Kea: the only alpine
parrot in the world, lives in the
mountain regions of the South
Island, NZ. In the winter,
in its search for food, kea can
be seen at lower elevations,
photos above - at Beechwood Lodge.
Kea are
legendary for their intelligence,
their curiousity leads them to
peck and carry away unguarded
items of
clothing, or to prise apart
rubber parts of cars - to the
entertainment and annoyance of
human observers.
Bellbirds: much noted for its
melliflous bell-like notes of its
song, mesmerising and enchanting.
Bellbirds
and tuis are honeyeaters, they
sip sugar water but also eat
insects.
Takahe: a flightless bird,
thought to be extinct since 1898.
However, after a carefully
planned search effort
the bird was rediscovered by
Doctor Geoffrey Orbell near
Manapouri in the Murchison
Mountains in 1948.
Length is up to 25ins / 63cm. You
can view a group of takahe in the
wild-bird park enclosure near
Manapouri
The takahe restoration program is
located at Burwood Station, 15
mins drive from Beechwood Lodge.
Tui: are considered to
be very intelligent, much like
parrots. The rare possession of
two voice-boxes enable
tui to perform a myriad of
vocalisations. Their powered
flight is quite loud, they've
developed short wide
wings, giving excellent
manoeuverablity in the forest.
NZ Robin: a sparrow sized
bird. Will often fly onto the
pathway of hikers, begging for
crumbs. It will hop onto
onto hikers boots! Their bright
white breast gave the birds their
name, in comparison with the
bright red
breast of the European Robin.
NZ Pigeon: ke-re-ru is endemic
to New Zealand. Commonly called
wood pigeons, they can be
seen roosting
in the Manapouri woodland. A
very big bird - in flight, their
wing sound is startingly loud.
Grey fantail: flits from perch to
perch on the twigs of a tree,
never still. It will often alight
on the ground
- as if challenging a hiker on a
trail. They are not shy, and will
flit within a few feet of people,
as it catches
flying insects disturbed by human
activity.
Little grey warbler: more commonly heard
than seen. Its sweet, tremulous
trill - can be heard in the
shrubs
surrounding Beechwood Lodge. Only
4 ins long. and yet it is the
shining cuckoo's favourite nest /
host!
Silver-eyes: also known as wax-eyes.
Because the silver–eye
colonized NZ naturally, it is
classified as a
native species and is therefore
protected. Recorded in NZ as
early as 1832, it's thought a
storm caught a
migrating flock, diverting them
here. The Maori name, Ta-u-hou,
means “stranger”. They
feed in flocks over
winter, eating fats, bread, sugar
water.
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