New Zealand Native Birds

Do you know your pūkeko from your takahē? Aotearoa New Zealand has fascinating bird species. Like our famous kiwi, some of these species are flightless, as they evolved for millions of years without mammalian land predators.   

Sadly, this means they’re vulnerable to introduced predators like stoats, cats and rats, and many of our native and endemic birds are threatened or vulnerable. This is why active conservation and raising awareness for the 90+ endemic bird species in Aotearoa New Zealand is so important.  

Our zookeepers and veterinary team help to conserve and care for wild birds through a variety of conservation recovery programmes, many of which we support in partnership with the Department of Conservation.  

We use our skills to hatch eggs and hand-rear critically endangered tara iti/New Zealand fairy tern for release into the east coast of Te Ika-a-Māui/the North Island, help with annual health checks and transmitter changes for species like takahē, kea and kākāpō, research the incubation parameters of kiwi eggs to support their recovery and help to vaccinate hoiho/yellow-eyed penguin chicks at the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital. Read our latest news here.