Between November 2023 and March 2024, Natural History curator Colin Miskelly is walking the length of Aotearoa New Zealand on Te Araroa Trail – counting every bird seen or heard along the way. In this third blog in the series, Colin describes birds encountered between the townships of Kaitāia andRead more
Exotic species that spread into the wild are one of the pressures impacting the uniquely special biodiversity of Aotearoa New Zealand. Biosecurity measures are intended to mitigate this. But one aspect of the country’s biosecurity was recently criticised as patchy, limited, passive, and serendipitous. Curator of Botany Leon Perrie andRead more
Two Te Papa botanists recently spent a week collecting ferns on Lord Howe Island. They were adeptly guided by Lord Howe Island museum curator Ian Hutton and joined by Daniel Ohlsen from the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Lord Howe Island is a nature-lovers’ paradise with much of the island protected in reserve and mammal pests recently eradicated. Our fern findings will be detailed in a future blog post but here Lara Shepherd and Leon Perrie discuss the natural history of Lord Howe Island and introduce some of its flowering plants.Read more
Between November 2023 and March 2024, Natural History curator Colin Miskelly is walking the length of Aotearoa New Zealand on Te Araroa Trail – counting every bird seen or heard along the way. In this second blog in the series, Colin starts out on his journey. The first bird NewRead more
In January 2023, Te Papa Botany Curator Heidi Meudt was one of a team of Aotearoa New Zealand botanists and crew who travelled to Motu Maha Auckland Islands to undertake botanical research and make new collections. Here, she provides an overview of Motu Maha Auckland Islands, how and why they travelled there, and an introduction to this blog series about their 2023 Strannik Auckland Island Expedition.Read more
You, dear reader, likely fall into one of two categories: you either like spiders, or you moved because there was one in your last house. Although, to be honest, if you don’t like spiders you probably haven’t made it this far. Resident spider expert Phil Sirvid (likes spiders) dives into why this is.Read more
Between November 2023 and March 2024, Natural History curator Colin Miskelly is walking the length of New Zealand – counting every bird seen or heard along the way. In this first blog of an intended series, Colin explains what the project is about.Read more
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 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 eleventh blog in the series, he reports on the birds encountered while walking theRead more
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 tenth blog in the series, he reports on the birds encountered while walking theRead more
Within our Te Taiao | Nature exhibition is a nature debate platform called Te Au | The Current. We invite manuhiri to respond to an environmental challenge and a proposed idea for how to deal with it. Here, Exhibition Experience Developer Murphy Peoples shares visitor responses to a recent topic about climate change resilience.Read more
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 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 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 eighth blog in the series, he reports on the birds encountered while walking theRead more
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 seventh blog in the series, he reports on the birds encountered while walking theRead more
