Muriwai coastal wildlife

The white fronted tern is a medium-sized tern with a distinctive forked-tail. They nest in dense colonies with little protection against introduced predators.

For more information see the NZ birds online website.

The little penguin (or little blue penguin) is just over 25 cm and weighs about 1 kg. They had nearly disappeared from Muriwai but due to conservation efforts a population is now starting to rebuild.

For more information see the DOC website.

The Australasian gannet is native to Aotearoa, and Muriwai is home to a large colony. The tākapu is a success story with a growing national population.

For more information visit the Predator Free NZ website

The grey-faced Petrel is one of the few surviving burrowing petrels species remaining on mainland New Zealand. They face a major threat from predators on their breeding grounds.

For more information see the NZ birds online website

The Muriwai gecko is a small species with only three known populations on the Auckland west coast. It has a conservation threat status of ‘Nationally Critical’ which means there are fewer than 200 individuals known.

For more information visit the Auckland Zoo website.