Birds . . . again

A shortlist of endemic birds we have yet to see got shorter when we visited Bushy Park outside Whanganui. The occasion for our visit was our month-long sojourn out of Auckland, traveling among Friends and swapping with Keith and Margaret, the Resident Friends here in Wellington.

We had heard that we had the possibility of seeing the tieke (“saddleback”) and the rare hihi (“stitchbird”) in Bushy Park. It seemed to be a favored morning when, upon entering the bush, we sighted both birds within the first 50 metres! 

Tieke (Saddleback) Click here for video

As you can see the tieke is known for its striking rufous chesnut saddle. There is also a yellow band on the leading edge of the saddle. The tieke also sports reddish-orange wattles; these are not prominent in this picture. Up until conservation and reintroduction efforts in the 1960s, the tieke was endangered.

In the 1990s there was just a single remnant population of the hihi (“stitchbird”) on Little Barrier Island. It was a bird that was little understood. Since the 1990s, under dedicated conservation efforts, populations have been reintroduced into several areas that are intensively managed as free from predators, mostly possums, rats, and stoats, all mammals that were introduced by 19th-century settlers. (Indeed, the government has the goal of making Aeoteroa-New Zealand predator-free by 2050.) Because of its long curved beak, it was thought to be a honeyeater, but genetic studies have shown it to be related closest to the wattlebirds, such as the tieke. The hihi has a complex and unusual breeding system that includes pair and group nesting as well as promiscuity that is unique in the bird world (apparently!). 

Hihi (“stitchbird) For video click here

As you can see in the video, Bushy Park has set up a couple of feeders to help augment feeding sources for the hihi. 

We were also privileged to get an up-close-and-personal interview with the inquisitive toutouwai (“New Zealand robin”).

Toutouwai (robin) Click here for video