Birds in New Zealand
Hi!
Today I'm going to tell you about birds in New Zealand. Some of them are very funny I reckon and I will show you some pictures so you can tell me if you agree or not with me.
My favourite is the Pukeko, one of the few New Zealand native birds to have flourished since the arrival of man. It can be found in almost any grassland area, especially in swampy locations. Groups will often be seen foraging for food in road-side areas.
With their bright blue plumage and red beaks, they easily stand out against the New Zealand greenery, particularly when their white tail feathers begin flashing in alarm. You'll find their images on all manner of art and craft works. Ask any visitor to New Zealand what bird they remember most, and they will more than likely answer, "The Pukeko!" 
The most famous bird here is, of course, the kiwi!!!! I didn't know anything about this animal until I came here. Then, I saw it in a zoo because it is quite difficult finding it. In fact it is a nocturne bird!
The kiwi is the sole survivor of an ancient order of birds including the now extinct moas. A flightless bird about the size of a domestic fowl, the kiwi has coarse, bristly, hair-like feathers. Females are larger than males.
Using its excellent sense of smell and flexible bill, the kiwi feeds on worms, insects and grubs, supplemented by leaves, berries and seeds. 
Here below there is another funny sign I found.......it means you have to pay attention because there could be kiwi birds crossing the street!!
I have never seen the Kokako, a bird that belongs to the endemic New Zealand wattlebirds (Callaeidae), an ancient family of birds which includes the North and South Island saddleback and the extinct huia.
The kokako is the only member of its family still surviving on the mainland. A dark bluish-grey bird with a long tail and short wings, it has a pair of brightly coloured, fleshy "wattles" extending from either side of its gape to meet below the neck.
The North Island kokako has blue wattles, while the South Island kokako has orange or yellow wattles. The bird is not particularly good at flying and prefers to use its powerful legs to leap and run through the forest.
The Tui is another famous bird of New Zealand and it is also known as the parson bird due to it's white throat feathers and dark plumage. It is one of the best known and loved birds of Aotearoa because of it's beautiful song and habit of visiting gardens to feed on nectar. Both the male and the female sing and it is an adept mimic.
Well, these are the most popular birds here and I hope you enjoyed seen them.
I can't believe time is getting by so fast and I still have so many things to tell you!!! I hope I will have the time to do that!!!
Thank you again for all your comments!
Ernesto, do you know my name??? Ahahahah..
Thank you Paco and I like trams as well. I've been in Zurich, Switzerland, and I really enjoyed trams there. I think it is one of the most means of transportation (is it a correct English Simon?) in that city.
Here in New Zealand people use a lot of chilli I have to say, dear Anita. I know it is not an herb but comparing with Italy here everything has to be tastier and hot. They use a lot of coriander too and many Asian and Indian spices.
I promise I will show you pictures of landscapes next time Christine so that you can have a better idea of all this stunning Country.
There are heaps of roundabouts in Italy but we drive on the right side, Fuji, so it is been quite difficult at the beginning here!!! Fortunately I didn't give up and now I am very confident to drive here. I am just worried to go back to Italy!!!
I am very sorry Silwal but I won't show pictures of other people apart from me if they don't want to. I hope you understand. Thank you anyway for your comment!
Filippo, I have a good friend in the same area of you and with your name as well.....world is very very small...don't you think so?
Also in Italy there is the same proverb, Habooba. Thank you so much!!!
Thank you to all of you for your comments!!!! It's nice having so many readers!
See you next time and have a wonderful day
Rosi
Comments
Hi Rosalba, firstly thank you again for your lovely blog, you certainly go to a lot of trouble collecting the information to tell us. The birds of New Zealand looked so amazing! Referring to your previous blog I was pleased to hear that kumura is still eaten in New Zealand, it is a delicious vegetable. When living there I also loved the sweet potato. When I first went to New Zealand my mother-in-law used to make lovely dinners. She made her roast so well, we used to have roast beef, pork, lamb and mutton. When she cooked corned beef on Sundays, it was a real treat. Kiwis were then big meat eaters, and I do suppose that meat is eaten a lot even today. When I last visited New Zealand I noticed that sea food had also become very popular. (I was married with a Kiwi for over 20 years, since those times he has remarried and I also live in my second wedlock.) As you said Rosi in you blog, New Zealand cruisene is very varied, must be because the nation is made of so many nationalities. A lot of British descendents, Chinese, Indians, Italians, Yugoslavians, Maoris, Scandinavians and immigrants from Pacific Islands and... make the N.Z nation. Talking about Maori food, I was fortunate once to have a real Hāngi, which is an ancient Maori method preparing food in a pit oven, meaning heated rocks buried in the ground. To my knowledge a modernized hangi methods are still used today but are often saved for special occasions due to the large amount of time and preparatory work involved. All the best…
Hi Rosi, the sign is really funny!It seems that everything in N.Z. is peculiar and different from other places, but very fun to live in...
Hi Rosi! Thanks for the Kivi bird, proudly looking Pukeko and all presented nice photos. There were some rainy days here so I could see lots of mushrooms on my walks here. Even I started getting to know healing plants, my father is very experienced in that, and really the tea I made is not only tastier but seems to work well. Looking forward to reading the next post!
Hi dear Rosi! I am glad to know you are doing well. Thanks for answering my question and for telling us about the birds living in NZ. The photos are nice. Wow, what beautiful colouring the Pukeko has! I also like birds. In our garden there are lots of birds and we can listen to their singing, especially in the morning. It is also nice to watch our migratory birds (swallows, storks, wild ducks and geese) all arrive in the spring. These birds migrate miles south to a warmer climate usually in September and then they come back in March or April. These animals migrate annually in search of food. Do you have migratory birds in NZ? I have already told you about a stork family on Lukasz’s blog (15 June 08- a few more photos) or you might take a quick peek at them here: http://www.kki-darany.hu/wwwroot/golya/keretek.html It’s so funny the way they sit at the edge of the nest and look over or stand there exercising their wings. Guess what! The stork babies have already started trying to fly and...they both survived that process. :-D Best wishes,
Dear Rosi, your photos are so nice and the birds seems to me so exotic.I've looked up in Wikipedia some information about New Zealand, it's so interesting. There is a national plant, called Ponga, perhaps you have a photo of it? And I didn't know, that there aren't any snakes in New Zealand. Is that really true??? And I was very surprised, that one of three official languages is a gesture language. It is so nice, that a holiday, like the day after New years day, is on a saturday, it will be make up for the following monday, unbelieveable in Germany. So you live in a very interesting and comfortable country. Perhaps one day it will be possible to me, to visit New Zealand. See you soon...
Dear Rosi, Thank you for this blog about endemic birds of New Zealand. You have put effort to collect information about these birds and shared it nicely with us.
Hi Rosi! Aaah... the kiwi bird is so lovely! Morover, I´ve also enjoyed reading about the other NZ birds species :-). See ya soon, Ana Paula.
Hi Rosalba ^_^, I love your writing. The birds are interesting. Your photographs look beautiful. You took them yourself, didn't you?
Hi Rosi, You are like a teacher explaining everything to us. It's amazing what I learnt throughout this month. The birds you showed us are lovely. See you, Cris
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