The Tiwaiwaka is a very friendly bird, often following people and animals as they walk, disturbing the bugs they like to eat.
Their favourite foods are invertebrates- moths, beetles, flies and spiders and will occasionally eat fruit.
There are two colours of the Tiwaiwaka, pied and black. The Black is less common in the North Island but the Pied is found all over Aotearoa.
Tiwaiwaka chicks are commonly fed every ten minutes- up to 100 times a day!
Tiwaiwaka are very vocal and have a distinctive chirp
Tiwaiwaka have a unique tail which their English name fantail derives from.
Credits:
Created with images by Andrea Lightfoot - "untitled image" • Andrea Lightfoot - "untitled image" • Phil Botha - "Fern, New Zealand, Autumn 2020"