We went up to visit Tawharanui (Ta-far-ra-noo-ee) last week. A predator-proof fence has been erected along the base of the peninsula, and a stoat-weasel-rat-feral cat-possum trapping programme undertaken within the 'island haven'.
Before we had even gone through the gate we saw a parent woodpigeon feeding his/her offspring. I was so excited I didn't even put my glasses on for the first shot, and nearly missed the pair altogether...
Below, these two lovely images from wiki show much better this lovely bird. They are much bigger than the ubiquitous 'city' pigeon.
Here you can see the white apron that makes both genders look to me as if they have just emerged from the kitchen and are about to announce that dinner is served.
Another thing I love is that Kereru have a distinctive kind of whistling swooshing noise when they fly. You can hear it at around the 49 seconds mark on this clip:
They are splendid (and large) birds - with splendid (and large) eating habits which can lead to splendid (and large) indelible splats on one's house, washing and anything else with an absorbent surface. As I have none near The Cottage and my washing I can safely say that I think they are wonderful! Fortunately when my car was targeted they missed the fabric roof!
ReplyDeletePS As you have comment moderation is it possible to try without this new - and horrible - word verification? Pretty please.
Hmmm...I hadn't thought about their splendid (and large) splats. I'm glad they missed.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realise I had WV on. I agree, the new WV is horrid. Thanks. Will remove if I can.
What strange and beautiful birds! And what a strange and beautiful word, Tawharanui, with a 'wh' pronounced as 'f'....
ReplyDeleteYes Robert.
ReplyDeleteActually it's not quite 'F', but sort of "wF".
Should have mentioned that on the video after the flight, there is a bird alarm call - of course it's not the pidgies, but the European import - Blackbird.