Photo: New Zealand Gannet Colony Muriwai Beach

One bird from the Gannet Colony at Muriwai Beach on the North Island of New Zealand, takes flight to soar the sky, while the rest of the colony stays put on the cliff.

With its wing not fully expanded, a gannet takes flight from the rock cliff at Muriwai Beach near Auckland, New Zealand and leaves some family members behind for a short period of time. The gannets remain nestled on the cliff where they come every year to breed and nest.

Each year the colony returns to this beach, many of the pairs who were together the previous year will stay together, which may continue over several breeding seasons. Here they will breed and a single egg will be laid which takes about 44 days of incubation.

In 1975, Australasian Gannets begin appearing at Muriwai Beach to find new nesting grounds as the ones at Motutara Island were becoming overpopulated and now on these rock cliffs approximately 2,400 birds nest here. Around 1995, there was a scare that the gannets were diminishing quickly as the numbers dropped dramatically, but suddenly, most of them returned. Australasian Gannets have increased in numbers since the 1950's, with some of the colonies vanishing while others have been known to grow.

The Gannet Colony at Muriwai Beach is one of three found throughout New Zealand, with Cape Kidnappers being the largest but Muriwai being the easy to access. Here you can spend hours closely watching the Gannet Colony go about their daily activities with the best viewing months being between October and February.

Muriwai Beach is not quite an hour away from Auckland, New Zealand and well worth the trip. Not only is the Gannet Colony incredible to see, but the scenery and rugged coastline is picturesque where the surf crashes against the massive rock cliffs.

Gannets, Morus serrator, in a colony at Muriwai Beach, Muriwai, near Auckland, Waitakere, West Coast, North Island, New Zealand.