Tui

This popular song bird is one of our prettiest birds with its metallic blue-green coat and its white neckpiece. But don’t be fooled by its looks. It is one of our most aggressive birds! Male tui can often be seen chasing bellbirds and silvereyes from their territory.

 Feeding, Singing and Flying

Like bellbirds and hihi, the tui is a nectar feeder. They have curved beaks and special tongues that are like paintbrushes. This tongue allows them to lap up the nectar that they find in kowhai, puriri, flax, kahikatea and pohutakawa. As well as drinking nectar, the tui snacks on insects and fruit

The tui has two voice-boxes and this allows them to produce an incredibly varied song that combines clicks, barks, cackles and wheezes . Some of their sounds are too high for humans to hear so sometimes you will see a tui with its beak open and its chest puffed up but it sounds like it’s not singing at all. Maori prized tui for their imitation skills, and they would often keep them in cages to welcome people onto the marae.

As well a being great singers, they are good long distance fliers. Did you know that a tui will fly the distance from Invercargill to Stewart Island for a prized bit of tucker?

Springtime Breeding

Tui start courting in September and to woo their partner they fly high up into the sky, stop, and then dive down really fast.

To cement the relationship, tui will sing duets with their chosen partner. It is the female that builds the nest with twigs, fine grasses and moss. Usually they lay 2-4 eggs and the chicks leave home after about 3 weeks.