The different seasons
Tutukaka, New Zealand
Each season is different out at The Petrel Station, and provides plenty of unique birding opportunities to observe a diverse range of stunning seabirds. Find out below which seabirds are around in each season.
SPRING tours
Mid September to end December
[ 25 ] Average species on spring tours
In the spring months all the local breeding seabird species are back in the area in great numbers so there’s always lots of activity on the water. Buller’s Shearwater and Fairy Prion are around in the thousands and are a spectacular birdwatching experience seeing them in the massive feeding workups. Also it’s prime migration time for seabirds heading back through on the way to their southern ocean breeding areas and we've had plenty of scarcer species put in an appearance at this time of year. The Grey Noddy (Ternlet) usually begin to return in early December too.
Here’s what’s been seen in spring on past tours:
Albatross Species
Wandering, NZ Wandering (Gibson & Antipodean), Northern Royal, Southern Royal*, Chatham, White-capped, Salvin's, Black-browed, Campbell and Buller’s Albatross
Petrel Species
Cook’s, Pycroft’s, Black-winged, Mottled, Stejneger’s*, Gould’s*, White-naped, Black, Westland, White-chinned, Grey-faced, White-headed*, Grey, Cape, Northern Giant and Common Diving Petrel
Shearwater Species
Buller’s, Streaked*, Little, Fluttering, Hutton’s, Flesh-footed, Pink-footed, Sooty, and Short-tailed Shearwater
Storm Petrel Species
New Zealand, White-faced, Wilson's and Black-bellied Storm Petrel*
Prion Species
Fairy Prion
Skua Species
South Polar (inc Dark Morph), Arctic and Long-tailed Skua
Other Seabird Species
Little Penguin, Australasian Gannet, Grey Noddy (Ternlet), White-fronted and Caspian Tern, Red-billed and Black-backed Gull. Also Pied, Black, Little Pied and Little Black Shag.
* means a species has only been seen once.
Summer tours
January to March
[ 19 ] Average species on summer tours
In summer all the local seabirds are around in good numbers, the Grey Noddy are back, and the NZ Storm Petrels always put on a great show (with up to 100 seen at once!). And as the oceans warm up as summer progresses, there’s the chance of semi-tropical birds making an appearance too, so there’s no telling what could turn up! There’s still some feeding workup activity around (mostly Buller’s Shearwater) and is generally smaller numbers and more spread out than in spring as the seabirds are targeting different prey species. We can still see the occasional Albatross/Mollymawk but most are off at their southern ocean breeding grounds at this time of year.
Here’s what’s been seen in summer on past tours:
Albatross Species
Wandering, NZ Wandering (Gibson's), Northern Royal Albatross, White-capped and Buller’s Albatross
Petrel Species
Cook’s, Pycroft’s, Black-winged, White-naped, Black, Grey-faced, Kermadec and Common Diving Petrel
Shearwater Species
Buller’s, Little, Fluttering, Hutton’s, Flesh-footed, Sooty, Short-tailed and Wedge-tailed Shearwater
Storm Petrel Species
New Zealand, White-faced and Wilson’s Storm Petrel
Prion Species
Fairy Prion
Skua Species
Arctic and Pomarine Skua*
Other Seabird Species
Little Penguin, Australasian Gannet, Grey Noddy (Ternlet), White-fronted and Caspian Tern, Red-billed and Black-backed Gull. Also Pied, Black, Little Pied and Little Black Shag.
* means a species has only been seen once.
Autumn tours
April to Mid June
[ 22 ] Average species on autumn tours
In autumn, as the weather and oceans cool down, it’s migration time for the seabirds heading up from the southern oceans so there’s potential for some scarcer species passing through, and also a good variety of albatross species show up in the area. Most of the local summer breeders depart on their migration, and the local winter breeders return and begin to build in numbers as well. And there’s still usually a few Grey Noddy (Ternlet) around till the end Apr.
Here’s what’s been seen in autumn on past tours:
Albatross Species
Wandering, NZ Wandering (Gibson & Antipodean), Northern Royal, White-capped, Black-browed, Campbell and Buller’s Albatross
Petrel Species
Cook’s, Mottled, Black, Westland, Grey-faced, Soft-Plumaged, Northern Giant, Cape and Common Diving Petrel
Shearwater Species
Buller’s, Little, Fluttering, Flesh-footed and Sooty Shearwater
Storm Petrel Species
New Zealand, Wilson’s and White-faced Storm Petrel
Prion Species
Antarctic and Fairy Prion
Skua Species
Brown and Arctic Skua
Other Seabird Species
Little Penguin, Australasian Gannet, Grey Noddy (Ternlet), White-fronted and Caspian Tern, Red-billed and Black-backed Gull. Also Pied, Black, Little Pied and Little Black Shag.
* means a species has only been seen once.
Winter tours
Mid June to Mid September
[ 18 ] Average species on winter tours
The colder winter months are when the albatross and a mix of southern seabirds come north up to our area, and we’ve had some real winter rarities show up during this time as well. Past visitors have included Blue Petrel, Pink-footed Shearwater, 4 Prion species to name a few so there’s no telling what could turn up. The local winter breeding seabirds are also around in good numbers too.
Here’s what’s been seen in winter on past tours:
Albatross Species
Wandering, NZ Wandering (Gibson & Antipodean), Northern Royal, White-capped, Black-browed, Campbell, Salvin’s, Light-mantled Sooty Albatross* and Buller’s Albatross
Petrel Species
Cook’s, Blue*, Grey-faced, Providence*, Cape, Soft-Plumaged, Northern Giant, Southern Giant and Common Diving Petrel
Shearwater Species
Buller’s, Little, Fluttering and Pink-footed Shearwater
Storm Petrel Species
New Zealand (except Aug), White-faced and Grey-backed Storm Petrel
Prion Species
Fairy, Antarctic, Broad-billed* and Thin-billed Prion*
Skua Species
Brown Skua
Other Seabird Species
Little Penguin, Australasian Gannet, Arctic Tern*, Red-billed and Black-backed Gull. Also Pied, Black, Little Pied and Little Black Shag
* means a species has only been seen once.
Naturally there’s no guarantee which species will be seen on any given day. The Seabird Species page has info on which months particular seabirds could be present.
Does being out amongst stunning seabirds sound like you? Must be time to come out to The Petrel Station.