Geography of New Zealand Geography of New Zealand New Zealand ("") is an island country located in the south-western Pacific Ocean, near the centre of the water hemisphere. It is a long and narrow country and comprises around 600 islands. The two main islands by size are the North Island (or "Te Ika-a-Māui") and the South Island (or "Te Waipounamu"), separated by the Cook Strait; the third-largest island, Stewart Island (or "Rakiura"), is located off the tip of the South Island across Foveaux Strait. Significantly smaller islands include Waiheke Island, Chatham Island, Great Barrier Island and more, although many are uninhabited. New Zealand's landscape
New Zealand pigeon New Zealand pigeon The New Zealand pigeon or kereru (Māori: kererū; "Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae") is a bird endemic to New Zealand. Māori call it "kererū" in most of the country but kūkupa and kūkū in some parts of the North Island, particularly in Northland. Commonly called wood pigeon, they are distinct from the wood pigeon ("Columba palumbus") of the Northern Hemisphere, which is a member of a different genus. The New Zealand pigeon belongs to the family Columbidae, and the subfamily Treroninae, which is found throughout Southeast Asia, Malaya, Africa and New Zealand. The members of this subfamily feed largely on