As the temperatures gradually get warmer, we aren’t the only ones thinking about hopping into our local river. A small, yet spectacularly attractive little native fish called the redfin bully uses this time of year to make the move from the sea to fresh water. The redfin bully is usually a freshwater fish but they […]

The kakapo has been pinned with many adjectives. Shy, frisky, curious and romantic are ones that crop up most often, however one that is noticeably absent from the usual list of descriptors is ‘gloriously perfumed’. The cover of darkness means that fabulously coloured plumage will go unnoticed by potential mates. So instead it smells. Great. […]

Equipped with a pair of large pink over-sized feet and a fleshy bill designed to prise algae from rocks, Blue ducklings make a dash for independence earlier than most birds. After they’re two days old, they’ll begin their lifelong task of looking for food on our frothy alpine rivers –stripping rocks of algae and catching […]

Rambunctious. Confused. Operatic. The spirited call of the tui with its clicks, coughs, wheezes, bells and whistles has been pinned with many an adjective. And now a scientific study has proven one of them to be true: elaborate. The very first study into the tui’s song has revealed that it song ranks as one the […]

Spotlighting the lives of the ‘small and insignificant’ has been wildlife photographer & filmmaker Rod Morris’s raison d’etre for the past few years.  And with potential mining operations threatening some of our most significant landscapes, such as the Denniston plateau, he’s been busy shuffling through the under-growth bringing to life the theatre of these vibrant, […]

As we pored over the depressing findings of the State of Environment  Report on the Hauraki Gulf, quips and wise-cracks were off the cards until someone yelled over the crowd. “I didn’t fight my way to the top of the food chain to become a vegetarian.” Six hours into discussion over this official unveiling and the […]

Blogger: Forest & Bird’s Web Manager, Mandy Herrick A hard-working troop of exotic dung beetles are due to be unleashed on our farms in the coming months to reduce our growing bovine sewage problem. These beetles have co-evolved over millions of years to live with mammals like cattle and sheep – and use their dung […]

Blogger: Forest & Bird’s Web Manager, Mandy Herrick I have recently become re-aquainted with one of the most overlooked wonders of this world: the lichen. If you leave an object undisturbed, and wait, and wait, and wait some more, the lichen world may slowly colonise it – turning its dull surface into a tie-dye of pistachio greens […]

Blogger: Forest & Bird’s Web Manager, Mandy Herrick It’s hard to think that Auckland was a forested expanse home to North island brown kiwi, kokako and flocks of kakariki, given that these avian citizens are no-where to be seen. So far, we’ve done a pretty good job of shunting any wildlife from the city by laying […]