Native birds

I wanted to find out about the native birds that live in the Tiniroto area.

I asked local people about the birds they had seen here.

Mr Kent remembers a bird that looked like a hawk but he hasn't seen it for years.

I found that the most commonly spotted natives are the Tui, Kereru and Piwakawaka or Fantail. There are also lots of Silvereye, Ruru, Kahu, Teal, Bell Birds, Shags and a few Heron (even the endangered White Heron live here too).

“Mr Cameron told me that there used to be lots of Weka around the place and then one day they suddenly just disappeared! He used to see Blue Mountain Ducks out the back of Ruakaka Station too but he hasn’t seen any of those for years either.”

There were also stories about Blue Mountain Ducks living up on Mt Whakapunake too.

Some of my friends have been finding out about the Moa. There have been bones found to prove that the Moa lived here.

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Back in the early days Tiniroto was famous for its fat Kai. Maori people came here to gather the Moa and the fat Kereru.

By James