: How well do you know your New Zealand birds?

Do you know the difference between a hihi and a huia? Or how many species of kiwi there are in NZ? Put your native bird knowledge to the test.

Painting depicting two yellowhead birds, with vibrant yellow heads and underside plumage and green back and wing plumage, sitting on a mossy log

Jigsaw: Yellowhead

Eileen Mayo, Yellowhead, 1976, gouache on paper. Te Papa (2005-0015-1/11)

Jigsaw: Stewart Island Brown Kiwi

Stewart Island Brown Kiwi , Apteryx australis lawryi, collected no data, New Zealand. Acquisition history unknown. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (OR.026398)

In photos: Giant eggs, tiny eggs, and the eggceptionally rare

Bird expert Colin Miskelly highlights some of the treasures in our egg collection, including those thought to be held only by Te Papa – as well as giant moa eggs, tiny rifleman eggs, and eggs that were acquired during dramatic events in New Zealand’s conservation history.