Kereru
From Freepedia
| Kereru Conservation status: Lower risk (nt) | ||||||||||||||
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| Image:Kereru.jpg Kereru. | ||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
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| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae (Gmelin, 1789) |
The Kereru or New Zealand Pigeon (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae novaeseelandiae) is a bird endemic to New Zealand. Kererū is a Maori name, and other Maori names for the bird are Kūkupa and Kūkū, used particularly in Northland Region, and Parea on the Chatham Islands.
It is the only member of the pigeon genus Hemiphaga (Bonaparte, 1854). It is sometimes called a wood pigeon, though it is not the same as the Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) which is a member of a different genus.
The Kereru is herbivorous, primarily eating fruit from native trees. It plays an important ecological role, as it is the only bird capable of eating the largest native drupes and thus spreading the seeds. Its head, throat, and wings are a shiny green-purple colour, its breast is typically white, and its bill red. It is one of the larger members of the family Columbidae, growing to some 50 cm (20 inches) in length.
The Kereru makes an occasional soft coo sound (hence the onomatopoeic names), and its wings make a very distinctive whooshing sound as it flies. The bird's flight is also very distinctive - birds will often ascend slowly before making impressively steep parabolic dives.
It nests in trees, laying a single egg which is incubated for 28 days. The young bird then takes another 36 days to fledge.
The wild population of the Kereru has dropped considerably in recent years, especially in the North Island, although it is still relatively common in the west of the South Island and in coastal Otago.
