New Zealand 50 dollars (P#188b)

The Kōkako (Callaeas cinereus) is a forest bird which is endemic to New Zealand. It is slate-grey with wattles and a black mask. It is one of three species of New Zealand Wattlebird, the other two being the endangered Tieke (saddleback) and the extinct Huia. Previously widespread, Kōkako populations throughout New Zealand have been decimated by the predations of mammalian invasive species such as possums, stoats, cats and rats and their range has contracted significantly. There were formerly two sub-species of Kōkako, North Island and South Island, although the South Island subspecies may now be extinct. In the past this bird was called the New Zealand Crow even though it is not a crow at all, but looks like one from a distance.

Sir Apirana Turupa Ngata (3 July 1874 – 14 July 1950) was a prominent New Zealand politician and lawyer. He has often been described as the foremost Māori politician to have ever served in Parliament, and is also known for his work in promoting and protecting Māori culture and language.

New Zealand 20 dollars (P#187b)

The New Zealand Falcon or Kārearea (Falco novaeseelandiae) is New Zealand's only endemic falcon and the only remaining bird of prey endemic to New Zealand. Other common names for the bird are Bush Hawk and Sparrow Hawk. It is frequently mistaken for the larger and more common Swamp Harrier.

A member of the Falconidae bird family, the New Zealand Falcon is mainly found in heavy bush and the steep high country in the South Island and is rarely seen north of a line through the central area of the North Island. A small population also breeds on the Auckland Islands; the species is known only from the Chatham Islands from fossil remains. Although protected since 1970, it is considered to be a vulnerable species. 

Ornithologists variously described the New Zealand Falcon as an aberrant hobby or as allied to three South American species (F. deiroleucus, F. rufigularis and F. femoralis); however studies of feather proteins suggest a close tie with the Australian Brown Falcon. It differs from the much larger Swamp Harrier, (or Kāhu), which is common throughout New Zealand, in that it catches other birds on the wing, and seldom eats carrion. An aggressive bird that displays great violence when defending its territory, the New Zealand Falcon has been reported to attack dogs as well as people. 

With a wingspan of about 45 cm and weight rarely exceeding 450g, the New Zealand Falcon is slightly over half the size of the Swamp Harrier, which it usually attacks on sight. The male is about two thirds the weight of the female. The New Zealand Falcon nests in a scrape in grassy soil or humus in various locations: under a rock on a steep slope or on a rock ledge, among epiphytic plants on a tree branch, or under a log or branch on the ground, making the two or three eggs that they lay vulnerable to predators such as stray cats, stoats, weasels, possum, and wild dogs.

Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April 1926) is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states (known as the Commonwealth realms) and their territories and dependencies, as well as head of the 54-member Commonwealth of Nations. She is Supreme Governor of the Church of England and, in some of her realms, carries the title of Defender of the Faith as part of her full title.

New Zealand 10 dollars (P#186b)

The Blue Duck (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos) is a member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae endemic to New Zealand. It is the only member of the genus Hymenolaimus, placed in the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae after previously being considered part of the paraphyletic "perching duck" assemblage. The Māori name, sometimes used in English, is whio, which is an onomatopoetic rendition of the males' call. The Blue Duck is a dark slate-grey with a chestnut-flecked breast and a paler bill and eye. The pinkish-white bill has fleshy flaps of skin hanging from the sides of its tip. The male's call is an aspirated whistle, and the female's is a rattling growl. The Blue Duck is born with a green beak for just 8 hours after birth; where it then develops to its final colour. This species is an endemic resident breeder in New Zealand, nesting in hollow logs, small caves and other sheltered spots. It is a rare duck, holding territories on fast flowing mountain rivers. It is a powerful swimmer even in strong currents, but is reluctant to fly. It is difficult to find, but not particularly wary when located.

Katherine Wilson Sheppard (10 March 1847 – 13 July 1934) was the most prominent member of New Zealand's women's suffrage movement, and is the country's most famous suffragette. She also appears on the NZ ten dollar note. Because New Zealand was the first country to introduce universal suffrage, Sheppard's work had a considerable impact on women's suffrage movements in other countries.

New Zealand 5 dollars (P#185b)

The Yellow-eyed Penguin (Megadyptes antipodes) or Hoiho is a penguin native to New Zealand. Previously thought closely related to the Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor), molecular research has shown it more closely related to penguins of the genus Eudyptes. Like most other penguins, it is mainly piscivorous. The species breeds around the South Island of New Zealand, as well as Stewart, Auckland and Campbell Islands. Colonies on the Otago Peninsula are a popular tourist venue, where visitors may closely observe penguins from hides, trenches or tunnels.

Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed as having reached the summit of Mount Everest. They were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, led by John Hunt. Hillary was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Hillary became interested in mountaineering while in secondary school, making his first major climb in 1939, reaching the summit of Mount Ollivier. He served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force as a navigator during World War II. Prior to the 1953 Everest expedition, he had been part of the British reconnaissance expedition to the mountain in 1951, as well as an unsuccessful attempt to climb Cho Oyu in 1952. As part of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition he reached the South Pole overland in 1958. Subsequently, he also travelled to the North Pole. Following his ascent of Everest he devoted most of his life to helping the Sherpa people of Nepal through the Himalayan Trust, which he founded. Through his efforts, many schools and hospitals were built in Nepal.

New Zealand 2 dollars (P#170c), 1989-1992 (Swap with Peter from Taiwan)

The Rifleman, Acanthisitta chloris, is a small insectivorous passerine bird that is endemic to New Zealand. It belongs to the Acanthisittidae family, also known as the New Zealand wrens, of which it is one of only two surviving species. The Rifleman resembles a wren in form but is not related to the family of true wrens, Troglodytidae, nor the fairy-wrens of Australia.

The Rifleman is New Zealand's smallest endemic bird with fully grown adults reaching around 8 cm. The male Rifleman is bright green on the dorsal side while the female is of a more somber brownish tone and her head and back are flecked with ochre. Male birds typically weigh around 6 g, females 7 g. Both birds are white on their under surfaces and have white eyebrow stripes. They have short, rounded wings, a very short tail, and a long thin awl–like bill which is slightly upturned for insertion into cracks. The rifleman flies quickly with a wing beat producing a characteristic humming sound like a humming bird.

More about Rifleman you can read on Wikipedia.

New Zealand 1 dollar (P#169), 1981-1992 (Swap with Peter from Taiwan)

Fantails are small insectivorous birds of southern Asia and Australasia belonging to the genus Rhipidura in the family Rhipiduridae. Most of the species are about 15 to 18 cm long, specialist aerial feeders, and named as "fantails", but the Australian Willie Wagtail, is a little larger, and though still an expert hunter of insects on the wing, concentrates equally on terrestrial prey.

The true wagtails are part of the genus Motacilla in the family Motacillidae and are not close relatives of the fantails.

The fantails are small bodied (11.5-21 cm long) birds with long tails; in some species the tail is longer than the body and in most the tail is longer than the wing.[1] When the tail is folded it is rounded at the end, but when spread in display or aerial foraging it has a characteristic fan shape that gives the family its name.

Fantails adopt a hunched horizontal posture most of the time, with the wings drooped and held away from the body and the tail half cocked. There are some exceptions to this, particularly the Northern Fantail of New Guinea and the Cockerell's Fantail of the Solomon Islands, which have a more upright posture reminiscent of the monarch flycatchers.

The wings of fantails are tapered and have sacrificed speed for agility, making fantails highly efficient at catching insect prey. Overall the fantails are strong fliers, and some species can undertake long migrations, but the thicket-fantails (Sooty Thicket-fantail, White-bellied Thicket-fantail and Black Thicket-fantail) are very weak fliers, and need to alight regularly.

The bills of fantails are typical for aerial insect eating birds, being flat and triangular. The gape is surrounded by two rows of rictal bristles which are long, often as long as the bill.The bills of most species are fairly weak, limiting fantails to softer insects, although the more terrestrial Willie Wagtail has a relatively stronger bill.

The plumage of most fantails shows some variation, most species are relatively uniform with some markings. A few species, such as the Rennell Fantail, have uniform plumage, while others have striking if sombre patterns. The colours of most species are greys, blacks, whites and browns, although a few species have yellow or even striking blue feathers. In most species there is no sexual dimorphism in plumage; the notable exception being the Black Fantail of New Guinea where the male has all-over black plumage and the female is almost entirely rufous. In a few species, such as the New Zealand Fantail, there exist two colour morphs, the common pied morph and the rarer black morph (which is most common on the South Island).

More about Fantail you can read on Wikipedia.

New Zealand 20 dollars (187b), 2004 (Many thanks to Marc-Antoine from France!)

The New Zealand Falcon or Kārearea, Falco novaeseelandiae, is New Zealand's only endemic falcon and the only remaining bird of prey endemic to New Zealand. Other common names for the bird are Bush Hawk and Sparrow Hawk. It is frequently mistaken for the larger and more common Swamp Harrier.

A member of the Falconidae bird family, the New Zealand Falcon is mainly found in heavy bush and the steep high country in the South Island and is rarely seen north of a line through the central area of the North Island. A small population also breeds on the Auckland Islands; the species is known only from the Chatham Islands from fossil remains. Although protected since 1970, it is considered to be a vulnerable species.

Ornithologists variously described the New Zealand Falcon as an aberrant hobby or as allied to three South American species (F. deiroleucus, F. rufigularis and F. femoralis); however studies of feather proteins suggest a close tie with the Australian Brown Falcon.

It differs from the much larger Swamp Harrier, (or Kāhu), which is common throughout New Zealand, in that it catches other birds on the wing, and seldom eats carrion. An aggressive bird that displays great violence when defending its territory, the New Zealand Falcon has been reported to attack dogs as well as people.

With a wingspan of about 45 cm and weight rarely exceeding 450g, the New Zealand Falcon is slightly over half the size of the Swamp Harrier, which it usually attacks on sight. The male is about two thirds the size of the female.

The New Zealand Falcon nests in a scrape in grassy soil or humus in various locations: under a rock on a steep slope or on a rock ledge, among epiphytic plants on a tree branch, or under a log or branch on the ground, making chicks and eggs vulnerable to predators.