Ten endemic birds and where to see them

New Zealand's long isolation produced birds that live nowhere else on Earth. Some are common enough to turn up in a city park. Others hang on in a handful of protected places. This list mixes both, and for each one we suggest where and how to look. Statuses change, so check each bird's page on NZ Birds Online or the Department of Conservation (DOC) site before you set out.

1. Kiwi

There are five species of kiwi, all flightless and mostly active at night. Save the Kiwi estimates that, nationally, kiwi numbers are falling by around 2% a year where they aren't protected, which is why most wild sightings now happen in places with serious predator control.

Where to look: Rakiura Stewart Island gives the best chance of seeing a wild kiwi, and Save the Kiwi keeps a list of places to see kiwi, including sanctuaries. Most people hear a kiwi before they see one: males give a rising, piercing whistle and females a lower, hoarse call.

Tip: Night walks need red-filtered torches, slow movement and silence. Our separate field note on kiwi spotting covers the etiquette in detail.

2. Kea (mountain parrot)

Kea live only in the South Island's mountains, along the main ranges and in the Kaikōura ranges. They are olive-green with brilliant orange under the wings, which you only see when they fly. They are classed as nationally endangered.

Where to look: Alpine passes and car parks such as Arthur's Pass, and the high country around Fiordland. They are curious and bold, and they will investigate your pack, boots and car.

Tip: Never feed kea. Human food harms them and teaches them to hang around roads, where they get hit.

3. Kākā (forest parrot)

Kākā are large, bronze-brown parrots with flashes of red under the wings. Their harsh "ka-aa" in flight and their loud, musical whistles carry a long way, especially at dawn and dusk. They feed on nectar, fruit, sap, honeydew and wood-boring grubs.

Where to look: Wellington, where kākā released at Zealandia now range across the city's green belt. Offshore islands such as Kapiti and Hauturu Little Barrier, Ulva Island off Rakiura, and mainland forests with good predator control. Some visit Auckland gardens in winter.

4. Takahē

A large, flightless rail in deep blue and green with a heavy red bill. Takahē were thought extinct for about 50 years until a party led by Geoffrey Orbell found them in the Murchison Mountains, Fiordland, in 1948. DOC put the population at about 500 birds in October 2023.

Where to look: Predator-free islands and sanctuaries are your best bet. DOC's takahē page lists sites that hold birds, including Tiritiri Matangi, Kapiti and Mana islands. They graze in the open and are usually easy to watch, slowly.

5. Kōkako (North Island kōkako)

A blue-grey bird with a black mask and blue wattles, and one of the most haunting songs in the country: slow, full, organ-like notes, often given in duets at dawn. DOC estimates around 2,300 pairs, up from a low point thanks to predator control. The South Island kōkako, with orange wattles, has no confirmed recent sightings.

Where to look: Tiritiri Matangi Island, the Hunua Ranges near Auckland, and central North Island forests where predators are controlled. Arrive at first light and listen.

6. Hihi (stitchbird)

Males are black-headed with white ear tufts and a yellow band across the shoulder. Both sexes cock their tails like a wren, and the sharp "titch" call is a giveaway. Hihi vanished from the North Island mainland by the 1880s, and the only natural population left is on Hauturu Little Barrier Island. All other populations come from translocations and need ongoing help such as feeding stations.

Where to look: Tiritiri Matangi, Zealandia and Kapiti Island. Sit quietly near a sugar-water feeder or a flowering tree.

7. Tīeke (saddleback)

A glossy black bird with a chestnut "saddle" across its back. There are two species. The North Island tīeke was once reduced to a single island in the Hauraki Gulf; the South Island tīeke clung on around islands off Rakiura and was rescued when ship rats invaded in the 1960s. DOC now lists them as recovering, with populations on many predator-free islands and several fenced sanctuaries.

Where to look: Tiritiri Matangi and Zealandia for the North Island bird, Ulva Island for the South Island bird. They are noisy and forage on the forest floor and in rotten wood, so listen for rustling as well as calls.

8. Kererū (New Zealand pigeon)

You'll hear a kererū before you see it: the heavy "whoosh" of its wings is unmistakable. It is a big pigeon with an iridescent green-purple head and a clean white front. Kererū are important seed dispersers, carrying the seeds of large native fruit between forest patches and gardens.

Where to look: Almost anywhere with fruiting or leafing native trees, from city parks to large forests. They are not threatened, but predators and possums still keep numbers down.

9. Whio (blue duck)

Whio live on clean, fast-flowing rivers and are one of very few ducks in the world adapted to white water. The 2021 census counted 863 pairs, and DOC classifies the species as nationally vulnerable. The name comes from the male's whistling call. You'll find the whio on the New Zealand $10 note.

Where to look: Rivers in Te Urewera, East Cape, the central North Island and the West Coast to Fiordland. Scan boulders in rapids early and late in the day; their slate-blue plumage blends into wet rock. See DOC's whio page for strongholds.

10. Ngutu pare (wrybill)

A small grey plover whose bill tip curves to the right. It is the only bird in the world with a sideways-bent bill, which it uses to reach under riverbed stones. Ngutu pare breed only on braided riverbeds east of the main divide in the South Island.

Where to look: In the breeding season (roughly September to December) on Canterbury's braided rivers, though nests on bare shingle are easily trampled, so watch from a distance. The easier option is the northern harbours from about January to July, when flocks roost at high tide at the Firth of Thames and the Manukau Harbour.

A note on fair play

Some of these birds are rare because people disturbed them. Don't use call playback to draw birds out in sanctuaries, keep to tracks, and give nesting birds plenty of room. If you photograph a rare bird, think twice before sharing an exact location online.