Wild Wellington Ngā Taonga Taiao: A guide to the wildlife and wild places of Te Upoko-o-te-Ika
What to see where, when, and how in the Wellington region.
By Michael Szabo
Publication: November 2024
Pages: 272
Format: Flexibind
ISBN: 978-1-99-116557-2
RRP: $45
Buy Wild Wellington Ngā Taonga Taiao
Te Upoko-o-te-Ika Wellington has an amazing variety of landscapes and seascapes that are home to an impressive range of wildlife. This handy and informative illustrated guide highlights over 30 of the best wild and urban places to discover and explore the region’s natural diversity, from the south coast to Kapiti.
Whether out tramping, at home or on the water, this is a book for locals and visitors, keen and casual wildlife watchers, or for anyone curious about their own backyard.
Wild Wellington lets you in on the best places and times of year to experience everything from migrating birds to seals hauling out, dolphin pods and orca in the harbour, to the recovery of once-threatened native bird species in action, the region’s special flowering plants to the oldest native trees, and the conservation efforts that ensure that our local wildlife survives and flourishes.
Written with input from Te Papa’s expert Natural History team and Mātauranga Māori about the region and its wildlife from mana whenua, Wild Wellington illustrates the true richness of the interconnected nature of Pōneke and Te Upoko-o-te-Ika.
Review highlights
Kete Books, by Rebekah Stretton. “Each chapter is crammed with lists of what to find in each location, plus interesting and relevant snippets of information - where and when you might see things, facts and details of rare historical sightings of species, as far back as the 1930s. If you are a nature enthusiast, you will appreciate the quantity of species, common and rare. … It is a treasure hunters’ guide to nature in the Wellington region.”
NZ Booklovers, by Carole Brungar. “This bi-lingual guidebook is chock full of information, advice and knowledge on the amazing diversity of bird life, insects, plants, fishes and marine life and it will make you want to get your tramping boots on and explore more of the region that is often taken for granted.”
Author interviews
The Post, interviewed by Nicholas Boyack
Interviewed by Mayor Tory Whanau at the Unity Books launch.
RNZ Afternoons, interviewed by Jesse Mulligan
About the author
Michael Szabo is a long-time Wellington resident and writer and well acquainted with the region’s wildlife. He is editor of Birds New Zealand magazine and a contributor to New Zealand Birds Online. He was principal author of Native Birds of Aotearoa (Te Papa Press, 2022), Wild Encounters: A Forest & Bird guide to discovering New Zealand’s unique wildlife (2009), and has written for New Scientist, New Zealand Geographic, the Sunday Star-Times and Wilderness.
Publication: November 2024
Pages: 272
Format: Flexibind
ISBN: 978-1-99-116557-2
RRP: $45
