North Island Kokako
Chris Packham presents the North Island kokako from New Zealand.
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Chris Packham presents the North Island kokako from New Zealand. Kokakos are bluish-grey, crow-sized birds with black masks. Those from the North Island sport bright blue fleshy lobes called wattles; one on each side of the bill. And they are famous in New Zealand for their beautiful haunting song which males and females sing, often in a long duet in the early morning.Known by some people as the squirrel of the woods because of their large tails and habit of running along branches, kokako used to be widespread, today fewer than 1000 pairs remain. The kokako's slow and deliberate, almost thoughtful, flute-like song evokes the islands' forests and in the film, The Piano, it features as part of the chorus of woodland birds in some of the most atmospheric scenes.
Producer : Andrew Dawes
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North Island Kokako (Callaeas cinerea wilsoni)
Webpage image courtesy of Tui De Roy / naturepl.com.
NPL Ref Β© Tui De Roy / naturepl.com
Recording of North Island kokako by Matthew D Medler / Ref: ML136122
This programme contains a wildtrack Β kindly provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology; recorded by Matthew D Medler on 26 apr 2004, in Pongakowa Ecological Reserve, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.
Broadcasts
- Thu 6 Nov 2014 05:58Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
- Wed 14 Oct 2015 05:58Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
- Tue 18 Aug 2020 05:58Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
- Tue 26 Jul 2022 05:58Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
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