North Island Kokako

Belonging to the Wattlebird family, an ancient group of birds, the North Island Kokako have bright blue wattles at the base of the bill.  Their plumage is mainly pale grey with a bluish tinge, long black legs, small rounded wings, long tail, and a black facial mask.  The juveniles are born with pink wattles which slowly turn to lilac, then blue as they mature.  The South Island sub-species, thought to be extinct, have bright orange wattles.

Due to their small wing size and large body they are poor fliers, moving through the forest by bounding from tree to tree using their strong legs.  They will glide from the tree tops down to the lower branches or forest floor rather than flap their feeble wings.

They form life-long pairs and seldom stray from their permanent territories, preferring tall, mixed podocarp and hardwood forests with a high diversity of plant species.  They feed all year on leaves at all levels of the forest, fruits when available and invertebrates during summer and autumn, especially when feeding chicks.

The Kokako is notable for its haunting, mournful organ or flute like calls, prolific at dawn.  Other calls include a range of soft clucks and cat-like mewing notes.

3 kokako (2 males and 1 female) were released on Tiri in 1997, followed by 4 more male birds in 1998. Of the original 3 birds, one male was predated immediately after release.  The remaining pair of birds have successfully raised 2 chicks each year from 1999 - 2001, of which 2 birds have since been predated.  Of the 4 males released in 1998, 2 remain, 1 of which has now paired with a female born on Tiri.  The total population on Tiri is now 22 birds.

Two female chicks were transferred from Tiritiri Matangi on 17 January 2002 by DoC as part of the Kokako Recovery Programme.  These chicks were taken to Puketi Forest, Northland, hand reared by puppets and played 'Puketi' song in order to develop a 'Puketi' dialect.  The birds were then transferred, one to Auckland Zoo and one to Hamilton Zoo on 14 March 2002 where they were each later introduced to a Puketi male.  These birds will be kept in captivity and all fledglings will be released back into the Puketi Forest. 

Photography by: Alex Mitchell © (top right), Simon Fordham © (bottom left)

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