Wild of the Botanic Just over half of the 40 are native New NATIVE BIRDS Welcome swallow Garden Zealand species, although the most Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae Zosterops lateralis igata Hirundo neoxena Petroica macrocephala numerous are the ‘introduced’ birds – Kereru Dunedin Botanic Garden is a prime • Iridescent blue-black • Small and plump • Small greyish with red eye, fine bill • Dark blue wings and head, reddish brown • Pied black and white with splash of yellow those brought to by early Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae • Distinctive white tufts at throat • Olive green above with fawn sides • Distinctive white-tipped tail throat on breast, female browner spot to see birds. Like a well-stocked European settlers. In fact, an early • Large green/purple pigeon • Acrobatic when feeding, whirring wing beats • Distinctive white ring around eye • Flit and hover around tips of foliage to • Distinctive forked tail • Perch sideways on trunks supermarket, it has such a variety of • Melodious bell-like song with grunts, purpose of the upper botanic garden’s • Distinctive broad, white breast • Noisy flocks feed on nectar and catch • Most often seen in flight, wheeling and • Downward warble coughs and gurgles plants that there are flowers and fruit • Often sit sunning themselves high in trees invertebrates • Constant wavering trill, like a squeaky gate darting to catch in the air Rare visitor to the native bush areas of the aviary was to acclimatise these recent • Collect nectar with brush-like tongue for birds to eat all year round. Birds • Feed on leaves, flowers and fruit – favours • Non-descript trills and warbles Look for them in the native borders of the • Sit on wires like a clothes peg garden imports. broom, tree lucerne, kowhai, cherry plums Look out for them on flowering kowhai, Most abundant native bird in NZ gardens upper botanic garden • Chittering song also have a great choice of shelter and • Arrived from Australia in the 1950s Birds are identified by their unique size • Whooshing wing beats bottlebrush, flax and gums in the upper garden – arrived from Australia in mid 1800s. The nesting sites in the variety of habitats Ma¯ori name, tauhou, means ‘stranger’ Look up for birds hawking for insects over and shape, colour pattern, special Watch for aerial displays, when birds fly Role in pollinating native plants — look for ranging from ponds and streams, to steeply up high, stall, then dive swooping tui with head dusted with orange flax pollen the pond native bush and areas of shrubs and markings or “bling”, call and song, and down trees bordering the lawns. by their unique behaviour. Many native forest plants depend on kereru for dispersing seeds in droppings Forty species of wild bird have been To get maximum enjoyment from your recorded in Dunedin Botanic Garden but bird-watching, quietly watch the bird for this guide covers only those most often as long as it will let you. Note what the encountered. bird is doing – is it foraging, preening, fighting, displaying or singing? Observe Shining cuckoo Chrysococcyx lucidus how it moves, sits and flies. Bill shape • Iridescent bronze with distinctive stripes gives a clue what the bird eats – short on chest Acanthisitta chloris DUNEDIN stout conical bills are for cracking seeds, Bellbird Fantail • Repeated upwardly slurring whistle that Brown creeper • Tiny, greenish, almost tail-less short straight thin bills are for catching Anthornis melanura Rhipidura fuliginosa ends with a downward note Mohoua novaeseelandiae • Fine sharp bill BOTANIC insects and curved beaks are for feeding • Male dark olive green, purplish head • Pied brown and fawn or black • Lay eggs in grey warbler’s nest then chick • Brown with dark brown face cap • Flitting up and around trunks and is fed by grey warbler foster parents branches looking for invertebrates on nectar. • Female browner • Distinctive long fan-like tail • Flit through canopy in small flocks, feeding • Whirring wings • Restless, fly erratically like a butterfly • Only present in spring and summer; on invertebrates • Soft, high-pitched ‘zit’ ‘zit’ call GARDEN • Loud, rich, musical bell-like song catching insects on the wing migrate to Solomon Islands area for winter • Noisy, buzzy chatter Rarely seen in the garden Look out for them collecting nectar with their • Tweets Heard but not often seen. Listen for them in Can be seen occasionally in the native bush New Zealand’s smallest bird brush-like tongues on flowering kowhai, flax Look for them in the native borders of the the Australian eucalyptus trees in the upper areas of the garden botanic garden Bird photos by Craig McKenzie except for and fuchsia upper botanic garden eastern rosella (Nick Beckwith) and Role in pollinating native plants – look for shining cuckoo (Paul Sorrell). birds with top of head dusted with violet Wild Bird fuchsia pollen For more information on NZ Guide birds visit nzbirdsonline.org.nz

To join with others who enjoy watching and studying birds, M F visit birdsnz.org.nz

INTRODUCED BIRDS BIRDS AROUND THE PONDS AND CREEKS

Blackbird Starling House sparrow Chaffinch Goldfinch Red-billed gull Paradise Little pied shag Turdus merula Sturnus vulgaris Passer domesticus Fringilla coelebs Carduelis carduelis Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae Tadorna variegata Phalacrocorax melanoleucos • Male black, orange bill; female brown with • Glossy black, straight pointed bill • Grey-brown • Male has blue-grey head, chestnut-pink • Colourful finch, both sexes red face • Small white and grey gull, grey wings with • Large chestnut brown -like • Small black and white shag, variable buff spots on breast • Speckled with star-like white spots in • Male is chestnut above with a black bib; face and breast • Distinctive gold on wings and tail black tips • Female has white head and male a black from all black to all white breast • Hop, foraging on ground, tossing debris winter female paler • Female is brown-grey • Usually in small flocks, twittering to each • Distinctive red bill head • Stubby yellow bill and longish tail aside looking for worms and insects; also • Strut when feeding on ground for grubs • Thick conical bill • Distinctive white wing-bar other • Adapted to life as a scavenger in cities • Male call ‘zonk zonk’; female call ‘zeek zeek’ • Hangs out wings to dry while perched eat berries • Usually in flocks; often gather on • Gregarious • Feed mainly on seeds • Favour dandelion and thistle seeds • Native, also found in Australia. • Native, found only in New Zealand. • Native powerlines; squeaky chatter • Feed on seeds, but opportunistic in • Sweet tuneful musical song Check out the area around the beech trees in One of the largest nesting colonies in NZ is Pair often seen on lower garden pond Sometimes seen in Lindsay Creek and obtaining food Easily seen on the lawns of the lower Most easily spotted on playing fields beside lower garden, especially in autumn at Taiaroa Head, and can be seen from the Waters of Leith Check out the café for these cheeky birds botanic garden upper garden carparks carpark there

M F M M F F M F Greenfinch Redpoll Dunnock Carduelis chloris Carduelis flammea Mallard Prunella modularis Song thrush • Greeny-yellow • Small, finch-like, streaked dull brown Anas platyrhynchos Turdus philomelos Eastern rosella • Mottled, streaky brown and grey • Distinctive yellow on edges of wings • Pink forehead and breast in summer • Male in breeding plumage has glossy green Rock pigeon • Fine black bill and tail Southern black-backed gull head and chestnut breast • Buff breast, specked with dark brown Platycercus eximius • Flock together in seeding grassland Columba livia • Quiet, unobtrusive, creep mouse-like over • Female browner and duller than male Larus dominicanus • Female streaked and mottled brown and spots • Multi-coloured, blue, green, yellow, red; • Buzzing calls ground and under bushes when foraging • Stout conical bill, seed eater • Grey plumage highly variable with glossy long-tailed parrot with crimson head • Large white gull with black wings and buff • Forage on ground for worms and snails for invertebrates greens and purples • Ringing calls and chattering back • Dabbles and up-ends in water for aquatic • Tuneful song, repeated phrases Commonly seen in the hedges and shrubs of invertebrates and plants • Pale grey wings with black bars • Feed on flowers, fruits and seeds • Heavy yellow bill with red spot at tip • Fast, direct flight Seen bobbing around on lawns; stops with lower botanic garden Introduced for duck-shooting, now most Dunedin is the only location of this species in • Juveniles mottled and barred dull brown • Strutting, pigeon-toed walk head on one side listening for worms Some female dunnocks have one or two • Predator and scavenger numerous duck in New Zealand. Many have • Introduced, found additional male partners and are more M F • Strident calls interbred with native grey duck and hybrids worldwide successful in raising chicks. • Native, but found worldwide have brown and cream stripes on head Adapted to living alongside people so are attracted to the pond and information centre

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