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Western Springs Park

Updated: Jul 17, 2021

Western Springs park is a large reservation area with diverse species and natural habitat. Here you will find ducks, geese, pukeko, chicken, chicks, eels, white-headed ducks, birds and other species, and most notable - the pond. It is also a habitat for many trees and flowers such as the willow tree, ferns, bushes and many more. There is also a Japanese garden built in Auckland.

Tree and a bench


japanese garden

Japanese garden western springs

Once you arrive and enter western springs on zoo side, you are greeted with a Japanese western springs garden and its beautiful architecture. The garden is adjacent to the zoo. The so called Fukuoka friendship garden was constructed in 1990 by people of Japan. The original Fukuoka garden was part of Auckland Zoo and was soon removed from the area due to Auckland Zoo expanding. Thus, a new garden was constructed nearby the place of an old one to imitate what was once an authentic Japanese garden. Fukuoka has a sister city relationship with Auckland. The garden was built with the intention to represent this relationship. More info at Fukuoka friendship garden sets new standard in New Zealand — LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AOTEAROA


Among the rocks there is a Tui bird, which plays a significant cultural role in New Zealanad. It is said that because of its personality, the Tui is associated with life fulfilment, confidence and spiritual harmony. Tui also have a complex system of sounds with ability to imitate human speech. They resemble parrots, and are known to have been trained by Maori to replicate complex speech. (From Tweet, Picture Bird - bird identification app).



Tui can also be recognized for their noisy, unusual call:


And variety of sounds:


See blog post Tui bird facts for more information on the bird.


Two pukeko birds

Not only Tui exhibit the wester springs park area, there are also plenty of pukeko birds. The subspecies found in New Zealand (Porphyrio porphyrio melanotus) is thought to have landed here around a thousand years ago from Australia. These two pukeko are fighting each other, with the right one eventually conceding by dropping their head down:







Birds and Fish (Eels)


Walking path


Picturesque Views

Two pictures of lake - with (left) and without (right) seagulls on grass.


Willow tree (left), relaxation spot (middle), grass field (right).


The Playground dark (left), light (right).



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Hello, I am a Blog Writer

In my blog I love to write about New Zealand Nature. My focus is to provide value to website visitors by offering New Zealand Nature-related information and articles. By reading my blog you will learn a lot about New Zealand nature, how to preserve it and how to get the most out of your travel and nature-related endeavors!

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Nikolai Kolbenev

Blog Writer

Passionate about all things nature, I am giving you facts and showing you tips on nature preservation in New Zealand.

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