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 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) east of Bream Head and 40 kilometres (25 mi) south-east of Whangārei with a total area of 8.44 km² (3.26 sq mi).

Approximately 18,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum when sea levels were over 100 metres (330 feet) 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.^{[citation needed]}

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 RMS Niagara sank off the islands after hitting a mine. Most of the cargo, which included gold bullion, was later salvaged.

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.

Hen Island, or Māori: Taranga, lies 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) 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 (together called North West Chicken), Mauitaha (West Chicken), Lady Alice Island or Motu Muka (Big Chicken), Whatupuke (Middle Chicken), and Coppermine Island (Eastern Chicken).

Taranga is the largest island by some considerable margin, totalling 4.7 km² (2 sq mi). Long and thin, it has a length of 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) and an average width of less than 1,000 metres (1,094 yd). A remnant of a four-million-year-old volcano, the island is dominated by a rocky ridge reaching to about 417 metres (1,368 ft) at its highest point, called The Pinnacles. Sail Rock, a stack, rises from the ocean 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) to the south of Hen Island, and is a prominent navigational point for yachts.