New Zealand February - June 2015, Kapiti Island

Kapiti Island is an island sanctuary a little to the North of Wellington. It is famous for being the last place where Little Spotted Kiwi occurs naturally, while it got wiped out every else. However nowadays Little Spotted Kiwis have been translocated to various other off shore islands and some land island on the main North Island too. Kapiti Island is still a very interesting place to go to as it harbors loads of native bird species, of which some of them have been introduced to the predator free sanctuary like the rare Kokako. There are three companies that offer tours to the island: Kapiti Island Nature Tours, Kapiti Tours and Kapiti Marine Charter. We chose to use the latter, as this company is the only company that offers student discounts and they appear to spend more time on the island than the other companies. A day trip costs around 75 NZD (60 NZD with student discount at Kapiti Marine Charter), but guided tours cost extra. There is also the option to stay overnight with Kapiti Island Nature Tours to see Kiwis, but this will cost you around 350 NZD and was to expensive for our taste. There are two places on Kapiti where the boats land: Rangatira and North End. The difference between the two is that Rangatira has better forest apparently and therefore more forest birds, while North End is a better place to see shore and wetland birds. We chose for Rangatira, as there is a bigger chance to see the rare Kokako here.

All tours start from Paraparaumu and we reached this little town by public transport from Wellington (one way 9.50 to 11.50 NZD). We took a train around 06:00 and arrived around 07:00 in Paraparaumu. From Paraparaumu train station it takes roughly an hour walk to get to the boating club, where the boat leaves. After the bio-security check (check your bags and disinfect your walking shoes) we were ready to go to the island. As soon as we were in the water Fluttering Shearwaters appeared all around us and allowed very good views! Some White-fronted Terns and a single Spotted Shag were also nice. Occasionally Australian Gannets, Sooty Shearwaters and Common Diving-petrels are observed here as well and probably even rarer species can turn up, so keep your eyes open! Once you are on the island you will hear Tui and New Zealand Bellbird everywhere, but first you will have to listen to a little talk about the island and its birds.There are two tracks you can take from Rangatira point to the top of the island (521 m). The Wilkinson track and the Trig track, which is a little less neat than the Wilkinson track. Furthermore you are not supposed to take the Trig track down. So we walked the Trig track up and the Wilkinson track down.

Map of Rangatira point, Kapiti Island. The little Kokako stickers show where they have been seen regularly. I added our sighting as well.

As soon as we got started we encountered our first Wekas. These flightless rails are a common sight on this island. They are not shy at all and they will try to get at your food as will some Kakas! At the grasslands we also observed a single New Zealand Pipit. Once in the forest we saw loads of native species including Red-crowned Parakeet, New-zealand Pigeon, North Island Saddleback, North Island Robin, Tui, New Zealand Bellbird (which are extremely common here), Stitchbird (which are commonly seen around the two feeders, but are rare elsewhere inside the forest), New Zealand Fantail and Whitehead. Tomtit is apparently also present on the island, but we found none. A real highlight was seeing a Long-tailed Koel. They must be getting ready to fly North by now! Another real highlight was seeing a Kokako. This species was the main reason for me to pay this island a visit as there are around 32 pairs of Kokako here. We found a single individual, a juvenile with purple wattles. almost at the top. Unfortunately we did not hear any of the haunting, far-carrying calls, that are so typical of this species. The sighting however made me extremely happy still!

North Island Weka (Gallirallus australis scotti) approaching

Long-tailed Koel (Urodynamis taitensis)

Male Stitchbird or Hihi (Notiomystis cincta)

Singing New Zealand Bellbird (Anthornis melanurus). A common sound on Kapiti Island

On our way back at around 15:00 the Fluttering Shearwaters were present in much lower numbers, but we got treated with some really nice views of Short-snouted Common Dolphins, who played in our wake! What a way to end this already very successful trip!

Part of a pod of Short-snouted Common Dolphins (Delphinus delphis)

I highly recommend a visit to this island sanctuary. Even though many species present here can be simply seen in Zealandia, some are not present in Zealandia like Weka, Kokako and Tomtit. Furthermore, the crossing offers some opportunities to see some sea wildlife. Also, the species composition differs from Zealandia, with New Zealand Bellbird being the most common species on Kapiti, while Tui is more numerous in Zealandia. So, don't compare the two and just visit both!