New Zealand supports a host of unusual endemic land birds and a rich assemblage of marine birds and mammals. We start our tour in the beautiful grasslands of the Mackenzie region of the South Island where we will take in the beauty of the Southern Alpine range, while looking for the critically endangered Black Stilt, before hiking through pristine Red Beech forest surrounded by breathtaking glacier-lined mountains, where the massive Kea (an Alpine parrot) can be found. In Fiordland National Park, our targets will include Blue Duck, the cute New Zealand Rockwren and New Zealand Falcon, before catching our ferry to the rugged Stewart Island in search of Southern Brown Kiwi, Yellow-eyed and Fiordland Crested Penguins and a pelagic outing visiting several nearby islands in search of a variety of seabirds including 8 species of albatross! Our final destination will be Dunedin, where a visit to a Northern Royal Albatross colony will certainly be amongst the many highlights of this rewarding tour. With excellent lodging and meals, awe-inspiring scenery and fantastically friendly “Kiwis”, this is sure to be a tour of a lifetime!
*2024 Prices are estimated and dates may change*
Client TestimonialsCan be linked with: New Zealand - North Island Endemics 2023
Tour price (Per person): NZD6,395 * USD3,960 * GBP3,240 * EUR3,676 * AUD5,930
Single Supplement: NZD870 * USD539 * GBP441 * EUR500 * AUD807
Can be linked with: New Zealand - North Island Endemics 2024
Tour price (Per person): NZD7,000 * USD4,335 * GBP3,546 * EUR4,024 * AUD6,491
We thoroughly enjoyed the tour, which covered a wonderfully varied range of environments, scenery, birds, etc., and was a great introduction to New Zealand. Erik Forsyth did a good job of rearranging times and/or dates for two of the pelagics, which were ultimately successful--even given substantial rain and wind.
Beautiful country, good birding sites, good group of travelers. Eric Forsyth was an excellent guide, handling all situations very well, including weather-related activity cancellations that were beyond his control.
Erik Forsyth is a brilliant tour leader and birder; I would definitely like to travel with him again in the future!
The trip sounded good in the write-up but far exceeded our expectations. The pelagic trips were outstanding. The number of participants was perfect. Erik knew the birds and their calls/sounds and was very effective in getting everyone to see the birds. He called many pelagic IDs well before other people had even spotted the birds. Erik’s skills in managing the participants showed and his sense of humour added to his effectiveness. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip.
Erik Forsyth is one of the best guides. Extraordinary knowledge of birds as well as New Zealand itself. Personable and cheerful with a wonderful sense of humour. He is attentive birders' needs and made every effort to meet and exceed any special needs. He knew where to try and find the endemics, and the only one we didn't see or hear was because of inclement weather. We would definitely travel with Erik again should that opportunity present itself.