Story: Wetland birds

Distribution of Australasian bittern and royal spoonbill

Click on a species name to see its New Zealand distribution in the early 2000s.

Australasian bitterns are thinly scattered in the North and South islands, with most birds in the northern North Island. Royal spoonbills only breed at a few sites, but spread out around coastal and some inland sites the rest of the year.

Using this item

Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

Source: C. J. R. Robertson, P. Hyvönen, M. J. Fraser, and C. R. Pickard, Atlas of bird distribution in New Zealand, 1999–2004. Wellington: Ornithological Society of New Zealand, 2007

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page:

Christina Troup, 'Wetland birds - Bitterns and spoonbills', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/interactive/14618/distribution-of-australasian-bittern-and-royal-spoonbill (accessed 28 March 2024)

Story by Christina Troup, published 24 Sep 2007, reviewed & revised 17 Feb 2015