A larger bird with a long tail is being fed by a much smaller bird while both of them are sitting on a tree branch.

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 eighth blog in the series, Colin describes birds encountered between Te Kūiti and Taumarunui. TheRead more

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Three people are processing batches of plants on a boat,

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, Heidi and Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Ecology Technician Alex Fergus describe some of the scientific collections and observations from the expedition.Read more

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Once a year around 2000 Wikipedians – the dedicated writers, researchers, photographers, data scientists, developers, and more who improve Wikipedia and its related sites day by day – get together for Wikimania, the annual conference covering anything and everything Wikipedia. Over several days they get deep into what’s new, share exciting projects, and work out how to turn normal people into new Wikipedia editors. From the kiwi contingent, Te Papa’s Heidi Meudt, Lucy Schrader, and Victoria Leachman report back on Wikimania 2023.Read more

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A green bird with yellow markings on its wings is sitting on a branch that is covered in lichen.

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 seventh blog in the series, Colin describes birds encountered between Dinsdale and Te Kūiti.Read more

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Toropapa are some of Aotearoa’s most intriguing plants. This genus of shrubs has been baffling botanists for over 100 years. Not only do they show extreme variation in leaf shape but some of the leaf forms bear an uncanny resemblance to unrelated plant species. Te Papa scientist Lara Shepherd recently led a team that examined the relationships of a selection of leaf forms – could these different forms actually be different species?Read more

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Meet the wonderfully spectacular Motu Maha Auckland Islands endemic species, Plantago aucklandica. Botany Curator Heidi Meudt explains why this plant was such a thrill to see in the field on the Strannik 2023 Auckland Island Expedition, how it differs from the other ten species of native New Zealand plantains, and why she thinks it deserves to be called a megaherb.Read more

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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 sixth blog in the series, Colin describes birds encountered between Auckland and Hamilton. City toRead more

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Megaherbs are a conspicuous, unique and important part of the subantarctic island flora, including on Motu Maha Auckland Islands. But what exactly are megaherbs? Te Papa Botany Curator Heidi Meudt shows some examples of megaherbs she saw on the Strannik 2023 Auckland Island Expedition, and discusses what makes them soRead more

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This blog was originally published in Issue 31 of Garland Magazine, 1 June 2023. For Isaac Te Awa, poi is not only an accessory for dazzling performances, it is also a traditional Māori instrument used for practical and cultural reasons in itself. I have always found something hypnotic about seeingRead more

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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. The natural history of Lord Howe Island was introduced in an earlier blogRead more

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