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Hihi - stitchbird - Notiomystis cincta

Status: endemic, threatened

Sparrow-sized with white wing bars. Females are olive and males have black heads and bright yellow shoulders. Both sexes have long whiskers and perch with an upward tail.

Known for their 'stitch' note (hence their name), their penetrating alarm call 'yeng, yeng, yeng' and the males explosive whistle 'see-si-ip'.

Known to occasionally mate face to face - the only known bird to do this.

Were extinct from the mainland since the 1880s until they were released into Karori Sanctuary in 2005.

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Uploaded on March 21, 2010
Taken on March 21, 2010