At Canopy Tours you’re sure to hear many of our NZ native birds while your soaring through the tree tops. Our beautiful ancient forest is filled with all sorts of birds including Kereru, Tui, North Island Robin, Kaka, Long-tailed Cuckoo, tomtits and also fantails. If you’re lucky you may even get to hand feed one of the wild NZ native birds while on tour with us!
Here are a few of our favourite NZ native birds to keep an eye out for:
- New Zealand Wood Pigeon/ Kererū
- Tūī
- North Island Robin/ Toutouwai
- Bush Parrot/ Kākā
- Long Tailed Cuckoo/ Koekoea
- Tomtit/ Miromiro
- Fantail/ Pīwakawaka
1. New Zealand Wood Pigeon/ Kererū
The kereru is a large bird endemic to New Zealand, usually found in forested areas throughout both the North and the South Islands. These native birds have iridescent green and bronze feathers on their head and a white chest. Kereru are usually easy to spot because of their size and the noisy beat of their wings when flying.
2. Tūī
Tui are endemic to New Zealand, and are commonly found throughout New Zealand in forests, towns and on off-shore islands. Tui belong to the honeyeater family, and mainly feed on nectar from flowers of native plants. Often heard singing their beautiful melodies long before they are seen.
3. North Island Robin/ Toutouwai
The North Island robin is a very friendly and trusting bird and is endemic to New Zealand. This curious wee bird is known to come within a couple of meters to people, and at Canopy Tours some are cheeky enough to come and feed off of your hand!
4. Bush Parrot/ Kākā
The kaka are found in large forested areas throughout NZ and travel widely in search of food. They sometimes pass through the forest from time to time and we are hoping that in the coming years they will also stay to breed. They are very vulnerable to Stoats, Cats and even Possums which we are working to keep out of our forest so the kaka can stay around.
5. Long Tailed Cuckoo/ Koekoea
The long-tailed cuckoo is a migrant to New Zealand where they breed in our forest over the summer and then spend our winter in the Pacific Islands. From October on they can be heard but they are hard to see as they move quite swiftly, if you are lucky enough you might be able to see them on the tour.
6. Tomtit/ Miromiro
The white chested tomtit is endemic to New Zealand and you can find good numbers of them in our forest. They are quiet birds most of the year but in about August we hear them start calling loudly indicating that the breeding season isn’t far away.
7. Fantail/ Pīwakawaka
The fantail is one of the most common and widely distributed native birds in New Zealand. You can find them all over our forest – when there are small insects flying in swarms around the treetops you can spot the fantails feeding on them while standing on our platforms. Try and spot them with their long tails opening up into a fan.
