New Zealand Ramsar wetland
Firth of Thames
31 bird species recorded; the most in January.
Krzysztof Golik · CC BY-SA 4.0
This month here
25 species in January.8 species in February.16 species in March.5 species in April.1 species in May.17 species in June.7 species in July.0 species in August.13 species in September.0 species in October.18 species in November.1 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.
NT
NTNT
NTNo records for this month.
NTNTNo records for this month.
No records for this month.
NTNo records for this month.
- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
31 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).
- 31Speciesrecorded more than once
- 5Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 0ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 219Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 1Raptors
- 1Owls
- 2Waders
- 9Gulls & seabirds
- 5Herons, ibises & grebes
- 10Songbirds
- 3Other 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 31 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Swamp HarrierCircus approximans
Owls1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- MopokeNinox novaeseelandiae
Waders2 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Variable OystercatcherHaematopus unicolor
- South Island OystercatcherHaematopus finschi
Gulls & seabirds9 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Southern Black-backed GullLarus dominicanus
- Silver GullChroicocephalus novaehollandiae
- Australasian GannetMorus serrator
- White-fronted TernSterna striataNT
- Buller's ShearwaterPuffinus bulleri
- Arctic SkuaStercorarius parasiticus
- Blue PenguinEudyptula minor
- White-faced storm petrelPelagodroma marina
- Fluttering ShearwaterPuffinus gavia
Herons, ibises & grebes5 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Pied CormorantPhalacrocorax varius
- Little Pied CormorantMicrocarbo melanoleucos
- Spotted ShagPhalacrocorax punctatus
- White-faced HeronEgretta novaehollandiae
- Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
Songbirds10 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Common MynaAcridotheres tristis
- Grey GerygoneGerygone igata
- SilvereyeZosterops lateralis
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Eurasian ChaffinchFringilla coelebs
- Australian MagpieGymnorhina tibicen
- YellowhammerEmberiza citrinella
- Welcome SwallowHirundo neoxena
- TuiProsthemadera novaeseelandiae
- Grey FantailRhipidura fuliginosa
Other birds3 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Sacred KingfisherTodiramphus sanctus
- Eastern RosellaPlatycercus eximius
- New Zealand PigeonHemiphaga novaeseelandiae
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.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan23°/16°60 mm
- Feb23°/17°70 mm
- Mar22°/16°76 mm
- Apr19°/14°89 mm
- May17°/12°112 mm
- Jun15°/10°111 mm
- Jul14°/9°116 mm
- Aug14°/9°102 mm
- Sep15°/10°88 mm
- Oct17°/11°78 mm
- Nov19°/13°52 mm
- Dec21°/15°87 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Firth of Thames.
Bay in New Zealand
Firth of Thames is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in New Zealand.
31 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 219 open records.
The most recorded are the Southern Black-backed Gull, the Pied Cormorant and the Common Myna.
4 species come for the summer, 1 for the winter and 0 only pass through.
The most species are recorded in January.
Get there and watch
- Tapu Reserve - self contained onlycampsite · 7.7 km · 7 within 10 km
- Te Mata Lodgeplace to stay · 8.3 km · 1 within 10 km
- Thamesnearest town · 19 km in a straight line
- Auckland International Airport (AKL)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 56 km in a straight lineCar hire at AKL airport (Auckland)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
- 7campsites within 10 kmTapu Reserve - self contained only, Tapu Motor Camp, Self contained only and 4 more
- 1places to stay within 10 kmTe Mata Lodge
- bird hides within 6 km
- observation towers within 6 km
- marked trails within 4 km
- visitor centres within 6 km
- viewpoints within 5 km
- car parks within 3 km
- restaurants and cafés within 3 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 Firth of Thames.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Peakyas47 mountains within 25 kmMt Misery357 m · 12 kmPapakai759 m · 17 kmKohukohunui688 m · 18 kmTawhitirahi510 m · 21 kmMount Workman428 m · 21 kmPukapuka470 m · 23 kmMangatangi487 m · 25 kmPonui173 m · 25 km
Cascadyas1 waterfalls within 15 kmThe Seven Stairs to Heaven Waterfall · 12 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.
Firth of Thames
New Zealand
- 32Birdyas Score
- 31Species
- 5Migrants
- 0Threatened
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q1419628) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 219 open bird records within 6 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, 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
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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