Animalia Life
Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae
TAXONOMY
Merops novaeseelandiae Gmelin, 1788, Queen Charlotte Sound,
New Zealand.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Parson bird; French: Tui cravate-frisйe; German: Tui;
Spanish: Pбjaro Sacerdote.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
10.5–12.5 in (27–32 cm); male 4.3 oz (120 g), female 3 oz (85
g). Dark, iridescent plumage with two white throat tufts. Back
and flanks dark reddish brown. White collar and wing bars.
DISTRIBUTION
New Zealand, including North Island, western and southeastern
South Island (patchy on the rest of South Island), Stewart
Island, other offshore islands, Chatham Islands, Raoul Island
in Kermadecs, and possibly vagrant on Snares and Auckland
Islands.
HABITAT
Podocarp, broadleaf, and beech forest, including remnants and
regrowth. Also in dense exotic vegetation and in parks and
gardens.
BEHAVIOR
Hold breeding territories and occur in loose groups outside
breeding season, when males dominate females and tuis dominate
other honeyeaters. May perform corroborees in small
groups near the ground. Resident, but with local movements;
more common in winter in urban areas. Males display song
flights. Song is highly complex, and tuis have been deemed
among the best singers in the world. The song is rich, melodious,
and includes soft liquid warbling notes, bell-like calls, and
chimes interspersed with sighs, sobs, coughs, laughs, sneezes,
etc. Noisy flight is due to wing slots.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Feed on nectar from a wide range of plants, including Metrosideros,
Fuchsia, and New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax).
Glean insects, especially from foliage, and even sandhoppers
(Amphipoda). Fruit is also an important component of the diet
from late summer to winter. Honeydew is consumed from
scale insects on beech trees.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Breed mostly October to January. The large, untidy nest is
placed in fork or shrub or tree. The clutch of two to four (occasionally
five) eggs is incubated by the female. Incubation and
fledging periods are about 14 days. Young are fed by both par-
ents, but more by female. Nests preyed on by introduced
mammals and birds.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened, but has declined in many areas during nineteenth
and twentieth centuries due to habitat loss, hunting, and
predation by introduced mammals and birds.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Hunted by Maoris, especially consumed at feasts, and Europeans,
who made pasties (pies) from them. Skins have been
used in ladies’ hats. Occasionally kept as pets.