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Some information about the New Zealand Birds shown on these cards.

NZ Fantail
The typical New Zealand Fantail is mid to dark grey or grey-brown on top and yellowish/orange below. The Fantail has a white throat, white markings over the eye, and (depending on the race) either white-edged or entirely white outer tail feathers. NZ Fantail birds grows to 16 centimetres in length, of which half is the tail, which, as the name implies, is often displayed fanned out. This reveals that the outer tail feathers of the Fantail bird are light and the centre ones are dark.

Kiwi Birds
Kiwi are flightless birds endemic to New Zealand, in the genus Apteryx and family Apterygidae. At around the size of a domestic chicken, kiwi birds are by far the smallest living ratites and lay the largest egg in relation to their body size. There are five recognised species of Kiwi bird - all of which are endangered. The Kiwi is a national symbol of New Zealand.

Harrier Hawk
Young Harrier Hawks have brown eyes, dark brown plumage with an obvious white nape patch. As these NZ birds get older the eyes and the plumage gets paler. Very old New Zealand Hawks can appear almost grey white. Females are larger than the males.

Kakapo
The Kakapo Parrot is a critically endangered species. Kekapo are large, rotund parrots; males measure up to 60 centimetres and weigh between 2 and 4 kilograms at maturity. The Kakapo are unable to fly, having short wings for their size and lacking the pronounced keel bone (sternum) that anchors the flight muscles of other birds. Kakapos use their wings for balance, support, and to break their falls when leaping from trees. Unlike other land birds, Kakapo Parrots can accumulate large amounts of body fat to store energy making them the heaviest parrot.

Kereru
The Kereru bird is a New Zealand Pigeon that grows to some 51 cm in length and 650g in weight. The head, throat and wings are generally a shiny green-purple colour, but with a bronze tinge to the feathers. The breast is typically white and the bill red with an orange-ish tip. The feet and eyes are red. Juveniles have a similar colouration but are generally paler with dull colours for the beak, eyes and feet and a shorter tail.

Kingfisher
The kingfishers have a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring throughout the worlds tropics and temperate regions, including New Zealand. The Maori name for New Zealand Kingfisher is Kotare. The New Zealand sub-species, vagans, is distinguished from the Australian sub-species by its larger size and broader bill and generally by the distinctiveness of its green and blue colours.

Morepork
The New Zealand Morepork Owl is sometimes referred to as Mopoke or the Maori name is Ruru. It occurs in most habitats with trees, ranging from deep tropical forests to isolated stands at the edges of arid zones, farmland, or alpine grasslands, but is most common in temperate woodland. Moreporks are usually seen singly, in pairs, or in small family groups of an adult pair and up to three young. They are mainly nocturnal, but are sometimes active at dawn and dusk. The main hunting times are evenings and mornings, with brief bursts of activity through the night. On dark nights Moreporks often perch through the middle hours and, particularly if the weather is bad, may hunt by daylight instead.

Takahe
The Takahe bird is a flightless bird indigenous to New Zealand. The adult Takahē is mainly purple-blue in colour, with a greenish back and inner wings. It has a red frontal shield and red-based pink bill. The legs are pink. Sexes are similar, the females being slightly smaller, but young birds have mainly pale brown plumage. This is a noisy species with a loud clowp call.

Pukeko
Pukeko is the Maori name for the Purple Swamphen. New Zealand Pukekos are similar to other species found all over the world. With their bright blue plumage and red beaks, they easily stand out against the New Zealand greenery, particularly when their white tail feathers begin flashing in alarm.

Tui Bird
Tui are considered to be very intelligent, much like parrots. They also resemble parrots in their ability to clearly imitate human speech, and are known for their noisy, unusual call, different for each individual, that combine bellbird-like notes with clicks, cackles, timber-like creaks and groans, and wheezing sounds. The unusual possession of two voice boxes enable Tui birds to perform such a myriad of vocalisations.

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