Birds, birds, birds

Being a wildlife photographer in New Zealand usually means being a bird photographer. Why is that?

Bird land

New Zealand was, until relatively recently, a land almost entirely devoid of teeth. What it had was birds, lots of them, and some weird ones at that. This land was home to the largest eagle ever known, and what did it feed on? Birds. Avian predators hunt using sight, not smell. Quick-moving prey attracted attention, but camouflage and nocturnal habits provided an advantage. That's partly why New Zealand ended up with a flightless, nocturnal parrot you would be hard pressed to spot even if I told you which bush it was in. And that parrot, the kākāpō, tends to freeze stock still when it senses danger.

Not all of this weird and wonderful wildlife survived to see the time of the wildlife photographer. Waves of human settlement over the last 700 years saw many of New Zealand’s species hunted to extinction. We cleared habitat and introduced mammalian pests – keen-nosed, fleet-footed, sharp-toothed hunters, such as rats and stoats, that made easy meals of a largely defenseless fauna.

At this point the naturalist will demand I point out that New Zealand does have native mammals. Indeed, there are rare native bats and various marine mammals, and even the fossils of something mouse-like. But of these, only seals and sea lions can offer photographers an accessible, native mammalian subject on land.

If we set aside a preference for native-ness, what mammals might we photograph today? Pets and farm animals are not generally considered wild enough for wildlife photographers, and our wild deer, goats, antelopes, pigs and horses are more often spied along a gunsight than through a camera’s viewfinder. Even fewer photographers would seek out the remainders: possums, rats, mice, stoats, ferrets, weasels and wallabies. All of these are pests, known to eat or compete with our native species.

Remaining options for wildlife photographers

A telephoto lens and hunting-like techniques are employed in both bird and mammalian wildlife photography. To photograph a non-avian subject in New Zealand, you'll usually need specialist gear or privileged access.

Those with macro lenses and specialist lighting can photograph an interesting range of native land invertebrates. Underwater marine photography can require a substantial investment in gear and training but does see involvement, especially at our Marine Protected Areas. A small number of photographers may seek out reptiles: tuatara and the various lizard species among skinks and geckos. Photographing reptiles might not call for specialist gear, but tuatara live only in protected areas and New Zealand’s lizards can be much harder to locate than birds or bugs. Lastly, our native frogs are incredibly rare and very few photographers gain access to them.