Hen And Chickens Islands
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The Hen and Chicken Islands, usually known 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 New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. They lie east of Bream Head and south-east of
Whangārei Whangārei () is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the largest settlement of the Northland Region. It is part of the Whangarei District, created in 1989 from the former Whangarei City, Whangarei County and Hikurangi Town councils to admi ...
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 Last Glacial Coldest Period, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period where ice sheets were at their greatest extent between 26,000 and 20,000 years ago. Ice sheets covered m ...
when sea levels were over 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 Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...
, 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 The Pleiades (), also known as Seven Sisters and Messier 45 (M45), is an Asterism (astronomy), asterism of an open cluster, open star cluster containing young Stellar classification#Class B, B-type stars in the northwest of the constellation Tau ...
. Originally owned by the Māori Ngā Puhi
iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...
, 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 in 1927, and it too was named as a scenic reserve. In June 1940, the Canadian-Australasian 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
seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...
s 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 i ...
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 the ...
s. There are also native reptiles on the islands, including
tuatara The tuatara (''Sphenodon punctatus'') is a species of reptile endemic to New Zealand. Despite its close resemblance to lizards, it is actually the only extant member of a distinct lineage, the previously highly diverse order Rhynchocephal ...
,
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. They range from . Geckos are unique among lizards ...
s and
skink Skinks are a type of lizard belonging to the family (biology), family Scincidae, a family in the Taxonomic rank, infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one o ...
s.


The islands

Hen Island, or , 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
yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...
s. By the late 1800s, Hen Island was the only place in New Zealand with a surviving population of
North Island saddleback The North Island saddleback (''Philesturnus rufusater'') is a forest-dwelling passerine bird species endemic (ecology), endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. It was once considered conspecific with the South Island saddleback. The IUCN lis ...
. The once common species of forest bird found in the
North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
, 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 . An unofficial name until 1970 was West Chicken Island. The New Zealand Department of Conservation and the Ngati Wai iwi have entered into partnership to set up a sanctuary for the
Polynesian rat The Polynesian rat, Pacific rat or little rat (''Rattus exulans''), or , is the third most widespread species of rat in the world behind the brown rat and black rat. Contrary to its vernacular name, the Polynesian rat originated in Southeast Asi ...
, 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), 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 Co ...
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. Hen and Chickens (48753380661) (cropped).jpg, ''Hen and Chickens'', 1920 watercolour by Kate Gow


See also

*
List of islands of New Zealand New Zealand consists of more than six hundred islands, mainly remnants of Zealandia, a larger land mass now beneath the sea. New Zealand is the List of island countries#UN member states and states with limited recognition, sixth-largest island ...
* New Zealand outlying islands


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