This is the eleventh post in my series inspired by the species featured in my
2024 calendar, Wildlife of East Otago.
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The tūī (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae) is probably the most “kiwiana'“ of ngā manu (our birds) - other than the kiwi itself, of course! It features on many a cup and decorative plate in souvenir shops, and is easily recognised by both sound and sight. Its iridescent blue feathers bring to mind the colours of our pāua shell, its enthralling song can be heard above the most blustery of storms, and its little white throat tuft indisputably marks its identity.
It’s one of two manu (birds) in the honey-eater family, Meliphagidae, in Aotearoa New Zealand.1 The other is the korimako, or bellbird, who also has a stunning song.
November’s photo was taken at Matainaka/Hawksbury Lagoon, a well-managed wildlife refuge in the small coastal town of Waikouaiti (why-koh-why-ee-tee). This tūī has clearly been enjoying the sweet nectar of harakeke (in English it’s called New Zealand flax, even though it’s not actually in the flax family!).
It’s almost time for our harakeke at home to start flowering and I am so looking forward to seeing the tūī and korimako turn up and feed, getting that tell-tale spot of pollen on their foreheads.
Tūī are classified as ‘Not Threatened’ - and goodness knows they can take care of themselves! According to the NZ Garden Bird Survey, tūī numbers are up across the motu (country) but most dramatically in the Canterbury and West Coast regions. In my own area, the Waitaki District, we’ve had a moderate increase.
It’s really cool to see their numbers grow as more forests are planted, more predator control is undertaken, and more people help out in their own home gardens. I’m convinced that the two nearby-ish ecosanctuaries, Orokonui in Ōtepoti/Dunedin and Point Bush in Waimate, have contributed to this increase.
Planting a harakeke, pōhutukawa, kōwhai, or any of our native berry-producing trees is a sure-fire way to get tūī into your garden. In winter, you can supplement their diet with sugar water. They’re a hit at our place, and we see both tūī and korimako almost every day during the cooler months when the feeder is out.
Topflite have some well researched bird-feeding guidelines if you want to start feeding our wild birds, and some nectar mix that’s specifically formulated for our native birds. The most important things are to hang them in a place predators (including the friendly neighbour hood cats) can’t reach it, to only feed in winter, and to clean feeders at least twice a week to prevent disease.
In the breeding season, which is now until around January, tūī will also pick insects from trees to supplement their diet.2 It’s a food-gathering behaviour called “gleaning”, and I’ve seen them at it on our eucalyptus and tawai (southern beech) trees.
Now’s a great time to head out with your camera or binoculars (or just a keen pair of eyes!) and spot tūī singing, foraging, gleaning, or over-indulging on sweet harakeke nectar.
Happy tūī-spotting!
Zenobia 🔎
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https://teara.govt.nz/en/small-forest-birds/page-4
https://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/tui#:~:text=In%20the%20breeding%20season%2C%20tui,up%20much%20of%20the%20diet.