Kereru are well known for their love of berries, especially when they are very ripe or fermented. This can have some interesting effects! Recently their fame spread to the UK .... Why were they so amused?.... Have a look at the video below!
Kereru are widespread through Aotearoa, from Northland to Stewart Island, and on some offshore islands that have suitable ngahere.
The beautiful Kereru with its iridescent green, blue and plum plumes, defies gravity when it launches itself into flight!
Kereru's ample frame made it very popular in the days when people were allowed to hunt them. In winter, Māori hunters would set traps and hunting platforms in Miro trees to catch Kereru that came to eat the seeds. The birds were so easy to spear or trap after they had fed!
Native trees such as the karaka, taraire, tawa, miro and puriri depend on the kereru to carry their seeds to new areas of ngahere. If Kereru were to become extinct it would spell disaster for our beautiful ngahere.
Kereru droppings show us the range of berry's that they eat!
This has earned them the title 'Gardeners of the Sky'
Karaka berries are a very popular meal!
Kowhai offer the Kereru plenty to eat.
The main threat to Kereru is predation by introduced animals, particularly feral cats, possums, stoats and ship rats, especially when they are nesting.
Find out more from these websites!
- Kereru Discovery http://www.kererudiscovery.org.nz/
- Join Forest and Bird https://www.forestandbird.org.nz/
- Project Kereru http://www.projectkereru.org.nz/
- Dept of Conservation https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/nz-pigeon-kereru/
- Kereru Taonga PowerPoint presentation http://www.slideserve.com/oro/kereru-he-taonga-tuku-iho
Enjoy colouring in your own beautiful Kereru! Print from our FaceBook page.
Click on the link below and try out Te Papa's NZ Birds Quiz
Check out Forest and Bird's, Kiwi Conservation Club for fun activities to do at home, click below
Join the Great Kereru Count in September, and next time you are in the ngahere, listen for those amazing wings overhead!
Join Envirohub next week when we learn all about Plastics and how we can help to save our planet with better choices!
Credits:
Created with images by Andrea Lightfoot - "untitled image" • Andrea Lightfoot - "untitled image"