Motueka Island, also known by the name Pigeon Island, is an island off the coast of the

Coromandel Peninsula The Coromandel Peninsula ( mi, Te Tara-O-Te-Ika-A-Māui) on the North Island of New Zealand extends north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier protecting the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the we ...

in New Zealand.

Geography

The island is located 1.5 kilometres north-east of Cathedral Cove, to the east of

Mercury Bay Mercury Bay is a large V-shaped bay on the eastern coast of the Coromandel Peninsula on the North Island of New Zealand. It was named by the English navigator Captain James Cook during his exploratory expeditions. It was first named ''Te-Whangan ...

. It is tidally linked to

Poikeke Island Poikeke Island is an island off the coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand. Geography The island is located approximately 900 metres north-east of Cathedral Cove, to the east of Mercury Bay. It is tidally linked to Motueka Island ...

, a smaller island located to the west. The island reaches a height of 66 metres. Motueka Island is within the

Te Whanganui-A-Hei (Cathedral Cove) Marine Reserve Te Whanganui-A-Hei (Cathedral Cove) Marine Reserve is in the southern part of Mercury Bay on the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand covering an area of . On the coast of the mainland, it stretches from Cook Bluff in the north-west to the nort ...

. Motueka Island is an eroded

Miocene era The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

lava dome In volcanology, a lava dome is a circular mound-shaped protrusion resulting from the slow extrusion of viscous lava from a volcano. Dome-building eruptions are common, particularly in convergent plate boundary settings. Around 6% of eruptions on ...

, composed of flow-banded rhyolite.

Biodiversity

The island is primarily forested by native New Zealand flora, including

kohekohe Kohekohe (''Dysoxylum spectabile'') is a medium-sized tree in the Meliaceae family, native to New Zealand. It is found in lowland and coastal forests throughout most of the North Island and also occurs in the Marlborough Sounds in the north ...

, karaka, māhoe, whārangi, tawāpou,

pūriri ''Vitex lucens'', or pūriri, is an evergreen tree endemic to New Zealand. History Pūriri was first collected (by Europeans) at Tolaga Bay by Banks and Solander during Cook's first visit in 1769. The plant was excellently described by Solan ...

and parapara. The summit area is a plateau, forested by large

pōhutukawa ''Metrosideros excelsa'', commonly known as pōhutukawa ( mi, pōhutukawa), New Zealand Christmas tree, New Zealand Christmas bush, and iron tree, is a coastal evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that produces a brilliant display o ...

trees. The island is a nesting place for '' Pterodroma gouldi'' (ōi / the grey-faced petrel). Several hundred birds nest on the island, despite the presence of

Norway rats The brown rat (''Rattus norvegicus''), also known as the common rat, street rat, sewer rat, wharf rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Norwegian rat and Parisian rat, is a widespread species of common rat. One of the largest muroids, it is a brown or ...

History

The island is historically significant to

Ngāti Hei Ngāti Hei is a Māori iwi of New Zealand. Ngāti Hei is generally recognised as the dominant tribe of the Mercury Bay area. There has always been much speculation as to the origins of Māori people. Historians agree that Māori arrived in Aot ...

, who are the

mana whenua In New Zealand, tangata whenua () is a Māori term that literally means "people of the land". It can refer to either a specific group of people with historical claims to a district, or more broadly the Māori people as a whole. Etymology Accordi ...

iwi for Mouteka Island. It was given the traditional name Te Kuraetanga o taku Ihu, named by the

rangatira In Māori culture, () are tribal chiefs, the hereditary Māori leaders of a hapū. Ideally, rangatira were people of great practical wisdom who held authority () on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land and that ...

Hei, who likened the island to his ''

tā moko ' is the permanent marking or "tattoo" as traditionally practised by Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. It is one of the five main Polynesian tattoo styles (the other four are Marquesan, Samoan, Tahitian and Hawaiian). (tattoois ...

''. During the early European colonial period, the island gained the name Pigeon Island.

References

{{Thames-Coromandel District Islands of Waikato Miocene lava domes Protected areas of Waikato Thames-Coromandel District Volcanic islands of New Zealand Volcanoes of Waikato Uninhabited islands of New Zealand