Recent developments in photographic equipment and software has contributed to a proliferation of stunning wildlife images. Natural History curator Colin Miskelly describes how high-quality digital images have revealed previously overlooked or unrecognised ecological interactions between two ancient species that have been in Aotearoa for tens of millions of years. OurRead more

Aotearoa New Zealand has ten 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 eleventh and final blog in the series, he reports on the birds encountered whileRead more

Aotearoa New Zealand has ten 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 tenth blog in the series, he reports on the birds encountered while walking theRead more

Aotearoa New Zealand has ten 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 ninth blog in the series, he reports on the birds encountered while walking theRead more

You cannot be much closer to extinction than the swamp helmet orchid (Corybas carsei), a tiny terrestrial orchid that is found in a single wetland in the North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. Fortunately, recently published studies, part of Te Papa/VUW student Jennifer Alderton-Moss’s thesis, are helping to understand how mycorrhizal fungi can be used to save one of our most threatened orchids. Jennifer Alderton-Moss and Botany Curator Carlos Lehnebach describe the work.Read more

Aotearoa New Zealand has ten 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 eighth blog in the series, he reports on the birds encountered while walking theRead more

Aotearoa New Zealand has ten 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 seventh blog in the series, he reports on the birds encountered while walking theRead more

Aotearoa New Zealand has ten 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 theRead more

Aotearoa New Zealand has ten 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 fifth blog in the series, he reports on the birds encountered while walking the Abel Tasman Coastal Track.Read more

Aotearoa New Zealand has ten 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 fourth blog in the series, he reports on the birds encountered while walking LakeRead more

Three species of Aotearoa New Zealand forget-me-nots (Myosotis, Boraginaceae) have been described in a paper by Te Papa Botany Curator Heidi Meudt and her colleague, Jessie Prebble (Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research). Each of these species is endemic to the South Island but has a restricted geographic distribution. Meet the new species below and find out how to recognise them in the field. All three species have also been beautifully illustrated by Bobbi Angell.Read more

Aotearoa New Zealand has ten 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 third blog in the series, he reports on the birds encountered while walking the Tongariro Northern Circuit.Read more

Aotearoa New Zealand has ten 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 second blog in the series, he reports on the birds encountered while paddling downRead more