This group of seven uninhabited volcanic subantarctic islands belonging to New Zealand lies c.500 km south of the South Island of New Zealand (EBA 207). In descending order of size they are Auckland, Adams, Enderby, Disappointment, Rose, Ewing and Ocean.

On the main island of Auckland, a narrow strip of forest dominated by the southern rata Metrosideros umbellata fringes coastal areas to 50 m, above which there is a broad belt of scrub with tussock grassland at c.300 m giving way to upland herbfields and fellfield (of bryophytes, mosses, lichens and sedges) at c.500 m. This basic vegetation pattern varies among the other islands.

This EBA has been identified on the basis of its one endemic extant and one endemic extinct species; an additional (extant) restricted-range species also occurs there. The two surviving species, Lewinia muelleri (endemic) and Coenocorypha aucklandica (nominate race endemic to this EBA), are both found in the same areas of tussock grassland, scrub and forest. L. muelleri persists on Adams (with 10% of the island likely to have suitable habitat) and Disappointment only, while C. aucklandica is found on all islands apart from Auckland itself.

A number of subspecies of more widespread New Zealand birds are also confined to the Auckland Islands: the flightless Auckland Island Brown Teal Anas aucklandica aucklandica (treated as a full species in Marchant and Higgins 1990), Auckland Island Double-banded Plover Charadrius bicinctus exilis and Auckland Island Tit Petroica macrocephala marrineri. Auckland Island Pipit Anthus novaeseelandiae aucklandicus occurs in this EBA and on the outer islands of Campbell Island, another New Zealand subantarctic island group to the south.

The islands are very important for seabirds, notably Auckland Islands Shag Phalacrocorax colensoi (a breeding endemic confined to the islands of Auckland, Enderby, Ewing and Ocean), Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans and Shy Albatross D. cauta (Clark and Dingwall 1985), with the subspecies D. e. gibsoni and D. c. steadi breeding only there (both recognized as full species by Robertson and Nunn in press). Several other species of seabird have endemic races which breed on these islands.

The native vegetation in this EBA has been much modified by introduced mammals, including cattle, goats, rabbits, mice and especially pigs. However, a recent eradication programme has successfully removed introduced mammals from all the islands apart from the largest, Auckland (see Sanson and Dingwall 1995). Adams (100 km²) and Disappointment (4 km²) have never had introduced mammals and are therefore the least disturbed of the islands, Adams being known internationally for its herbaceous flora, and both providing an important refuge for wildlife.

Lewinia muelleri once thought to be extinct, is now known to number c.1,000 individuals (several hundred on Adams and at least 500 on Disappointment), but is only safe if introduced mammals, especially pigs and cats (still present on Auckland) and rats, fail to reach these islands either by swimming the narrow channel which separates Adams from Auckland or by accidental introduction (Elliott et al. 1991). It is likely that introduced predators, plus collecting, caused the demise of Mergus australis.

Other threatened birds (all classified as Vulnerable) which occur on the Auckland Islands (see 'Restricted-range species', above), include Anas aucklandica (the total population of A. a. aucklandica is unlikely to exceed 600), Phalacrocorax colensoi (c.4,000 birds) and Diomedea exulans (c.9,000 pairs, c.30% of the total world population). The islands are also an important breeding area for the threatened Yellow-eyed Penguin Megadyptes antipodes (also Vulnerable, 250-350 pairs, c.20% of the world population).

The Auckland Islands are totally protected and are now visited principally by scientific expeditions, with supervised tourism being permitted only on Auckland and Enderby.

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Endemic Bird Area factsheet: Auckland Islands. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/eba/factsheet/208 on 23/11/2024.