wordless whistling wednesday- Wild birds of NZ

By 7 commentsCategory: Take a NZ vacation, Winter, wordless

New Zealand Week

Sunday- Rarangi Beach
Monday-Blenheim Wineries and Gardens
Tuesday-Totaranui and Abel Tasman Nat’l Park
Wednesday-Birds of Abel Tasman
Thursday- Nelson, New Zealand
Friday- Picton and the Marlborough Sounds
Saturday-The Plants of New Zealand

Bellbird

Tui

Wood Pigeon

Weka

Pukeko

Non native stoats, a weasel-type animal, rats, weasels, possums, cats and hedgehogs prey on New Zealand’s ground living, relatively fearless birds. The only native mammals of NZ are two, long and short tailed bats.      Now, for some fun….NZ ads for energy company uses Pukekos in their ads:

Identifying NZ Forest Birds

Tommorrow– Thursday- Nelson, New Zealand



Related posts:

  1. New Zealand Week- Sunday- Rarangi Beach
  2. Preparing for a trip to New Zealand
  3. wordless welcome wednesday
  4. wordless wintery wednesday

7 comments

    • Sue Langley -

      I did, thanks, Mouse. And I forgot to mention anywhere yet that there are CA quail there! I saw a family with 10-12 of the tiniest babies I’ve ever seen….didn’t have my camera, so just observed. Adorable! Quail were probably brought there long ago as a food source and some escaped….nice.

  2. Arleen Webster -

    Sue, I’m an avid amateur birder, so these videos were just great! The Pukeko reminds me of our native Moorhens. And (per your reply to Town Mouse), California Quail? Unbelievable! We have resident coveys on our property, including those cute little babies, and am surprised that they have populated themselves in NZ. Looking forward to more of your posts on this beautiful corner of the world.

    • Sue Langley -

      Hi Arleen, I’ll have to look up moorhens! I learned a lot from doing this series, and from going there. My sister loves gardening and wildlife, native plants and family history, so it is truly heaven when we gt together. Her husband simply hides in the garage when we start talking, but is nice enough to cook for us and pour the wine as we soak in the hot tub. Now, you see why I like to go? hahaha

      After looking up moorhens…it was amazing to find out that in NZ and AU, pukekos are called Swamphens.
      Wkipedia says about Pukekos, redirecting to Purple swamphen.

      The Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), also known as the African Purple Swamphen, Purple Moorhen
      and both are from the Rallidae family. Huh! I like the name Pukeko, though.

  3. Desiree -

    Oh, Sue! What a magical post! All these bird sounds are too beautiful & so very different from the ones we hear in South Africa! I’ll definitely come back again to enjoy them all!!!

  4. Pingback: NZ Week- Art and Gardens of Nelson, NZ | Sierra Foothill Garden

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