Do you like birds? If so and you’re visiting Auckland you would be hard-pressed to spend a better day out than taking a ferry to Tiritiri Matangi Island.
Coordinates
Tiritiri Matangi is a 220 hectare island just 10km/ 25min by ferry from Gulf Harbour (first photo) or 80min from Auckland City. It’s a scientific reserve, gradually rewilding with native plantings and predator control. Volunteers join the ferry and can act as guides ($10pp) after disembarkation (second photo). There are several buildings in the lighthouse area (third photo), including a restored signal tower (final photo), a shop and café.
There are many tracks of various grades around the island, with the Wattle and Kawerau routes being the most popular. Not far from the jetty is a beach suitable for swimming or kayaking (first photo). Hobbs Beach attracts boaties and is favoured for picnics (second photo). Views into the Hauraki Gulf from the island include Rangitoto (third photo) and Kawau Island, seen here behind Pōhutukawa Cove (final photo).
The stitchbird/ hihi/ Notiomystis cincta is one of the rarest birds in NZ. It went extinct on the mainland from 1883 and is now found mainly in sanctuaries—except for the natural population still surviving on Little Barrier Island. The Māori name means “rays of the sun”, after the yellow neck/ shoulder markings of the adult male; they also have white ear tufts. Hihi are susceptible to infections and predation; they lead unusually complex social and unique sex lives.
The North Island kōkako/ Callaeas wilsoni is an endemic wattlebird. We had the good fortune to see one of the estimated 2,300 surviving pairs (its southern cousin is considered extinct). A poor flyer, it flourishes where there is good predator control as the female is most at risk during the 50-day nesting period. We heard the soulful calls and later saw the masked grey birds with their distinctive blue wattles. In Māori mythology the wattles were coloured by filling them with water to help Māui fight the sun, for which the demigod gifted it longer legs for moving faster through the forest.
The whitehead/ pōpokatea/ Mohoua albicilla is an endemic North Is songbird that’s doing well, living in noisy little groups. This was our first time knowingly meeting it. The female lays three eggs in a well-built nest that’s difficult to find for humans—but not so for the long-tailed cuckoo. They are very acrobatic and can feed upside-down, but are reluctant fliers, like so many NZ birds.
Other forest birds seen were the squeaky-winged NZ pigeon/ kerurū/ Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae (first photo); shy North Island saddleback/ tīeke/ Philesturnus rufusater—also a wattlebird (second photo); songful bellbird/ kōrimako/ Anthornis melanura (third photo) and the ever-playful tūī/ Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae, who apparently enjoys a good bath on a warm day (final photo)!
It’s not just forest birds to look out for, however. We caught the tail-end of a tuatara retreating into its beachside bach-burrow (first photo). We saw the Maui’s copper butterfly/ Lycaena edna (second photo) and a giant wētā hiding out above our heads (third photo). Little blue penguin/ kororā could be observed within an artificial nest box (final photo). We also saw but didn’t photograph the kākāriki; brown quail; swallow; pukeko and NZ robin. Not seen but present on the island are kiwi (they’re nocturnal) and takahē (nesting so keeping a low profile).
We finished the day with a swim in the surprisingly warm turquoise waters, returning for a second night freedom camping at the convenient Gulf Harbour—feeling tired but grateful for a rewarding experience.
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