New Zealand bird sanctuary
Fensham Reserve
38 bird species recorded; the most in January and in June.
Mike Dickison · CC BY 4.0
This month here
29 species in January.28 species in February.18 species in March.23 species in April.24 species in May.31 species in June.25 species in July.7 species in August.28 species in September.28 species in October.16 species in November.20 species in December.
The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.
- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
38 species, counted.
Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).
- 38Speciesrecorded more than once
- 13Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 0ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 1,574Recordsopen records within 4 km
- 167 mAltitudeabove the sea
- 2Raptors
- 1Owls
- 1Waders
- 1Gulls & seabirds
- 2Ducks & geese
- 2Herons, ibises & grebes
- 21Songbirds
- 8Other birds
From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.
The checklist
All 38 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors2 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Swamp HarrierCircus approximans
- New Zealand FalconFalco novaeseelandiae
Owls1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- MopokeNinox novaeseelandiae
Waders1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Masked LapwingVanellus miles
Gulls & seabirds1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Southern Black-backed GullLarus dominicanus
Ducks & geese2 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Paradise ShelduckTadorna variegata
- MallardAnas platyrhynchos
Herons, ibises & grebes2 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- White-faced HeronEgretta novaehollandiae
- Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
Songbirds21 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Eurasian BlackbirdTurdus merula
- Common StarlingSturnus vulgaris
- TuiProsthemadera novaeseelandiae
- Australian MagpieGymnorhina tibicen
- Grey FantailRhipidura fuliginosa
- Song ThrushTurdus philomelos
- Grey GerygoneGerygone igata
- Eurasian ChaffinchFringilla coelebs
- SilvereyeZosterops lateralis
- European GoldfinchCarduelis carduelis
- BellbirdAnthornis melanura
- European GreenfinchChloris chloris
- Welcome SwallowHirundo neoxena
- YellowhammerEmberiza citrinella
- DunnockPrunella modularis
- SkylarkAlauda arvensis
- Common MynaAcridotheres tristis
- New Zealand TomtitPetroica macrocephala
- Australasian PipitAnthus novaeseelandiae
- Common RedpollAcanthis flammea
Other birds8 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Eastern RosellaPlatycercus eximius
- New Zealand PigeonHemiphaga novaeseelandiae
- Australasian SwamphenPorphyrio melanotus
- Sacred KingfisherTodiramphus sanctus
- California QuailCallipepla californica
- Shining cuckooChrysococcyx lucidus
- Rock DoveColumba livia
- Common PheasantPhasianus colchicus
Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.
When to go
The most species in January and in June.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan21°/12°56 mm
- Feb22°/12°61 mm
- Mar20°/11°66 mm
- Apr16°/9°74 mm
- May14°/7°84 mm
- Jun11°/6°98 mm
- Jul10°/5°94 mm
- Aug11°/5°87 mm
- Sep13°/6°77 mm
- Oct14°/7°85 mm
- Nov16°/8°69 mm
- Dec19°/11°76 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Fensham Reserve.
Forest reserve near Carterton, New Zealand
Fensham Reserve is a bird sanctuary in New Zealand.
38 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 1,574 open records.
The most recorded are the House Sparrow, the Eurasian Blackbird and the Common Starling.
9 species come for the summer, 2 for the winter and 2 only pass through.
The most species are recorded in January and in June.
Get there and watch
- Official informationAccess, hours and rules from those who manage the place.Official site↗
- Carterton Holiday Parkcampsite · 2.8 km · 5 within 10 km
- Matador Motelplace to stay · 3.4 km · 19 within 10 km
- Cartertonnearest town · 3.2 km in a straight line
- Wellington International Airport (WLG)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 69 km in a straight lineCar hire at WLG airport (Wellington)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The place and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.
Around, in OpenStreetMap
- 2viewpoints within 5 km
- 5car parks within 3 km
- 1restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- 5campsites within 10 kmCarterton Holiday Park, Greytown Campground, Waiohine Gorge Campsite and 2 more
- 19places to stay within 10 kmMatador Motel, Aratahi Cottages, Mangatarere Lodge and 16 more
- bird hides within 6 km
- observation towers within 6 km
- marked trails within 4 km
- visitor centres within 6 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
Around Fensham Reserve.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Peakyas99 mountains within 25 kmMount Holdsworth1,470 m · 16 kmMcGregor1,540 m · 19 kmMount Hector1,529 m · 20 kmSouth King1,531 m · 20 kmPeggys Peak1,545 m · 22 kmPukeamoamo / Mitre1,571 m · 22 kmGirdlestone1,546 m · 23 kmBrockett1,538 m · 23 km
Darkskyas2 dark-sky places within 30 kmStonehenge AotearoaBortle 2 · 13 kmCarkeek ObservatoryBortle 2 · 23 km
Cascadyas1 waterfalls within 15 kmFern Stream Waterfall · 9.9 km
Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The place, as people saw it.
Other places nearby.
Fensham Reserve
New Zealand
- 34Birdyas Score
- 38Species
- 13Migrants
- 0Threatened
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q97819853) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 1,574 open bird records within 4 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology) |
| See these records | gbif.org |
| Species | GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons |
| Altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Temperature and rain | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Peakyas, Islandyas, Darkskyas, Cascadyas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit 
lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit 
caves
Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit 
viewpoints
Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit 
birdwatching
Every bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.You are here
forests
Every forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit