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prettygoodwordTheme week! Not long ago, I ran the notornis or takahe, a kind of New Zealand bird. And we all know of the kiwi and moa. Here's a week of other fun names for birds from those islands.
kōkako (KOH-kah-koh) - n., large New Zealand wattlebird (Callaeas wilsoni) with dark blue-grey plumage, a glossy black downcurved bill, and two blue wattles.
Formerly called the New Zealand crow, and while it is completely unrelated to corvids (it's actually a passerine), that gives a sense of its size and general shape. The species name above is for the endangered North Island kōkako -- there was a South Island kōkako but it's presumed extinct, having succumbed to environmental degradation and imported predators. The name is, of course, from Māori.
---L.
kōkako (KOH-kah-koh) - n., large New Zealand wattlebird (Callaeas wilsoni) with dark blue-grey plumage, a glossy black downcurved bill, and two blue wattles.
Formerly called the New Zealand crow, and while it is completely unrelated to corvids (it's actually a passerine), that gives a sense of its size and general shape. The species name above is for the endangered North Island kōkako -- there was a South Island kōkako but it's presumed extinct, having succumbed to environmental degradation and imported predators. The name is, of course, from Māori.
---L.
