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I know this is a little early but I am keen to see a long tailed cuckoo this year. Can anyone give me any advice? I am in the Wellington/Kapiti Coast area.

I suggest Kapiti Island, north end, after Christmas (mid Jan to mid Feb). I have heard them at Catchpool area (south of Wainui), and Kiriwhakapapa near Mt Bruce, and Hemi Matangi (Waikanae) but never caught sight of them. Boundary Stream (Napier) December/January should be 95% certainty. With the increasing Whitehead population in Karori Sanctuary it may be a possibility in future years, but I haven't seen/heard one there yet.

I've also heard and seen them on Kapiti Island during January in the forest canopy above the flat area where the ranger briefs visitors on arrival.

Used to be heaps of these in the upper Wanganui River area behind Owhango during the late 80's early 90's. Prior to the days of aerial 1080 poison drops. I even bagged some dead ones up after the drops and took them into the local DOC office at Whakapapa. I never heard anything back. Haven't really heard in them in that piece of bush in recent years.

Hi Imogen, can recommend several sites around wellington, I'd suggest the Rimutaka Forest Park; LT cuckoos can commonly be heard and seen along the top end of the McKerrow track behind Wainuiomata. Another good spot is the ridge track in Kaitoke Regional Park. The ridge tracks in East Harbour Regional Park are also worth a try. A good way to suss out potential sites is to do a search for LT cuckoos on ebird. Clusters of observations on the map would suggest a good site to try. Good luck! Nikki

Long-tailed Cuckoo's calling today on Kapiti Island a little south of the trig track. And one flew north over the trig offering good views (high in the sky) to many people. They are there but are hard birds to spot!

Was up on the Kaitoki Ridge track today, at least 2 LT Cuckoo calling near the Rivendell end of the track. Didn't see them but heard them calling from several locations. Also plenty of Whiteheads and Tomtits in the area.

Long-tailed Cuckoo calling and then seen chased off by a Tui from the carpark at Staglands in the Akatarawa's north of Wellington on Sunday, around 3 pm in the afternoon.

That's interesting. I did see one on Kapiti Island in January but I thought they'd have gone by know. Thanks for the tip!

Plenty on the Arthur River section of the Milford Track earlier this week.
Say between 8 and 5 miles from the end of the track. Didn't manage to see
any but standing still, waiting, isn't something you want to do in a fjordland
forest with a pack and millions of sandflies. Sorry