Hen and Chicken Islands
The Hen and Chicken Islands, usually known as the Hen and Chickens, lie to the east of the Northland Peninsula off the coast of northern New Zealand. They lie east of Bream Head and south-east of Whangārei with a total area of.
History
Approximately 18,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum 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, 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 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 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, by BirdLife International because they are home to a breeding population of about 500 pairs of Pycroft's petrels. There are also native reptiles on the islands, including tuatara, geckos and skinks.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 Marotiri, which comprise a chain of six small islands running north-west to south-east to the north of Hen Island. The chain consists of Wareware and Muriwhenua Islands, Mauitaha, Lady Alice Island or Motu Muka, Whatupuke, and Coppermine Island.Taranga (Hen) Island
Taranga 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, 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, 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, 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.