Kōkako are two species of forest bird in the genus Callaeas which are endemic to New Zealand, the endangered North Island kōkako (Callaeas wilsoni) and the presumed extinct South Island kōkako (Callaeas cinereus). They are both slate-grey with wattles and have black masks. They belong to a family containing five species of New Zealand wattlebirds, 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.

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. The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek word kallaia for a cock's wattles.

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.

Description

left|thumb|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). The South Island kōkako, Callaeas cinereus, by contrast has largely orange wattles, with only a small patch of blue at the base. Its diet consists of leaves, fern fronds, flowers, fruit and invertebrates.

See also

  • Birds of New Zealand
  • Wattle

Notes

References

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.
  • Database and map of potential South Island kōkako reports
  • Kokako Recovery A website developed by private enthusiasts to promote the Kokako Recovery Programme
  • Kōkako vocalizations (Xeno-canto)
  • TerraNature page on wattlebirds
  • Artworks featuring Kokako and
  • Specimens of kōkako including albinos 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