The Hen and Chicken Islands (usually known collectively as the ''Hen and Chickens'') lie to the east of the

North Auckland Peninsula The Northland Peninsula, called the North Auckland Peninsula in earlier times, is in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is joined to the rest of the island by the Auckland isthmus, a narrow piece of land between the Waitematā ...

off the coast of northern New Zealand. They lie east of Bream Head and south-east of Whangarei with a total area of .

History

Approximately 18,000 years ago during the

Last Glacial Maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Late Glacial Maximum, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period that ice sheets were at their greatest extent. Ice sheets covered much of Northern North America, Northern Eur ...

when sea levels were over 100 metres lower than present day levels, the islands were hilly features surrounded by a vast coastal plain. Sea levels began to rise 7,000 years ago, after which the islands separated from the rest of New Zealand. These islands were given their European name by Captain

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

, who first sighted them on 25 November 1769. It has been suggested that the name was inspired by an old name for the star cluster usually known as the Pleiades. Originally owned by the Māori Ngā Puhi iwi, they were sold to the New Zealand Government in 1883. The islands were made a scenic reserve in 1908 owing to the rarity of their flora and fauna, and became a wildlife refuge in 1953. Hen Island had actually passed from Māori hands a few years earlier, being bought by Thomas Outhwaite in 1872. It was bequeathed to the nation by his daughter

Isa Outhwaite Anne Jane Louisa Outhwaite (1842 – 13 December 1925) was a New Zealand watercolour artist, poet social activist and philanthropist. As an artist, she exhibited in Auckland from 1875 until 1900. Some of her works are held in the Alexander Turnbul ...

in 1927, and it too was named as a scenic reserve. In June 1940, the Canadian-Australasian Royal Mail Ship sank off the islands after hitting a mine. Most of the cargo, which included gold bullion, was later salvaged.

Environment

The islands are noted for their bird life with colonies of seabirds as well as forest birds which have become scarce or extinct on the mainland. The islands have been identified as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

, by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

because they are home to a breeding population of about 500 pairs of

Pycroft's petrel Pycroft's petrel (''Pterodroma pycrofti'') is a species of seabird in the petrel and shearwater family Procellariidae. Origin The Pycroft's petrel is a species of gadfly petrel (genus '' Pterodroma''), and is thought to be closely related to th ...

s. There are also native reptiles on the islands, including tuatara,

gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from . Geckos ar ...

s and

skink Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of lizards. Ski ...

The islands

Hen Island, or mi, Taranga, lies to the southwest from the rest of the archipelago. It is also considerably larger than the Chicken Islands, or , which comprise a chain of six small islands running north-west to south-east to the north of Hen Island. The chain consists of and Islands (together called North West Chicken), (West Chicken), Lady Alice Island or (Big Chicken), (Middle Chicken), and Coppermine Island (Eastern Chicken).

Taranga (Hen) Island

is the largest island by some considerable margin, totalling . Long and thin, it has a length of and an average width of less than . A remnant of a four-million-year-old volcano, the island is dominated by a rocky ridge reaching to about at its highest point, called The Pinnacles. Sail Rock, a

stack Stack may refer to: Places * Stack Island, an island game reserve in Bass Strait, south-eastern Australia, in Tasmania’s Hunter Island Group * Blue Stack Mountains, in Co. Donegal, Ireland People * Stack (surname) (including a list of people ...

, rises from the ocean to the south of Hen Island, and is a prominent navigational point for yachts. By the late 1800s, Hen Island was the only place in New Zealand with a surviving population of North Island saddleback. The once common species of forest bird found in the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

, was nearly wiped out by the human introduction of mammalian predators, such as rats and stoats. In the 1960s translocations of saddleback from Hen Island to other island sanctuaries around New Zealand began.

Wareware and Muriwhenua

Two small rocky islands with a combined area of .

Mauitaha

This , rugged, scrub-covered rock lies to the south of Muriwhenua. It rises to . The New Zealand Department of Conservation and the

Ngati Wai ''Ngati'' is a 1987 New Zealand feature film directed by Barry Barclay, written by Tama Poata and produced by John O'Shea. Production ''Ngati'' is of historical and cultural significance in New Zealand as it is the first feature film written an ...

iwi have entered into partnership to set up a sanctuary for the Polynesian rat, or kiore, on the islands Mauitaha and Araara. A spokesman for Ngati Wai said the kiore heritage will be protected as the movement of the kiore through the Pacific paralleled the migration of the New Zealand Maori. A spokesman for the Department of Conservation said the Department's policy change from eradication would assist scientific research.

Lady Alice Island

Named after Lady Alice Fergusson (wife of Governor General Sir

Charles Fergusson Sir Charles Fergusson, 7th Baronet, (17 January 1865 – 20 February 1951), was a British Army officer and the third Governor-General of New Zealand. Early life and military career Fergusson was the son of Sir James Fergusson, 6th Baronet, ...

), it is the largest of the five Chickens and is of particular significance because of its flora and fauna. The island covers and is surrounded by rocky reefs. It was occupied by

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

until the 1820s, and was used as a base for fishermen in the 1890s. Cattle were introduced at about this time, but were removed in the 1920s.

Whatupuke

Formerly known as ''Whakahau'' this island is composed of a large eastern section and a peninsula to the southwest. The coast of the peninsula forms one of the chain's main land features, a wide bay (Starfish Bay). The island covers , and is steep, rising to .

Coppermine Island

Coppermine island formerly known as ''Mauipane'' covers an area of . It is composed of two sections joined by a short isthmus. As the name suggests, there are copper deposits on the island, but attempts at mining them in 1849 and 1898 proved unprofitable.

Gallery

File:Hen and Chicken Islands.jpg, Hen and Chicken Islands from Department of Conservation Campsite, Uretiti, New Zealand.

References

External links

Hen and Chickens chain
{{Authority control Whangarei District Important Bird Areas of New Zealand Protected areas of the Northland Region Islands of the Northland Region