Harris Saddle, Routeburn Track. Photo by Ruth McKie, Department of Conservation.
Colin Miskelly, Birds of the Great Walks of Aotearoa New Zealand, Te Papa Blog, 16 June 2023
Aotearoa New Zealand has many great walks. However, as of 2023, only ten of them qualify as capital-letter Great Walks. Te Papa natural history curator Dr Colin Miskelly has walked (or paddled) them all and kept records of the birds that he encountered along the way. In this initial blog in a series that will cover them all, he describes what Great Walks are, and the system that he developed to compare and rank their birdyness.
What makes a great walk a Great Walk?
The Department of Conservation developed the Great Walk network in order to promote some of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most iconic back-country routes, and also to manage demand for them through a booking system.
The network is expected to expand to include additional tracks. However, at present (June 2023) it includes nine tramping tracks and one river journey (which is a ‘great paddle’ that is managed as a Great Walk).
The Great Walk concept was introduced in 1992 and initially included eight multi-day tramping tracks. Most of these were high-profile and long-standing – with the Milford Track in Fiordland National Park having been a destination for trampers for more than a century. In contrast, the nearby Kepler Track was opened in 1988, and the Rakiura Track (on Rakiura Stewart Island) was opened just in time for inclusion, in 1992.
From north to south, the eight original Great Walks were:
- Lake Waikaremoana Track
- Tongariro Northern Circuit
- Abel Tasman Coastal Track
- Heaphy Track
- Routeburn Track
- Milford Track
- Kepler Track
- Rakiura Track
The Whanganui Journey (a paddle down the Whanganui River) was added to the Great Walk booking system in 1993, and the Paparoa Track in 2019.
Great birds on the Great Walks
All of the Great Walks traverse wild landscapes with largely intact natural vegetation – or naturally absent vegetation in the case of the volcanic landscapes of the Tongariro Northern Circuit.
All of the Great Walks are great places to see great birds, particularly species that inhabit native forests or mountain tops. However, have you ever wondered which of the Great Walks is the best for seeing native birds?
There are many reasons why people undertake Great Walks – and why they are so popular. Collectively, the Great Walks are best known for their spectacular natural scenery, with most of them having little evidence of human presence.
Our native wildlife is part of the attraction of Great Walks, and even the least observant tramper could hardly fail to notice such bold and inquisitive birds as Kea and Weka along the way.
Some of the Great Walks are home to the most iconic of all Aotearoa New Zealand birds – kiwi. Three of the five species of kiwi occur along or near one or more of the Great Walks. Kiwi are one of the most distinctive birds in the world, instantly recognisable, and quite unlike birds found in other countries. They provide a great introduction to the scoring system that I have developed to rank the birds of the Great Walks.
Levels of endemism
Aotearoa New Zealand is a remote island nation, and this is reflected in our bird life. Some of our birds have been isolated from their nearest relatives for tens of millions of years, while others are very recent arrivals.
The recent arrivals include species introduced by people, and also those that continue to fly here naturally, mainly from Australia.
The length of time that a bird has been in Aotearoa New Zealand, isolated from its nearest relatives, is closely correlated with its level of endemism.
Recent arrivals are identical to populations elsewhere (e.g. in Australia). In contrast, other species have gradually diverged from their relatives over thousands or millions of years to become increasingly distinct.
The length of time that a bird has had to evolve in isolation can be referred to as its depth of endemism. Kiwi are one of the best examples of a ‘deep endemic’, and are placed in their own order – indeed they are the only living bird order that is confined to New Zealand.
The next level of deep endemics are birds that are placed in endemic families. These include Kākā, Kea, Rifleman | Tītitipounamu, Rock Wren | Pīwauwau, and Mohua | Yellowhead among those that can be seen on Great Walks.
Next are birds that are in endemic genera (the plural of genus), including Whio | Blue Duck, Kererū | New Zealand Pigeon, and Tūī. More recent arrivals in Aotearoa may be recognised as endemic species within genera shared with Australia, and include such familiar birds as New Zealand Fantail | Pīwakawaka and Grey Warbler | Riroriro.
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