“Extinct” Bird Rediscovered

WHAT is about the size of a domestic hen, has a red parrotlike beak and purple-​blue plumage, is flightless, and was considered extinct from about 1900 to 1948? Another clue: It is only found in New Zealand and has a Maori name. It is the takahe, or Notornis mantelli hochstetteri.

These elusive birds spend most of the year in the highland of the Murchison and Kepler mountain ranges of Fiordland in the southwest of New Zealand’s South Island. However, a few are kept in captivity, such as the one photographed here in Te Anau’s small public park. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Birds states that this large bird (nearly 25 inches [63 cm] long) “has suffered a catastrophic decline in the face of competition and predation by introduced animals.” In spite of captive breeding and predator control, it is still an endangered species.

The same source says that “it feeds on the seed heads and tender bases of the grasses.” But it has to compete for its food “with [the] introduced deer and generally loses the contest.” Let us hope that this unique bird does not disappear from New Zealand’s list of singular creatures.