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The kererū (''Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae''), also known as kūkupa ( northern Māori dialects), New Zealand pigeon or wood pigeon, is a species of
pigeon Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...
native to New Zealand.
Johann Friedrich Gmelin Johann Friedrich Gmelin (8 August 1748 – 1 November 1804) was a German natural history, naturalist, chemist, botanist, entomologist, herpetologist, and malacologist. Education Johann Friedrich Gmelin was born as the eldest son of Philipp F ...
described the bird in 1789 as a large, conspicuous pigeon up to in length and in weight, with a white breast and iridescent green–blue plumage. Two subspecies have been recognised; the second—the Norfolk pigeon of
Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...
—became extinct in the early 20th century. Kererū pairs are
monogamous Monogamy ( ) is a relationship of two individuals in which they form a mutual and exclusive intimate partnership. Having only one partner at any one time, whether for life or serial monogamy, contrasts with various forms of non-monogamy (e.g. ...
, breeding over successive seasons and remaining together when not breeding. They construct nests with twigs in trees, with a single egg clutch. Found in a variety of habitats across the country, the kererū feeds mainly on fruits, as well as leaves, buds and flowers. Although widespread in both forest and urban habitats, its numbers have declined significantly since European colonisation and the arrival of invasive mammals such as
rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include '' Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoo ...
s, stoats and
possums Possum may refer to: Animals * Didelphimorphia, or (o)possums, an order of marsupials native to the Americas ** Didelphis, a genus of marsupials within Didelphimorphia *** Common opossum, native to Central and South America *** Virginia opossum, ...
. However, the results of nationwide bird surveys indicate that there has been a significant recovery in the population in suburban areas. As of 2022, the
IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...
classifies the species as least concern, while the Department of Conservation (DOC) classifies the kererū as "not threatened" but
conservation dependent A conservation-dependent species is a species which has been categorized as "Conservation Dependent" ("LR/cd") by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as dependent on conservation efforts to prevent it from becoming endang ...
. Considered a (cultural treasure) to the
Māori people Māori () are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of Māori migration canoes, c ...
, the kererū was historically a major food source in
Māori culture Māori culture () is the customs, cultural practices, and beliefs of the Māori people of New Zealand. It originated from, and is still part of, Polynesians, Eastern Polynesian culture. Māori culture forms a distinctive part of Culture of New ...
. However, due to the decline in its population, hunting is illegal. Customary use of kererū is restricted to the use of feathers and bones obtained from dead birds collected by DOC. This issue has received significant public and political attention, as some people argue that bans on kererū hunting are detrimental to Māori traditions. In 2018, the kererū was designated
Bird of the Year Bird of the Year () is an annual election-based competition run by the New Zealand conservation organisation Forest & Bird to elect a New Zealand native "Bird of the Year". The competition is intended to raise awareness of the conservation thre ...
by the New Zealand organisation
Forest & Bird Forest & Bird (), also known by its formal name as the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, is an environmental organisation specialising in the protection and conservation of New Zealand's indigenous flora and fauna and u ...
, and in 2019, the exoplanet HD 137388 b was renamed Kererū in its honour.


Taxonomy and nomenclature


History and binomials

English ornithologist John Latham wrote about the kererū in his ''A General Synopsis of Birds'' in 1783 but did not give it a scientific name. German naturalist
Johann Friedrich Gmelin Johann Friedrich Gmelin (8 August 1748 – 1 November 1804) was a German natural history, naturalist, chemist, botanist, entomologist, herpetologist, and malacologist. Education Johann Friedrich Gmelin was born as the eldest son of Philipp F ...
gave it its first formal
description Description is any type of communication that aims to make vivid a place, object, person, group, or other physical entity. It is one of four rhetorical modes (also known as ''modes of discourse''), along with exposition, argumentation, and narr ...
in 1789, placing it in genus ''
Columba Columba () or Colmcille (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is today Scotland at the start of the Hiberno-Scottish mission. He founded the important abbey ...
'' as ''C. novaeseelandiae'', with Latham naming it ''Columba zealandica'' in his 1790 ''Index Ornithologicus''. The
genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
''Hemiphaga'' was introduced by the French naturalist
Charles Lucien Bonaparte Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (24 May 1803 – 29 July 1857) was a French naturalist and ornithology, ornithologist, and a nephew of Napoleon. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal ...
in 1854 with the kererū (''Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae'') as the
type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
for that genus. The name combines the
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
meaning "half-" or "small", with the end of the genus name ''Carpophaga'', "fruit eating", as Bonaparte saw the genus as related to both that genus and ''Megaloprepia'' (now incorporated into ''
Ptilinopus The fruit doves, also known as fruit pigeons, are a genus (''Ptilinopus'') of birds in the pigeon and dove family (Columbidae). These colourful, frugivorous doves are found in forests and woodlands in Southeast Asia and Oceania. It is a large gen ...
'').


Subspecies

Two
subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
are recognised: ''H. n. novaseelandiae,'' which is found throughout New Zealand, and the little-studied Norfolk pigeon (''H. n. spadicea'') of
Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...
, now
extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
. The subspecies differed in their plumage colour and shape. In 2001, it was proposed that a third subspecies—''H. n. chathamensis'' or the Chatham Islands pigeon—should be raised to full
species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
status as ''H. chathamensis'' on the basis of its distinct plumage, larger size and differing bone structure. This has since been widely accepted. Analysis of
mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondrion, mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the D ...
confirmed the kererū and Norfolk pigeons to be more closely related to each other than to the Chatham pigeon, and that dispersal between the three landmasses most likely occurred during the
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
Epoch.


Classification

The kererū belongs to the family
Columbidae Columbidae is a bird Family (biology), family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the Order (biology), order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in ...
, and the subfamily Ptilinopinae, which is found throughout
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
, Malaya,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and New Zealand. The members of this subfamily feed largely on
fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...
s, mainly
stone fruit In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed ...
. Within the subfamily, the kererū and Chatham Islands pigeon are in a
clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...
with a lineage that has given rise to the topknot pigeon (''Lopholaimus antarcticus'') of Australia and the mountain pigeons (''Gymnophaps'') of New Guinea, as shown in the cladogram below.


Common names

"New Zealand pigeon" has been designated the official
common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...
of the kererū by the
International Ornithologists' Union The International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) is an international organization for the promotion of ornithology Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", ...
(IOU). The word ''kererū'' (which is both singular and plural) is the most common
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
name, and a variety of mainstream sources now use the name kererū for the species. Spelling Māori
loanword A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...
s with macrons—that indicate a long vowel—is now common in
New Zealand English New Zealand English (NZE) is the variant of the English language spoken and written by most English-speaking New Zealanders. Its language code in ISO and Internet standards is en-NZ. It is the first language of the majority of the populati ...
where technically possible. It is also known as kūkupa and kūkū in some parts of North Island, particularly in Northland, and Latham had reported the name "Hagarrèroo" in 1783. Kererū have also been called "wood pigeons".


Description

The kererū is a large
arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...
pigeon weighing , and is up to in length, with a wingspan of around . Its
appearance Appearance may refer to: * Visual appearance, the way in which objects reflect and transmit light * Human physical appearance, what someone looks like * ''Appearances'' (film), a 1921 film directed by Donald Crisp * Appearance (philosophy), or ...
is that of a typical pigeon, in that it has a relatively small head, a straight soft-based bill and loosely attached feathers. The sexes have similar plumage. The head, neck and upper breast are dark green with a gold-bronze highlights, while the nape, upper back and secondary
coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are small feathers behind t ...
are a copper-sheened purple, lightening to a more grey-green on the lower back, rump and the rest of upper surface of the wings. The tail is dark brown with green highlights and a pale edge. The breast is white, and sharply demarcated from the darker parts of its plumage. The undertail and underwing coverts are mainly pale grey. The bill is red with an orange tip, the feet dark red, and eyes are red with a pink orbital ring. Juveniles have a similar colouration but are generally paler with dull colours for the beak, eyes and feet and a shorter tail. The extinct Norfolk Island subspecies had a chestnut mantle, more grey outer wings and rump, a dark purple tail and white under wing and undertail coverts. Kererū make occasional soft ''coo'' sounds, and their wings make a characteristic "whoosh" during flight. The bird's flight is also distinctive; birds will often ascend slowly before making steep parabolic dives.


Environment and distribution

Usually they are found from Northland to
Stewart Island / Rakiura Stewart Island (, 'Aurora, glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura, formerly New Leinster) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island wit ...
and offshore islands, the kererū was historically abundant throughout the country. Its lack of genetic diversity suggests the species retreated to forest refugia during periods of
Quaternary glaciation The Quaternary glaciation, also known as the Pleistocene glaciation, is an alternating series of glacial period, glacial and interglacial, interglacial periods during the Quaternary period that began 2.58 Year#SI prefix multipliers, Ma (million ...
and rapidly spread across the country again when the climate grew warmer. Kererū bones have been recovered from
Raoul Island Raoul Island (''Sunday Island''; ) is the largest and northernmost of the main Kermadec Islands, south south-west of 'Ata Island of Tonga and north north-east of New Zealand's North Island. It has been the source of vigorous volcanic activit ...
in the Kermadecs, confirming the species once inhabited the island, though it was made locally extinct through hunting and cat predation in the late 1800s. They can be found in a variety of habitats including in native
lowland Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of a ...
forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
, scrub, the countryside, and city gardens and parks. The kererū lives in habitats ranging in altitude from coastal to
montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...
. However their numbers declined significantly after European colonisation. This was due mainly to a decrease in habitat, introduced predators and hunting. Currently, whether kererū are present at a particular location within New Zealand is dependent on numerous factors such as forest cover, forest type and density of predators. Although
sedentary Sedentary lifestyle is a lifestyle type, in which one is physically inactive and does little or no physical movement and/or exercise. A person living a sedentary lifestyle is often sitting or lying down while engaged in an activity like soc ...
, kererū can move considerable distances within their range; most fieldwork showed them moving up to , generally looking for food. A 2011 study in Southland revealed that three of four kererū tagged around
Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...
crossed the
Foveaux Strait Foveaux Strait ( ; ) is a strait that separates Stewart Island from the South Island of New Zealand. The width of the strait ranges from about , and the depth varies between . The strait was first charted by an American Seal hunting, sealer, O ...
to Stewart Island, and travelled up to .


Feeding

The kererū is primarily
frugivorous A frugivore ( ) is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance ...
, preferring fruit from native trees, but also eating leaves, flowers and buds. The kererū feeds on many species with tropical affinities, including the
Lauraceae Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant Family (biology), family that includes the bay laurel, true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genus (biology), genera worldwide. They are dicotyled ...
and
Arecaceae The Arecaceae () is a family (biology), family of perennial plant, perennial, flowering plants in the Monocotyledon, monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbing palm, climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly k ...
, which abound in the essentially subtropical forests of northern New Zealand. They also feed on
podocarp Podocarpaceae is a large family of mainly southern hemisphere conifers, known in English as podocarps, comprising about 156 species of evergreen trees and shrubs.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Portland, Oregon: Timber Pres ...
species such as miro (''
Prumnopitys ferruginea ''Pectinopitys ferruginea'', commonly known as miro or toromiro, is an evergreen coniferous tree which is endemic to New Zealand. Description It grows up to high, with a trunk up to 1.3 m diameter. The leaves are linear to sickle-shaped, 15� ...
'') and kahikatea (''
Dacrycarpus dacrydioides ''Dacrycarpus dacrydioides'', commonly known as kahikatea (from Māori) and white pine, is a coniferous tree endemic to New Zealand. A podocarp, it is New Zealand's tallest tree, gaining heights of over a life span of 600 years. It was firs ...
''). Other fruit sought after by kererū include those of tawa (''
Beilschmiedia tawa ''Beilschmiedia tawa'', commonly known as the tawa, is a New Zealand broadleaf tree common in the central parts of the country. Tawa is often the dominant canopy tree species in lowland forests in the North Island and the north east of the Sou ...
''), taraire ('' Beilschmiedia tarairi''), pūriri (''
Vitex lucens ''Vitex lucens'', commonly known as pūriri, is an evergreen tree endemic to New Zealand. History Pūriri was first collected (by Europeans) at Tolaga Bay by Joseph Banks, Banks and Daniel Solander, Solander during Cook's first visit in 1769. ...
''), pigeonwood ('' Hedycarya arborea''), as well as tītoki (''
Alectryon excelsus ''Alectryon excelsus'', commonly known as tītoki, or sometimes New Zealand oak, is a shiny-leaved tree native to New Zealand. It is in the family Sapindaceae. It lives in coastal and lowland forests throughout most of the North Island and f ...
''), nīkau ('' Rhopalostylis sapida''), karaka ('' Corynocarpus laevigatus''), ''
Coprosma ''Coprosma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is found in New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Borneo, Java, New Guinea, islands of the Pacific Ocean to Australia and the Juan Fernández Islands. Description The name ''Copros ...
'', and introduced species such as elder (''
Sambucus nigra ''Sambucus nigra'' is a species complex of flowering plants in the family Viburnaceae native to most of Europe. Common names include elder, elderberry, black elder, European elder, European elderberry, and European black elderberry. It grows in ...
''), privet (''
Ligustrum A privet is a flowering plant in the genus ''Ligustrum''. The genus contains about 50 species of erect, deciduous or evergreen shrubs or trees, with a native distribution from Europe to tropical and subtropical Asia, and with one species each ...
'' species) and plums. Because of its diverse diet and widespread distribution, the kererū plays an important ecological role, and is vital to the health of podocarp-broadleaf forest. While fruit comprises the major part of its diet, the kererū also browses on leaves and buds from a wide variety of both native and exotic species, especially nitrogen-rich foliage during breeding. Its diet changes seasonally as the availability of fruit changes, and leaves can comprise most of its diet at certain times of the year. Preferred leaves include
kōwhai Kōwhai ( or ) are small woody legume trees within the genus '' Sophora'', in the family Fabaceae, that are native to New Zealand. There are eight species, with '' Sophora microphylla'' and '' Sophora tetraptera'' being large trees. Their natu ...
, tree lucerne,
willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...
,
elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus ''Ulmus'' in the family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical- montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ...
, and poplar. After eating, kererū often sun themselves while digesting their food. This behaviour can lead to the fruit fermenting in the bird's
crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. In other words, a crop is a plant or plant product that is grown for a specific purpose such as food, Fiber, fibre, or fuel. When plants of the same spe ...
, particularly during warm summer weather, producing
alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...
that causes the bird to become intoxicated. The kererū displays typical pigeon behaviour, including drinking by
suction Suction is the day-to-day term for the movement of gases or liquids along a pressure gradient with the implication that the movement occurs because the lower pressure pulls the gas or liquid. However, the forces acting in this case do not orig ...
(unlike many birds which drink by raising their heads, using the assistance of gravity). Kererū also feed
crop milk Crop milk is a secretion from the lining of the crop of parent birds in some species that is regurgitated to young birds. It is found among all pigeons and doves where it is also referred to as pigeon milk. Crop milk is also secreted from the c ...
to hatchlings.


Breeding and lifespan

The kererū is monogamous; pairs are thought to reproduce together over multiple seasons, and remain together when not breeding. Breeding generally depends on the availability of ripe fruit, which varies seasonally, annually, and by location. In the warmer Northland region, kererū are able to raise young year round, provided enough fruit is available. They do not breed when
moulting In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is a process by which an animal casts off parts of its body to serve some beneficial purpose, either at ...
, which tends to take place between March and May. Further south, fewer subtropical tree species grow, and in these areas breeding usually occurs between October (early spring) and April (late summer/early autumn), again depending on fruit availability. During the breeding season the male kererū performs display flights, where it ascends steeply and appears to stall at the top of the flight, before a steep swooping descent. The courtship display includes the male turning around on a perch adjacent to a female, placing the tip of the bill into a wing, and stretching out his neck while bowing his head. He then bounces up and down with his bill resting on his chest, and proceeds to mate with her if she is receptive, which she indicates by lowering her body so he can mount her. The kererū nests in the canopy of trees, bushes, shrubs, or hedges, anywhere from above the ground. Both birds construct the unlined platform of twigs—mostly kānuka (''
Kunzea ericoides ''Kunzea ericoides'', commonly known as kānuka or white tea-tree, is a tree or shrub in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to New Zealand. It has white or pink flowers similar to those of ''Leptospermum'' and from its first formal desc ...
''), which can be up to across. The
clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that allows an output shaft to be disconnected from a rotating input shaft. The clutch's input shaft is typically attached to a motor, while the clutch's output shaft is connected to the mechanism that does th ...
consists of a single oval white
egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...
, which is 49 mm long by 34 mm wide. It is incubated for 28–29 days, with the male and female taking turns to incubate in shifts of around six hours. Fieldwork in Motatau Forest in Northland found that both parents then brooded the chick for 9–13 days, followed by the female alone. After 13–27 days, parents fed the chick without brooding. Weight gain is rapid in the first 8 days, while feathers appear between 5th and 8th days. The young bird
fledge Fledging is the stage in a flying animal's life between egg, hatching or birth and becoming capable of flight. This term is most frequently applied to birds, but is also used for bats. For altricial birds, those that spend more time in vulnera ...
s after 30–45 days. A pair may begin building a second nest before their chick in the first nest fledges. In seasons of plentiful fruit the kererū can successfully nest up to four times. Kererū have a lifespan of 15 to 25 years; in 2020, a 29-year-old bird nicknamed "Pidge" turned up in
Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authorities of New Zea ...
after not being seen for 24 years.


Conservation

Kererū were numerous until the 1960s, but they have since come under threat from introduced
mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...
ian species, hunting, habitat degradation, and poor reproductive success. The introduced Australian
common brushtail possum The common brushtail possum (''Trichosurus vulpecula'', from the Ancient Greek, Greek for "furry tailed" and the Latin for "little fox", previously in the genus ''Phalangista'') is a nocturnal, semiarboreal marsupial of the family Phalangeridae ...
(''Trichosurus vulpecula'') and introduced species of rats—mainly the
black rat The black rat (''Rattus rattus''), also known as the roof rat, ship rat, or house rat, is a common long-tailed rodent of the stereotypical rat genus ''Rattus'', in the subfamily Murinae. It likely originated in the Indian subcontinent, but is n ...
(''Rattus rattus''), but also the
Polynesian rat The Polynesian rat, Pacific rat or little rat (''Rattus exulans''), or , is the third most widespread species of rat in the world behind the brown rat and black rat. Contrary to its vernacular name, the Polynesian rat originated in Southeast Asi ...
(''R. exulans'') and
brown rat The brown rat (''Rattus norvegicus''), also known as the common rat, street rat, sewer rat, wharf rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat and Norwegian rat, is a widespread species of common rat. One of the largest Muroidea, muroids, it is a brown or grey ...
(''R. norvegicus'')—have played a role in reducing the population of kererū. Both possums and rats significantly reduce the amount of fruit available for kererū, and they also prey on kererū eggs and nestlings; cats and
stoat The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine or ermine, is a species of mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern regions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Concern on th ...
s kill adults as well as young. On Norfolk Island, the local subspecies was last seen in 1900; direct hunting by people was probably the main cause of extinction. The Wild Birds Protection Act 1864 established hunting season for the species from April to July. With kererū populations declining across the country, harvests became increasingly restricted by the government. This culminated in the Animals Protection and Game Act 1921–1922, which designated the kererū as an absolutely protected species, although the enforcement against hunting was not consistent. This act was repealed and replaced by the
Wildlife Act 1953 Wildlife Act 1953 is an Act of Parliament in New Zealand. Under the act, the majority of native New Zealand vertebrate species are protected by law, and may not be hunted, killed, eaten or possessed. Violations may be punished with fines of up t ...
, which reaffirmed the status of kererū as a protected species and outlawed any taking of the birds. Prosecutions have been taken enforcing this law. Māori have protested at each of these law changes, claiming a traditional right to hunt the pigeon. Kererū are also vulnerable to injury or death as a result of collisions with vehicles. A large number of kererū fatalities have been reported alongside State Highway 2 in Wellington, as a result of low-flying birds being struck by vehicles as they fly across the motorway to feed on the flowers of tree lucerne. Kererū can also be injured or killed following collisions with the windows of buildings. In 2021, the Urban Wildlife Trust commenced a campaign to help protect kererū and other birds from colliding with the large glazed areas surrounding the upper terminal building of the
Wellington Cable Car The Wellington Cable Car (Māori language, Māori: ''Te Waka Taura o Pōneke'') is a funicular, funicular railway in Wellington, New Zealand. The route is between Lambton Quay, Wellington, Lambton Quay, the main shopping street in the Wellington ...
, adjacent to
Wellington Botanic Garden Wellington Botanic Garden ki Paekākā is a botanical garden close to central Wellington in New Zealand. It covers of land in a valley between Thorndon, New Zealand, Thorndon and Kelburn, New Zealand, Kelburn, with Glenmore Street as a bounda ...
s. The proposed solution was the installation of a grid of dots permanently fixed to approximately of glass. As of 2022, the kererū has been classified under the
IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...
as "Least Concern", and the listing reports an increasing population trend. The Department of Conservation (DOC) classifies the kererū under the
New Zealand threat classification system The New Zealand Threat Classification System is used by the Department of Conservation to assess conservation priorities of species in New Zealand. The system was developed because the IUCN Red List, a similar conservation status system, had s ...
as "not threatened" with an increasing population but views the species as
conservation dependent A conservation-dependent species is a species which has been categorized as "Conservation Dependent" ("LR/cd") by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as dependent on conservation efforts to prevent it from becoming endang ...
. However, it has been argued that several of the factors that caused the historic decrease in population are still present and could continue to damage the population.


The Great Kererū Count

A survey of kererū population was undertaken for 10 consecutive days every year from 2013 to 2021, using observations from members of the public. The Great Kererū Count has been claimed to be New Zealand's largest citizen science project. It was led by the conservation organisations Kererū Discovery and Urban Wildlife Trust, in conjunction with city councils in
Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
,
Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...
and
Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
, and
Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...
. The findings from the annual count, together with the results of a separate citizen science project—the annual New Zealand Garden Bird Survey—indicate that there has been a recovery in the population of kererū in suburban areas, with a 79% increase in sightings from 2010 to 2020. The final Great Kererū Count was held in 2021, with more sightings recorded than in previous years. There were 24,562 kererū counted in the 10-day period 17–26 September, with 28% from
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
.


Relationship with humans


In Māori culture

Traditionally used for both its meat and feathers, the kererū is considered ''
taonga ''Taonga'' or ''taoka'' (in South Island Māori) is a Māori-language word that refers to a treasured possession in Māori culture. It lacks a direct translation into English, making its use in the Treaty of Waitangi significant. The current ...
'' to
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
; as such, for various ''
iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...
'' such as
Ngāi Tūhoe Ngāi Tūhoe (), often known simply as Tūhoe, is a Māori people, Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand. It takes its name from an ancestral figure, Tūhoe-pōtiki. ''Tūhoe'' is a Māori-language word meaning 'steep' or 'high noon'. Tūhoe people a ...
, kererū forms an important part of their cultural identity. Kererū were the food of choice associated with Puanga celebrations as the birds are fat from eating berries that ripen during this time. They also tended to be easier to catch at this time of year due to their intoxication from fermented berries. Kererū feathers continue to be retained for making '' kākahu'' (fine cloaks), while the tail feathers were used to decorate the ''tahā huahua'' (food storage containers). Snaring was the most common method of capturing kererū; less commonly, birds were speared. One type of snaring used ''waka waituhi'', a trap where snares were placed on the sides of a water trough suspended in a tree. As the kererū landed to drink from the trough, they would become caught by the snare. Occasionally, tame kererū were used as decoys to entice others. Once caught, kererū were typically preserved in their own fat within ''tahā huahua'' (food storage containers). They were so abundant that New Zealand ornithologist
Walter Buller Sir Walter Lawry Buller (9 October 1838 – 19 July 1906) was a New Zealand lawyer and naturalist who was a dominant figure in New Zealand ornithology. His book, ''A History of the Birds of New Zealand'', first published in 1873, was published ...
reported at least 8000 birds were caught and prepared in this manner from a grove of miro near
Lake Taupō Lake Taupō (also spelled Taupo; or ) is a large crater lake in New Zealand's North Island, located in the caldera of Taupō Volcano. The lake is the namesake of the town of Taupō, which sits on a bay in the lake's northeastern shore. With ...
over July and August 1882. In one Māori legend, the hero and trickster
Māui Māui or Maui is the great culture hero and trickster in Polynesian mythology. Very rarely was Māui actually worshipped, being less of a deity ( demigod) and more of a folk hero. His origins vary from culture to culture, but many of his main expl ...
took the form of a kererū when he went down into the underworld in search of his parents. According to this legend, the reason for the kererū's iridescent green-blue and white plumage is because when Māui transformed into the kererū, he was carrying the skirt/apron and belt of his mother, Tāranga. The apron, ''Te Taro o Tāranga'', is represented by the white breast feathers; the belt, ''Te Tātua a Tāranga'', is signified by the green-blue feathers on the neck of the kererū.


In archaeological sites

Kererū remains have been found in both inland and coastal sites throughout New Zealand. Identification of bone specimens in archaeological sites has been difficult due to their being fragmented during preparation for food, or because fine-mesh sieving was not carried out during excavations to retrieve bone samples. A genetic analysis of bones from paleontological and archaeological sites, to determine the extent of fauna and the human impact on them, identified kererū bones at seven archaeological sites. These sites give insight into the interactions between humans and kererū, including the effect of Māori hunting on historic kererū populations. As well as being found on the main islands of New Zealand, kererū bones have also been recovered from sites excavated at Harataonga Bay on
Great Barrier Island Great Barrier Island () lies in the outer Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, north-east of central Auckland. With an area of it is the sixth-largest List of islands of New Zealand, island of New Zealand. Its highest point, Mount Hobson, Great Barrier ...
. In the
South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...
, excavations in 2018 at the Raincliff rock art shelter in
South Canterbury South Canterbury is the area of the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand bounded by the Rangitata River in the north and the Waitaki River (the border with the Otago Region) to the south. The Pacific Ocean and ridge of the S ...
, revealed kererū along with the bones of rats, extinct
moa Moa are extinct giant flightless birds native to New Zealand. Moa or MOA may also refer to: Arts and media * Metal Open Air, a Brazilian heavy metal festival * MOA Museum of Art in Japan * The Moas, New Zealand film awards People * Moa ...
and New Zealand quail. Kererū bones, along with bones of other forest birds
kākā The New Zealand kākā (''Nestor meridionalis'') is a large species of parrot of the family New Zealand parrot, Strigopidae found in New Zealand, New Zealand's native forests across the three main Islands of New Zealand. The species is often kn ...
,
kākāpō The kākāpō (; : ; ''Strigops habroptilus''), sometimes known as the owl parrot or owl-faced parrot, is a species of large, nocturnal, ground-dwelling parrot of the superfamily Strigopoidea. It is endemic to New Zealand. Kākāpō can be u ...
and
red-crowned parakeet The red-crowned parakeet (''Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae''), also known as red-fronted parakeet and by its Māori language, Māori name of ,Parr, M., Juniper, T., D'Silva, C., Powell, D., Johnston, D., Franklin, K., & Restall, R. (2010). Parrots ...
s, were also found in rock shelter sites on Lee Island,
Lake Te Anau Lake Te Anau () is in the southwestern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. The lake covers an area of , making it the second-largest lake by surface area in New Zealand (after Lake Taupō) and the largest in the South Island. It is the ...
in Southland.


Harvesting

From the 1990s, the issue of whether to re-establish the customary harvest of kererū has received significant public and political attention. In 1994, the
New Zealand Conservation Authority The New Zealand Conservation Authority / Te Pou Atawhai Taiao O Aotearoa is an independent statutory body that advises the Minister of Conservation and Director-General of Conservation on conservation issues of national importance. Role Its ...
published a discussion paper about allowing the harvest of various species protected under the Wildlife Act 1953, including the kererū. It has been argued that preventing the customary harvests of taonga such as kererū is in-part degrading or facilitating the loss of ''mātauranga'' (traditional knowledge) among Māori. Furthermore, some argue that because the
Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi (), sometimes referred to as ''Te Tiriti'', is a document of central importance to the history of New Zealand, Constitution of New Zealand, its constitution, and its national mythos. It has played a major role in the tr ...
guarantees
tangata whenua In New Zealand, tangata whenua () is a Māori term that translates to "people of the land". It can refer to either a specific group of people with historical claims to a district, or more broadly the Māori people who's common ancestors are bur ...
possession of taonga such as kererū, it therefore guarantees their right to harvest those taonga. Currently, customary use of kererū is restricted to the use of feathers and bones obtained from dead birds collected by DOC.


Recognition

The kererū is featured on the reverse side of the series 3 (1967–1981) and series 4 (1981–1991) New Zealand twenty-dollar note. In 2018, the kererū was the winner of the annual
Bird of the Year Bird of the Year () is an annual election-based competition run by the New Zealand conservation organisation Forest & Bird to elect a New Zealand native "Bird of the Year". The competition is intended to raise awareness of the conservation thre ...
competition run by the New Zealand
Forest & Bird Forest & Bird (), also known by its formal name as the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, is an environmental organisation specialising in the protection and conservation of New Zealand's indigenous flora and fauna and u ...
organisation. In 2019, the exoplanet originally named HD 137388 b was renamed in honour of the kererū.


See also

*
List of birds of New Zealand This is the list of the birds of New Zealand. The North Island and South Island are the two largest islands of New Zealand. Stewart Island is the largest of the smaller islands. New Zealand proper also includes outlying islands such as the Ch ...


References


External links


The Kererū Discovery Project
a programme for New Zealanders to help arrest the decline of the species through awareness and action in their own gardens
The Great Kererū Count
, an annual citizen science project counting kererū throughout New Zealand
Project Kererū
a voluntary community based conservation project
Photo of pigeon trough (snare) in Te Ara
{{Authority control
Kererū The kererū (''Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae''), also known as kūkupa (Māori language#Northern dialects, northern Māori dialects), New Zealand pigeon or wood pigeon, is a species of pigeon native to New Zealand. Johann Friedrich Gmelin describ ...
Hemiphaga
Kererū The kererū (''Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae''), also known as kūkupa (Māori language#Northern dialects, northern Māori dialects), New Zealand pigeon or wood pigeon, is a species of pigeon native to New Zealand. Johann Friedrich Gmelin describ ...
Endemic birds of New Zealand
Kererū The kererū (''Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae''), also known as kūkupa (Māori language#Northern dialects, northern Māori dialects), New Zealand pigeon or wood pigeon, is a species of pigeon native to New Zealand. Johann Friedrich Gmelin describ ...