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Acclimatisation Societies of New Zealand

10,000 Birds

New Zealand has a very odd biota these days. They took dogs to Australia, chickens across the Pacific, rabbits to England, horses to the New World, and then brought potatoes back. So that New Zealand would end up with quite a few species of animal not originally found here is hardly surprising of itself.

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Royal Shags and Tricky Parakeets: Birding Queen Charlotte Sound

10,000 Birds

As I said last week , I’ve decided to try and knock off a few of the New Zealand endemics and specialities that I haven’t seen before over the coming year, and the first place that sprung to mind was pretty close, just across the Cook Strait in the Marlborough Sounds. Spotted Shags are endemic to New Zealand.

Charlotte 119