December 2012 – May 2013
These birds are the size of large chickens, cobalt blue and black with a flash of white under their tails. They have long legs and large red beaks with a red crown on top of their heads. They are called Pukekos, and they are all over the North Island. They can be found hanging out in pastures among herds of animals: cows and pukekos, sheep and pukekos, horses and pukekos, goats and pukekos, or if it’s merely a grassy area, just pukekos. You can really see the dinosaur in these birds—if it weren’t for their plumage they’d look like small velociraptors roaming the countryside.
They aren’t well known outside of New Zealand, but in New Zealand there are restaurants and business named after them, and their likeness are always featured in gift shops, maybe more than any other bird. You just can’t have too many pukekos! They are beautiful birds, but not very friendly as they couldn’t care less about people. If you get too close, they head off quickly, even flying if they feel they must. Maybe someday we’ll get to befriend one—I wonder if they’d like leftover fish and chips? -Cyndi
