Aotearoa / NZ Nature Colouring Pages

Colouring-in can be a relaxing activity for both adults and children. It can also be useful to associate information you want to remember with a picture. We have compiled some pages for New Zealand species - mainly animals.

Several sources were used in compiling these pages. In particular, we acknowledge DoC, Forest & Bird, Landcare Research, iNaturalist, Wikimedia & Wikipedia. We have identified the illustrator where possible.

Click on the thumbnail to go to the colouring page. Enjoy!

This poster features many of the animals that live in and around a braided river habitat.
There are photographs of some of them and a colour version of the poster here.

Mangrove forest (Nicola Brady Studios & Rebecca Stirnemann)

The top half of the North Island has mangrove forests.
Some of the plants and animals are shown in colour here.

Information, pictures and recordings of this nocturnal flightless parrot are here.

This ant is endemic to New Zealand - it only naturally occurs here. Workers are usually around 4.5-5mm.
For more information see here, and photos here.

A large predatory land snail, endemic to New Zealand.
There is information and photographs here.

A tiny freshwater crab, and New Zealand’s only freshwater crab.
See information here and photographs here.

Rove beetle (Des Helmore)

Most rove beetles are are predators of insects and other invertebrates, for more information and pictures see here.

One of our endemic species, the larvae of these beetles live in wood, and the adults only live for a few weeks.
There is information and photographs for these unusual beetles here.

These are one of New Zealand’s rare species
There are lots of good photographs here, and more information here.

These moths are camouflaged to hide amongst lichen - see more information here.
Some photographs are here.

There is information about the general group here, and photographs here.

There is information about this group of cicadas here, and there are photographs here.

There are photographs of many of New Zealand’s cased caddisflies here.
There is a short video clip of one here.

Mayflies have an aquatic nymph stage, then emerge to fly as adults, see here.
There are photographs of New Zealand’s mayfly adults and larvae here.

More information on these irridescent little fish is here, and there are photographs here.

There is information about these secretive and mainly nocturnal animals here,
and more photographs here.

Crayfish have to split their hard shell and moult, to grow larger.
There is information and photographs of freshwater crayfish here.

If you would like to find more pictures to colour in, try searching through the gallery of drawings by New Zealand illustrator Des Helmore, which can be found here.