Kokako
Encyclopedia
The Kōkako is a forest bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 which is endemic
Endemic (ecology)
Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...

 to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. It is slate-grey with wattles
Wattle (anatomy)
A wattle is a fleshy dewlap or caruncle hanging from various parts of the head or neck in several groups of birds, goats and other animals. In some birds the caruncle is erectile tissue.The wattle is frequently an organ of sexual dimorphism...

 and a black mask. It is one of three species of New Zealand Wattlebird, the other two being the endangered
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...

 Tieke
Tieke
The Saddleback or Tieke is a previously rare and endangered New Zealand bird of the family Callaeidae. It is glossy black with a chestnut saddle. Its taxonomic family is also known as that of the "wattlebirds" and includes the two subspecies of the Kokako as well as the extinct Huia...

 (saddleback) and the extinct Huia
Huia
The Huia was the largest species of New Zealand wattlebird and was endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. Its extinction in the early 20th century had two primary causes. The first was rampant overhunting to procure Huia skins for mounted specimens, which were in worldwide demand by...

. Previously widespread, Kōkako populations throughout New Zealand have been decimated by the predations of mammalian invasive species such as possums, stoats, cats and rats and their range has contracted significantly. There were formerly two sub-species of Kōkako, North Island and South Island, although the South Island subspecies may now be extinct. In the past this bird was called the New Zealand Crow even though it is not a crow at all, but looks like one from a distance.

Taxonomy

The Kōkako was first described by German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin
Johann Friedrich Gmelin
Johann Friedrich Gmelin was a German naturalist, botanist, entomologist, herpetologist and malacologist.- Education :Johann Friedrich Gmelin was born as the eldest son of Philipp Friedrich Gmelin in 1748 in Tübingen...

 in 1788. Its species name is the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 adjective cinereus "grey". Two subspecies have been described. The nominate subspecies from the South Island is likely to have become extinct.

The Kōkako appears to be a remnant of an early expansion of passerines in New Zealand and is one of three New Zealand wattlebirds of the family Callaeidae
Callaeidae
The small bird family Callaeidae is endemic to New Zealand. It contains three monotypic genera; of the three species in the family, only two survive and both of them, the Kokako and the Saddleback, are endangered species, threatened primarily by the predations of introduced mammalian species such...

, the others being the endangered
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...

 Tieke, or Saddleback, and the extinct Huia
Huia
The Huia was the largest species of New Zealand wattlebird and was endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. Its extinction in the early 20th century had two primary causes. The first was rampant overhunting to procure Huia skins for mounted specimens, which were in worldwide demand by...

. New Zealand Wattlebirds have no close relatives apart from the Stitchbird
Stitchbird
The Stitchbird or Hihi is a rare honeyeater-like bird endemic to the North Island and adjacent offshore islands of New Zealand. It became extirpated everywhere except Little Barrier Island but has been reintroduced to three other island sanctuaries and two locations on the North Island mainland...

, and their taxonomic relationships to other birds remain to be determined.

Description

The North Island Kōkako, Callaeas cinerea 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 cinerea cinerea, by contrast has largely orange wattles, with only a small patch of blue at the base .

Behaviour

The Kōkako has a beautiful, clear, organ-like song. Its call can carry for kilometres. Breeding pairs sing together in a bell-like duet for up to an hour in the early morning. Different populations in different parts of the North Island (if any populations of the South Island Kōkako remain they are at present unknown) have distinctly different songs which many people consider analogous with human "dialects" of a given language.

The Kōkako is a poor flier and seldom flies more than 100 metres. The wings of this species are relatively short and rounded. It prefers to hop and leap from branch to branch on its powerful grey legs. It does not fly so much as glide and when seen exhibiting this behaviour they will generally scramble up tall trees (frequently New Zealand podocarps such as rimu
Rimu
Rimu can mean the following:*Dacrydium cupressinum, also rimu, a tree endemic to New Zealand*Rimu, Southland, a locality in Southland, New Zealand*Rimu, West Coast, a locality in the West Coast region of New Zealand...

 and matai
Prumnopitys taxifolia
Prumnopitys taxifolia is an endemic New Zealand coniferous tree that grows on the North Island and South Island. It also occurs on Stewart Island/Rakiura but is uncommon there....

) before gliding to others nearby. Its ecological niche is frequently compared to that of a flying squirrel. Its diet consists of leaves, fern fronds, flowers, fruit and invertebrates.

In Māori and modern New Zealand culture

Māori myth
Maori mythology
Māori mythology and Māori traditions are the two major categories into which the legends of the Māori of New Zealand may usefully be divided...

 refers to Kōkako in several stories. In one notable story, Kōkako gave Māui
Maui (Maori mythology)
In Māori mythology, Māui is a culture hero famous for his exploits and his trickery.-Māui's birth:The offspring of Tū increased and multiplied and did not know death until the generation of Māui-tikitiki . Māui is the son of Taranga, the wife of Makeatutara...

 water as he fought the sun by filling its plump wattles with water and offering it to Māui to quench his thirst. Māui rewarded Kōkako for its kindness by stretching its legs until they were lean, long and strong, so that Kōkako could easily leap through the forest to find food.

The Kōkako appears on the reverse side of the New Zealand $50 note.

Threats and conservation

North Island kōkako

In the early 1900s the North Island Kōkako was common in forests throughout the North Island and its offshore islands. Primary causes of Kōkako decline were forest clearance by settlers and the introduction of predators such as rats, stoats and possums. The North Island Kōkako is now endangered, with an estimated 750 pairs in existence (January 2009).

Unlike many of New Zealand's most vulnerable birds, Kōkako survive in low numbers in several North Island native forests. However, research has shown that female Kōkako are particularly at risk of predation as they carry out all incubation and brooding throughout a prolonged (50-day) nesting period. Years of such predation have resulted in populations that are predominantly male and with consequent low productivity rates.

Government-funded pest control programmes, and captive breeding programmes are critical to helping maintain population numbers on the mainland. A "research by management" approach has demonstrated that the Kōkako decline can be reversed and populations maintained in mainland forests by innovative management of their habitat. Current research aims to increase management efficiency to ensure long-term Kōkako survival. The use of biodegradable 1080 poison has been particularly beneficial in reversing population decline. For example, between 1991 and 1999 the breeding population of Kōkako increased tenfold in Mapara Wildlife Reserve (Waikato
Waikato
The Waikato Region is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato, Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the northern King Country, much of the Taupo District, and parts of Rotorua District...

) thanks to a series of four aerial 1080 operations.

New populations are also being established through releases on predator-free offshore islands. As a result, conservationists are hopeful of the species' long-term survival.

South Island Kōkako

In the early 1900s the South Island Kōkako was widespread in the South Island and Stewart Island. It has fared worse than the North Island subspecies and was formally declared extinct by the New Zealand Department of Conservation on 16 January 2007. A confirmed sighting has not occurred in several decades, though unconfirmed sightings are very occasionally reported. In the 1990s, Timberlands
Timberlands West Coast Limited
Timberlands West Coast Limited is a New Zealand state-owned enterprise based on the West Coast.It was formed to manage the native and exotic forests on the West Coast of the defunct New Zealand Forest Service....

, the state owned enterprise tasked with managing the former New Zealand Forest Service's West Coast forests found some evidence of Kokako in the research into native forest ecology it conducted as part of its sustainable management program.

Distribution

As at 2010, North Island Kōkako were present in Pureora Forest Park
Pureora Forest Park
Pureora Forest Park is a protected area in the North Island of New Zealand. Within its rich rain forest are an abundance of 1000 year old podocarp trees. It is “recognized as one of the finest rain forests in the world”...

, Whirinaki Forest Park
Whirinaki Forest Park
Whirinaki Forest Park is a publicly accessible forest park in the North Island of New Zealand. The park is centered around the town of Minginui and part of the eastern boundary flanks the Urewera National Park....

, Mapara Wildlife Reserve, the Hunua Ranges
Hunua Ranges
The Hunua Ranges form a block of hilly country to the southeast of Auckland in New Zealand's North Island. They cover some 250 square kilometres , containing 178 km² of parkland, and rise to 688 metres at Kohukohunui...

, Ngapukeriki, Kaharoa Forest, the Te Urewera National Park
Te Urewera National Park
Te Urewera National Park is one of fourteen national parks within New Zealand and is the largest of the four in the North Island. Covering an area of approximately 2,127 km², it is in the north east of the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island....

, Puketi Forest, and the Waitakere Ranges
Waitakere Ranges
The Waitakere Ranges are a chain of hills in the Auckland metropolitan area, generally running approximately 25 km from north to south, 25 km west of central Auckland, New Zealand. The maximum elevation within the ranges is 474 m...

. Kōkako can be seen relatively easily on a number of publically-accessible offshore island sanctuaries including Tiritiri Matangi and Kapiti Island
Kapiti Island
-External links:* , Department of Conservation* * , Nature Coast Enterprise *...

 where the regenerating forest is low enough to provide close views. Captive birds can be seen at Mount Bruce Wildlife Centre and Otorohanga
Otorohanga
Otorohanga is a north King Country town at the southern end of the Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 53 kilometres south of Hamilton and 18 kilometres north of Te Kuiti, on the Waipa River...

Kiwi House.

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.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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