Whakaraupō Past Bird Surveys



The actions of humans have lowered the amount of birds in Aotearoa. Whaka-Ora has started several projects to try to return and keep birds in Whakaraupō. There have been a couple of surveys on the number of birds in the area over the years though there has not a regular way of counting birds in Whakaraupō.

The most recent project was done in 2017 and published in 2020. This survey counted the number of native seabirds and found that the most common one is the spotted shag. They took a boat and walked around the entire peninsula counting the birds in each spot they stopped.

Area surveyed in 2017 study. Note that white lines are areas surveyed on land.

The oldest report was in 1998 and counted seabirds. They found that the most common species were the Black-backed Gull, Red-billed gull, Black-billed gull and white-fronted tern. They found that there were big differences in the number of birds in different seasons and spots. This could be important because both of the other studies focused on certain times of the year and only counted birds in some spots. 

Areas surveyed in 1998 survey. Lines point to spots that birds were counted.

There were also annual surveys taken from 2007 to 2011 that counted the number of native birds in Whakaraupō. They found that the most common native species were the bellbird and silvereye. These reports used five minute bird counts. 

Areas surveyed in 2011 survey. Click on the titles of each study to learn more about the spots surveyed in the earlier years. 

This graph shows the number of sites that each species was spotted during the five minute bird counts each year.



This graph shows the average number of birds that were seen when the species was spotted each year. 


There was a big difference in the number of places that the birds were counted each year. This graph shows the number of spots that five minute bird counts were taken each year. 


The number of people counting birds also changed each year of the survey. This graph shows the number of people that counted birds each year. 

May 2020 Andrew Crossland & Phil Crutchley

Bird monitoring on Banks Peninsula: Annual Report for 2011 (PDF File, 844.3KB)
August 2012 Phillip Cochrane
This is the fourth annual report on bird count monitoring for Banks Peninsula.

Bird Monitoring on Banks Peninsula; Annual Report 2010 (PDF File, 3.58MB)
R11/102 November 2011 Phillip Cochrane & Frances Schmechel
This is the third annual report on bird densities on Banks Peninsula, and includes monitoring for 2010.

Bird Monitoring on Banks Peninsula Annual Report for 2009 (PDF File, 7.36MB)
R10/48 July 2010 Frances Schmechel
This is the second annual report and covers the 2009 calendar year.

Bird Monitoring on Banks Peninsula: Annual Report For 2007 & 2008 (PDF File, 4.58MB)
R09/24 February 2009 Frances Schmechel
This is the first annual report from the monitoring effort for 2007 and 2008.

Seabirds Around Banks Peninsula (New Zealand) From Aerial Surveys
1998 Birds of New Zealand, David J. Hawke