Local land and wader birds

Tutukaka, New Zealand

I know, I know these aren’t seabirds but … there’s some special land and wader birds on the Tutukaka Coast as well, and some other great birds nearby, so if you’ve got some spare time it’s worth going for a look.

wetland birds

In Ngunguru (just over the hill from Tutukaka), there’s a small wetland that has to be one of the best spots in New Zealand for the secretive Fernbird – if you sit quietly on the wetland boardwalk you’ll often hear and see them flying between reed clumps.

You can sometimes hear Banded Rail and Spotless Crake at this wetland, and if you’re very lucky you could see an Australasian Bittern.

Shorebirds

The Ngunguru estuary has a small but interesting collection of shorebirds. You can often find a Reef Heron or two skulking along the water’s edge. In season there’s also Bar-tailed Godwits, New Zealand and Banded Dotterel, Royal Spoonbills, and other general waders. The superstar wader that was around for 8 years or so was a stunning Whimbrel.

Tutukaka Harbour also often has a Reef Heron hunting on the edges.

near tutukaka

In Tikipunga (30 mins from Tutukaka) there’s a non-descript suburban lake which happens to be the easiest place in New Zealand to see the relatively scarce Australian Little Grebe – they’ve bred on this lake since 2019 so if you’re there in late spring or summer you might see some grebe chicks.

Waipu Wildlife Reserve (1 hour south of Tutukaka) is a great estuary for shorebirds, though it’s most famous for the extremely rare New Zealand Fairy Tern, (there’s only around 40 birds left!). Best to visit at low tide.

Kiwi & Others

Brown Kiwi can sometimes be heard calling at night in the local bush in Ngunguru and Tutukaka (or even out the back of the Tutukaka Holiday Park). You’ll be very lucky to see one though but you never know your luck.

Tutukaka Coast has one of the biggest Brown Teal populations in NZ and there are several locations in the area you can encounter them.

And theres also many of the usual New Zealand bush and pasture birds around in the area as well. You can sometimes see or hear Kaka at the Tutukaka marina.

Reef Heron

Reef Heron

Fernbird

Fernbird

Australasian Bittern

Australasian Bittern

Brown Teal

Brown Teal

Whimbrel

Whimbrel

Australasian Little Grebe

Australasian Little Grebe

Fairy Tern

Fairy Tern

Brown Kiwi (a lucky sighting with red light)

Brown Kiwi (a lucky sighting with red light)