Te katoa o ngā mea tukupū e mau hono takapiri ana – Everything is connected. Get the info you need here to start looking after your backyard, forest, native wildlife and kiwi!
We are developing the Kiwi Coast Education Kit with our partners, Tiakina Whangarei and Kiwi North. Download our first three modules below complete with information and hands-on activities.
#1 – Transform Your Back Yard into a Native Bird Cafe
Before you start encouraging native birds into your backyard, it is important to make sure it is a safe place for them to visit. Find out how to keep them safe, which trees to plant to attract birds, which native birds eat what and what not to feed native birds.
Activities include fruit strings and a sugar feeder.
Download Bird Cafe Module… (Acrobat file)
Useful Websites
- Search the New Zealand Birds Online database
- Upload a photo of the bird to iNaturalist New Zealand and get help identifying it
- Share your bird sighting on eBird and contribute to the world’s largest biodiversity-related citizen science project, with more than 100 million bird sightings contributed each year around the world!
#2 – Northland Insects (Mini-Beasts & Micro-Monsters)
Northland has a hidden world of incredible insects! Some of them are found nowhere else on the planet. Mini-beasts and micro-monsters lurk all around us – foraging in leaves, hiding in trees, burrowing in logs and flying overhead.
Find out what they are, what makes them so special and what to plant to help them thrive. Learn how to make a weta hotel.
Download Northland Insects Module (Acrobat file)
Insects featured include:
- Puriri moth, Pepe Tuna
- Huhu Beetle – Tunga Rere
- Kauri Snails – Pūpūrangi
- Stick Insects – Rō or whē
- Wētā
#3 – Bittern / Matuku hūrepo
The Australasian bittern (Botaurus poiciloptilus), also known as matuku hūrepo, is a large wetland bird belonging to the Heron group.
A secretive bird with a distinctive booming call, it is more often heard than seen.
Find out how to spot New Zealand’s most cryptic native bird and what you can do to help bring them back from the brink of extinction…