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Story: Introduced land birds

Distribution of rooks

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Distribution of rooks

Although rooks were introduced in the 1860s and 1870s in Canterbury and Hawke’s Bay, their numbers did not increase significantly until the Hawke’s Bay population boomed in the mid-20th century. Between 1999 and 2004 numbers were small in the South Island, but larger throughout Hawke’s Bay.

Using this item

Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

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

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How to cite this page

Christina Troup, Introduced land birds – Rooks, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/map/17157/distribution-of-rooks (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Christina Troup, published 1 March 2009.