New Zealand has a high level of biodiversity, meaning there are lots of different plants and animals that live here.
New Zealand has many plants and animals that are found nowhere else in the world. These species are called endemic. Some endemic species such as the moa died out after people arrived in Aotearoa, cleared forest and hunted birds.
New Zealand has mainly birds and insects. Short and long-tailed bats are the only land mammals, so birds play an important role in New Zealand. Birds can help spread seeds and are food for other animals.
What makes a bird a bird?
Birds are a group of animals which have the following features:
- backbones
- feathers
- toothless beaked jaws
- lay hard shelled eggs
- have a lightweight but strong skeleton
Types of birds found in Aotearoa
Aotearoa is known as the seabird capital of the world and is also home to a number of forest birds that live nowhere else on Earth.
New Zealand’s birds can be grouped by where they live: 
- forest and mountain birds
- sea and shore birds
- wetland and river birds
Forest and mountain birds
The New Zealand bush was once full of the sound of native birds. When Captain James Cook arrived in the 1770s he noted that the bird song was deafening. Forest and mountain areas are home to some unusual endemic birds such as the kōkako, kākāpō, takahē, and kiwi. These birds are flightless or poor fliers because they did not need to escape from predators.
The kea is the world’s only mountain parrot and is known as one the smartest birds in the world.
How many native forest and mountain birds can you name?
Sea and shore birds
More than a third of the 80 or so species of seabirds that breed in New Zealand are found nowhere else in the world.
Penguins are also birds. Penguins are a group of flightless seabirds that are at home on land and in the sea. New Zealand has more penguin species than any other country.
Which sea and shore birds have you seen recently?
Wetland and river birds
Many New Zealand bird species live around our wetlands and rivers. These areas are a good source of food. Most of our wetlands have been drained so there are fewer of these birds than there were before people came to New Zealand. Birds living in these areas often have interesting features that help them to survive, such as the wrybill with its beak bent to the right. It is thought that this helps the wrybill to get food from under river stones.
Complete the Birds of Aotearoa quiz >
