April 2, 2013
There are lots of fantastic birds on Tiritiri Matangi, but my favorite has to be the Takahe, thought to be extinct until 1948.
Takahes look a lot like pukekos (link here), those big blue birds that remind me of velociraptors, but Takahe are even bigger and heftier. If pukekos are the velociraptors of the bird world, takehe are the tyrannosaurus rex. They are very Jurassic-looking birds.
The most interesting thing about the takahe was seeing what good parents they are. The breeders make sure each mating pair gets to raise a chick. These chicks bring new meaning to the phrase “ugly duckling,” but they are doted on by their parents. If someone tosses a piece of bread to the mother, she’ll grab it and run full throttle to wherever her chick is, often greatly startling it as she nearly runs it over before barreling to a stop (I didn’t claim they were graceful mothers). But then she’ll go over to her chick and tenderly tear off pieces of the bread with her foot or beak. She’ll hold the pieces up for her chick, watching it intensely as it eats. I believe this bird would starve before letting her chick go hungry.
As it turns out, the takahe is yet another hazardous NZ bird. We enjoyed this depiction of a Takahe annihilating a smiley-face lunch bag. Personally I think anyone who carries their lunch in a smiley-face bag is asking for trouble. –Cyndi
