Aotearoa New Zealand has eleven official 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 sixth blog in the series, he reports on the birds encountered while walking the Routeburn Track.
Southern mountains
The Routeburn Track straddles the boundary between Mt Aspiring National Park and Fiordland National Park. It is the second shortest Great Walk (33 km) and is usually walked in 3 days. While the track is relatively short, it can be a challenge to arrange transport between the ends of the track, which are 325 km apart by road.
The Routeburn is one of a cluster of three Great Walks that start and/or finish near Te Anau, with the two others being the Milford Track and Kepler Track. With a bit of planning (and good fortune with the booking system), many trampers attempt to walk two or more of these tracks back-to-back.
All three tracks include sections of mid-altitude forests (from 500 metres above sea-level) and high mountain passes or traverses above the tree line, with spectacular alpine views on clear days.
Beech forest birds
I have walked the Routeburn Track twice, and started at the north-eastern (Glenorchy) end both times. From there to Routeburn Flats hut, the track is easy going through red beech and silver beech forest, before climbing up through mountain beech to Routeburn Falls hut at the tree line.
Some of the best birds on the track can be seen or heard near the Glenorchy end (Routeburn shelter), including Mohua | Yellowhead and Yellow-crowned parakeet | Kakariki.
These are examples of endemic forest birds that have persisted longer in beech forest, because introduced predator numbers (particularly ship rats and stoats) are only high following irregular high beech seed fall, whereas they are high every year in podocarp/broadleaf forests.
However, Mohua (in particular) are dependent on predator control to persist long-term, and most other endemic forest birds benefit from predator control.
Riflemen | Tītitipounamu are common between the road end and Routeburn Flats Hut, though you need good hearing for their high-pitched calls. They are most often seen working their way up the tree trunks, searching for insects and spiders in crevices in the bark.
We heard and saw several Long-tailed Cuckoos | Koekoeā and New Zealand Falcons | Kārearea along this section of the track. The head of Lake Wakatipu is a stronghold for Kārearea, and we had already seen three between our cabin in Glenorchy and the road-end, before we even started the tramp.
In the southern South Island, Long-tailed Cuckoos | Koekoeā lay their eggs in the nests of Brown Creepers | Pīpipi and Mohua | Yellowheads. All three species can be seen and heard in the beech forests along the Routeburn Flats.
Alpine specialists
Between Routeburn Falls and Lake McKenzie, the track traverses alpine meadows and crosses the Harris Saddle, which marks the boundary between the two national parks. Alpine flowers are a feature in spring and early summer, and it is a good place to see and hear Kea. This large, highly-intelligent parrot is only found in the South Island, and is most often encountered above the tree line.
Kea are highly attracted to people, and often visit huts and campsites, particularly at dusk and dawn.
The Rock Wren | Piwauwau is another alpine specialist that is often seen in rock tumbles near the Harris Saddle. About twice the size of the related Rifleman | Tītitipounamu, these two species are the only surviving species of New Zealand wrens – an ancient group of songbirds unrelated to the true wrens of the northern hemisphere and South America.
An unexpected find
Between 2016 and 2020, I participated in a series of surveys of islands thoughout Fiordland, searching for seabird colonies. One of the species that we encountered (by spot-lighting at night) was the mysterious Grey-backed Storm Petrel | Reoreo.
We suspect that this tiny seabird attempts to breed at sites throughout the length and breadth of Fiordland – though no nests have yet been found. I was very surprised to find the remains of a stoat-killed storm petrel near Routeburn Falls Hut in December 2018.
More information on Grey-backed Storm Petrels in Fiordland can be found in the following Te Papa blogs:
- Little bird, big country: searching for nesting storm petrels in Fiordland
- Storm petrels in the spotlight
Endemic birds seen or heard on the Routeburn Track
- Score 4 Kākā, Kea, Rifleman | Tītitipounamu, Rock Wren | Pīwauwau, Mohua | Yellowhead, Brown Creeper | Pīpipi
- Score 3 Kererū | New Zealand Pigeon, Bellbird | Korimako, Tūī
- Score 2 Paradise Shelduck | Pūtangitangi, Long-tailed Cuckoo | Koekoeā, New Zealand Falcon | Kārearea, Yellow-crowned Parakeet | Kākāriki, Grey Warbler | Riroriro, New Zealand Fantail | Pīwakawaka, Tomtit | Miromiro, South Island Robin | Kakaruai, New Zealand Pipit | Pīhoihoi
- Score 1 Shining Cuckoo | Pīpīwharauroa, Ruru | Morepork, New Zealand Kingfisher | Kōtare
- Endemic bird score = 47 points
- Ranking = 7th out of 11
- Additional possible endemic birds (not seen or heard by me): Whio | Blue Duck.
For up-to-date information on hut and campsite bookings on the Routeburn Track, see the Department of Conservation webpage Routeburn Track.
Other blogs in this series
- Birds of the Great Walks of Aotearoa New Zealand
- Birds of the Whanganui Journey ‘Great Walk’
- Birds of the Tongariro Northern Circuit
- Birds of Lake Waikaremoana Track
- Birds of Abel Tasman Coastal Track
- Birds of the Paparoa Track
- Birds of the Hump Ridge Track
- Birds of the Rakiura Track
- Birds of the Kepler Track
- Birds of the Milford Track
- Birds of the Heaphy Track
[This blog was updated in November 2024, following addition of the Hump Ridge Track to the Great Walk network.]
Fabulous photos and reading, thank you!