Kōkako

Kōkako<ref>The spelling kokako (without a macron) is common in New Zealand English.</ref> Template:IPAc-en<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> are two species of forest bird in the genus Callaeas which are endemic to New Zealand, the endangered North Island kōkako (Callaeas wilsoni)<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> and the presumed extinct South Island kōkako (Callaeas cinereus).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref> They are both slate-grey with wattles and have black masks.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref> They belong to a family containing five species of New Zealand wattlebirds,<ref name=":0" /> the other three being two species of tīeke (saddleback) and the extinct huia.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> Previously widespread, kōkako populations throughout New Zealand have been decimated by the predations of mammalian invasive species such as possums, stoats, cats and rats, and their range has contracted significantly.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4">Template:Cite web</ref> In the past, this bird was called the New Zealand crow. It is not closely related to the crow, but looks like one from a distance.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite web</ref>

Taxonomy

The genus Callaeas was introduced in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster to accommodate a single species, the South Island kōkako, which is therefore the type species.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek word kallaia for a cock's wattles.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The kōkako appears to be a remnant of an early expansion of passerines in New Zealand and is one of five species of New Zealand wattlebirds of the family Callaeidae, the others being two species of endangered tieke, or saddleback, and the extinct huia.<ref name=":3" /> New Zealand wattlebirds have no close relatives apart from the stitchbird, and their taxonomic relationships to other birds remain to be determined.<ref name="Ewen2006">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Description

North Island kōkako, closeup of head showing blue wattles

The North Island kōkako, Callaeas wilsoni has blue wattles (although this colour develops with age: in the young of this bird they are actually coloured a light pink).<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":6">Template:Cite web</ref> The South Island kōkako, Callaeas cinereus, by contrast has largely orange wattles, with only a small patch of blue at the base.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />

Behaviour

The kōkako has a beautiful, clear, organ-like song.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /> Its call can carry for kilometres. Breeding pairs sing together in a bell-like duet for up to an hour in the early morning.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":6" /> Different populations in different parts of the North Island (if any populations of the South Island kōkako remain they are at present unknown) have distinctly different songs.

The kōkako is a poor flier and seldom flies more than 100 metres.<ref name=":3" /> The wings of this species are relatively short and rounded.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":6" /> It prefers to hop and leap from branch to branch on its powerful grey legs.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":6" /> It does not fly so much as glide and when seen exhibiting this behaviour they will generally scramble up tall trees (frequently New Zealand podocarps such as rimu and mataī) before gliding to others nearby.<ref name=":6" /> Its ecological niche has been compared to that of a flying squirrel.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Its diet consists of leaves, fern fronds, flowers, fruit and invertebrates.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" />

Relationship with humans

A kōkako about to be released in the Hunua Ranges near Auckland

Māori myth refers to the kōkako in several stories. In one notable story, a kōkako gave Māui water as he fought the sun by filling its plump wattles with water and offering it to Māui to quench his thirst.<ref name=":1" /> Māui rewarded kōkako for its kindness by stretching its legs until they were lean, long and strong, so that kōkako could easily leap through the forest to find food.<ref name=":1" />

The kōkako appears on the reverse side of the New Zealand $50 note.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• Birds of New Zealand
• Wattle

Further reading

• Murphy S.A., Flux I.A. and Double M.C. (2006) Recent evolutionary history of New Zealand's North and South Island Kokako (Callaeas cinerea) inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences. Emu 106: 41–48.

External links

• Database and map of potential South Island kōkako reports
• Kokako Recovery A website developed by private enthusiasts to promote the Kokako Recovery Programme
• Template:Cite web
• Kōkako vocalizations (Xeno-canto)
• TerraNature page on wattlebirds
• Artworks featuring Kokako Template:Webarchive and
  • Specimens of kōkako including albinos Template:Webarchive in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
• The role of 1080 poison in pest control for kōkako recovery
• Kokako Lost - The Last Days of the Great Barrier and Coromandel Crow A journal of 26 months of field research on kōkako in the southern Coromandel, by Sid Marsh