Facts about New Zealand native birds

Information table

COMMON NAME	MAORI NAME	PICTURE	INTERESTING FACTS
Takahe	moho	*	Fossil remains have been found in both the North and South Islands, but numbers of takahe were probably never very high.
Pukeko	Pukeko	*	The Pukeko has a indigo body with a bit of green on their wings Pukeko can fly for a short distance
Harrier	kahu	*	Hen harriers are almost owl-like in their facial appearance. The face shape helps the harriers to detect small mammals and birds
Fantail	Piwakawaka	*	There are about 10 sub-species of fantail, three of which live in New Zealand: the North Island fantail, the South Island fantail
Tui	koko	*	An unique bird for New Zealand. Belongs to honeyeaters family which means they feed mainly on nectar from flowers of native plants. Sometimes they eat insects too. Can fly large distance. It’s an important pollinator of most native trees. A variety of native trees and shrubs can be planted to provide a year-round food supply for tūī, but plants need to be carefully selected so there are flowers and fruit at different times.
Bellbird	Korimako	*	Bellbirds are unique to New Zealand, occurring on the three main islands, many offshore islands and also the Auckland Islands.
NZ Pigeon	kereru	*	Bellbirds are unique to New Zealand, occurring on the three main islands, many offshore islands and also the Auckland Islands.
Morepork	ruru	*	Morepork are commonly found in forests throughout mainland New Zealand and on offshore islands
Kingfisher	kotare	*	Kingfishers are not limited to river and can be found on coasts and marshes the kingfisher can also hover just above the water before diving in for its prey.
Kaka	ngutu	*	The New Zealand Kaka is a medium sized parrot This group of parrots is unusual, retaining more primitive features lost in most other parrots, because it split off from the rest around 100 million years ago.
Parakeet	tritri	*	The yellow-crowned parakeet has a yellow patch on the head and a red frontal band above the beak.
Robin	Toutouwai	*	Relatively long-lived, surviving up to 14 years where few or no predators exist Begin their breeding season in August or September Incubation lasts 18 days, and chicks leave the nest after 21 days
Royal Albatross	toroa	*	While royal albatross may be graceful in flight, their large size makes them appear clumsy on land as they doggedly walk from their nests to exposed sites to take off into the wind. Royal albatross usually mate for life, despite long separations at sea. Established pairs return to the same nesting area each time they breed.
Kiwi	kiwi	*	The kiwi is a curious bird: it cannot fly, has loose, hair-like feathers, strong legs and no tail. Mostly nocturnal, they are most commonly forest dwellers, making daytime dens and nests in burrows, hollow logs or under dense vegetation.kiwis only come at night time.
Kakapo	lore	a	The kakapo is best described as a midnight rambler, spending most of its life sleeping during the day and wandering alone through the forest at night. Kakapo are solitary creatures.