New Zealand

My birding obsession started before I realized it, taking pictures of the common birds on a trip to New Zealand.  About a year later, I was fully submersed in the world of birds and remembered I had taken a few pictures of birds in NZ.  I was very surprised to find 45 shots of 13 species of birds.  I eagerly searched the internet to identify the birds.

Surprisingly, New Zealand only has a few speicies of gulls so it was easy enough to identify them.  Here we have the Red-Billed Gull.

Female Blackbird

This Cormorant was difficult to identify.  It seems they are sometimes called "Shags" or "Kawau".  I think this one is a Little-Pied Cormorant, possibly also called "Little Shag" (Kawaupaka).

Having just come across several unidentifiable, domesticated water fowl at the time I started looking through these pictures, I figured I had no chance at identifying these ones.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  I found a picture of these guys that could almost have been my exact photo.  Male and female (white head) Paradise Shelduck. 

Southern Black-Backed Gull

 Pukeko

Australian Magpies

Either a female Grey Duck or Mallard or maybe even a hybrid? 

California Quail

Fantail

Song Thrush

A Grebe of sorts.  Reminds me of a Pie-Billed Grebe, but could never quite figure this one out.  I also saw a little yellow bird, but the only picture I could get of it was a blurry yellow blob.  Maybe a Waxeye?  We shall never know for sure.