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Kōrero: Bird migration

Bird species that migrate to New Zealand

Common name Species Estimated New Zealand population, 2014

1 In coastal waters

2 At sea
Eastern bar-tailed godwit Limosa lapponica 90,000
Lesser knot Calidris canutus 35,000
Ruddy turnstone Arenaria interpres 4,000–7,000
Pacific golden plover Pluvialis fulva 300–1,200
Red-necked stint Calidris ruficollis 50–200
Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus 70
Curlew sandpiper Calidris ferruginea 40
Sharp-tailed sandpiper Calidris acuminate <30
Eastern curlew Numenius madagascariensis <10
Pectoral sandpiper Calidris melanotos 10–20
Large sand dotterel Charadrius leschenaultii 1–2
Grey plover Pluvialis squatarola <5
Black-tailed godwit Limosa limosa 1–2
Lesser sand plover Charadrius mongolus 1–2
Sanderling Calidris alba 1–2
Wandering tattler Tringa incana 1
Grey-tailed tattler Tringa brevipes 5–10
Greenshank Tringa nebularia 1
Marsh sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis 1–2
Terek sandpiper Tringa cinerea <5
Little tern Sternula albifrons 100
White-winged black tern Childonias leucopterus <20
Common tern Sterna hirundo <5
Arctic tern Sterna paradisaea <5
South Polar skua 2 Catharacta maccormicki 1–2
Arctic skua 1 Stercorarius parasiticus Numerous

This table shows the estimated annual numbers of wader, tern and skua species that breed elsewhere, then migrate to New Zealand each year. Those present in small numbers are generally found in larger numbers in Australia.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Sources: New Zealand Birds Online; Barrie D. Heather and Hugh A. Robertson, The field guide to the birds of New Zealand. Rev. ed. Auckland: Viking, 2000; and P. M. Sagar and others, ‘Distribution and numbers of waders in New Zealand, 1983–1994.’ Special issue. Notornis 46, part 1 (1999): 1–43

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Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Christina Troup, Bird migration – International arrivals, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/interactive/7493/bird-species-that-migrate-to-new-zealand (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Christina Troup, i tāngia i te 2 March 2009.