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The Long Reach of the Poor Knights

10,000 Birds

Long before I moved in New Zealand, or visited or even knew much about the wildlife here, way back then I knew about the Poor Knights. The Poor Knights certainly lived up to their reputation, and to my mind are arguably an essential stop on a visit to New Zealand, even if you only came looking for wildlife of the feathered kind.

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Meet Suliformes, one of the newest orders of birds

10,000 Birds

Frigatebirds (Fregatidae) Five species of frigatebird ply the planet’s tropical skies and seas. Ringer Cormorants and Shags (Phalacrocoracidae) Cormorants are more speciose than other families in the order; 30-40 species range widely on every continent and many islands. Though it is certainly bad news that the U.S.

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Violent Earth

10,000 Birds

I often like to poke fun at how dangerous the wildlife of Australia is, as ever since the giant man-eating Haast’s Eagle went extinct the land life on New Zealand has been mostly harmless. Exactly which species came from that original break up is the subject of considerable debate.