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Twelve taxidermied birds on a black background
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Birds of 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'.

  • Round brown taxidermied bird with open beak in the air on a black background
    North Island brown kiwi

    North Island brown kiwi

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

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

    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.

  • Kākāpō
    Birds collection

    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'.

  • New Zealand Birds Online

    New Zealand Birds Online

    Find detailed information about all 467 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

    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.

  • cover of a book about birds of New Zealand
    Buller’s Birds of New Zealand: The Complete Work of JG Keulemans (New Edition)

    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.

  • Penguin bones
    Ancient colossal penguin bones discovered in Otago

    Ancient colossal penguin bones discovered in Otago

    What do you do when you discover what is possibly the largest penguin ever? You name it after your mum. This is what Curator Vertebrates Alan Tennyson – who has a paper on the discovery out today – did.

  • Cliffs and rough sea of Solander Island
    Kingdom of the Birds: An Expedition to Solander Island

    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.

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

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

    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

    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)

  • Photograph of a kākā egg
    Jigsaw: North Island Kākā egg

    Jigsaw: North Island Kākā egg

    North Island Kākā, Nestor meridionalis septentrionalis, collected 20 November 2001, Whirinaki Forest Park (Map V18), New Zealand. Gift of the Department of Conservation, 1987. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (OR.026927)

  • 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

    Jigsaw: Yellowhead

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

  • Skeleton of a kiwi bird
    Jigsaw: Stewart Island Brown Kiwi

    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)

  • Black robin eggs
    In photos: Giant eggs, tiny eggs, and the eggceptionally rare

    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.

  • An albatross flying
    The global hunt for the original wandering albatross

    The global hunt for the original wandering albatross

    Vertebrate Curator Alan Tennyson explores the history of the name of the wandering albatross and the hunt for the original specimens.

  • Snares crested penguin chicks
    Expedition to Snares Island

    Expedition to Snares Island

    In late 2013, four Te Papa scientists spent two weeks on the Snares, carrying out a range of seabird and plant research projects. Watch a series of videos about the expedition.

  • A fossil albatross skull next to a modern larger one
    Extinct tiny albatross species discovered in Taranaki

    Extinct tiny albatross species discovered in Taranaki

    The most complete fossil albatross skull ever found. Curator of vertebrates Alan Tennyson tells us more.

  • Kiwi with eggs
    Filming the elusive kiwi in the 1940s

    Filming the elusive kiwi in the 1940s

    Bird expert, Colin Miskelly, comments on recently rediscovered 1940s footage of a kiwi, and explains how far wildlife documentaries have come in the last 70 years.

  • Superman and a moa flying in the air
    Moa vs Superman: Poignant extinction lessons via a 1970s comic

    Moa vs Superman: Poignant extinction lessons via a 1970s comic

    ‘This Superman story is actually a great portrayal of an extinct species and its tragic fate at the hands of humankind.’