The whitehead male has a white head and underparts, the female and juvenile are similar but crown and nape are shaded brown.  Both sexes have pale brown upperparts and black legs, bill and eye.  

Whiteheads are usually found in flocks high in the forest canopy where they flurry about looking for insects.  Their main prey is spiders, caterpillars, moths and beetles, often dislodged by other feeding birds.  They tend to feed in flocks around other invertebrate feeders such as silver-eye, parakeets, saddlebacks and fantails.  Often seen hanging upside down to feed.

Breeding is a family affair, parents and their offspring from previous years gather together to defend their territory while the main female builds the nest.  The male and helpers help to feed the chicks during the fledging period and sometimes up to 9 months after the chicks have fledged.

The whitehead has a variety of calls.  Mainly a very busy buzzing or background chatter whilst they bustle above the canopy. 

In the North Island the whitehead is the main host to the Long Tailed Cuckoo.  The Long Tailed Cuckoo lays its eggs in the whitehead's nest, and is known to prey on the whitehead's eggs and young.  The young cuckoo, on emerging from the shell, evicts the host's eggs and chicks and is then raised alone.  The whiteheads continue to feed the cuckoo as if it was their own even though it is many times larger than themselves.

Whiteheads were first released on Tiri in 1989 and again in 1990.  Since then the population on Tiri has prospered.

Photography by:  Peter Craw © adult (top) and juvenile (bottom)

References: Heather, B.D.; Robertson, H.A. 2000 The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand. Auckland, Viking.