Wrybill Birding Tours

Wrybill Birding Tours was founded by Sav Saville and Brent Stephenson, two New Zealand-based birders who saw a gap in the local market for guides who really knew the country's species and sites inside out. The company has since become one of the most respected dedicated birding operators in New Zealand, with Department of Conservation concessions that allow them to lead clients across the national park and reserve network and additional permits for Auckland Regional Parks and marine mammal viewing. The pair are best known in the birding world for the 2003 rediscovery of the New Zealand Storm Petrel, a species that had been considered extinct for over a century, which lends real ornithological weight to their guiding. Their itineraries cover 21-day comprehensive circuits of both main islands plus Stewart Island, shorter 14-day endemic-focused tours, dedicated pelagics for the country's spectacular tubenoses, and custom shorter trips. Their stated aim is to find as many of New Zealand's gettable endemics as possible, from kiwis and Takahe to penguins and the rare Wrybill that gave the company its name.