Hihi - stitchbird - Notiomystis cincta
A female bird at Zealandia.
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. Hihi are cavity nesters, a rarity in the honeyeater family and a characteristic that has made them particularly vulnerable to predators. All recorded natural nests are in cavities located in mature or semi mature forest trees.
The Tui and the bellbird are the dominant honeyeaters and in the forest feed on the canopy while the Hihi feeds on the lower undergrowth and it is this competition for diminishing nectar supplies which may have hastened the Hihi’s decline.
Description: Male - black head, upper breast and back, golden yellow band across breast and wings, rest of underparts pale brown; female greyish brown with white wing bar.
Hihi - stitchbird - Notiomystis cincta
A female bird at Zealandia.
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. Hihi are cavity nesters, a rarity in the honeyeater family and a characteristic that has made them particularly vulnerable to predators. All recorded natural nests are in cavities located in mature or semi mature forest trees.
The Tui and the bellbird are the dominant honeyeaters and in the forest feed on the canopy while the Hihi feeds on the lower undergrowth and it is this competition for diminishing nectar supplies which may have hastened the Hihi’s decline.
Description: Male - black head, upper breast and back, golden yellow band across breast and wings, rest of underparts pale brown; female greyish brown with white wing bar.