Abundant across the country, the tūī is an iconic native bird easily identified by its white tufted throat, blue-black feathers and bolshy, territorial behaviour.
Often seen chasing other birds from a flowering tree or Nectar Feeder, tūī are well known and loved by New Zealanders, with populations found everywhere from wilderness areas to city gardens. The common tūī, found in the North Island, South Island and Rakiura Stewart Island, is classed as Endemic and Not Threatened, with one subspecies found in the Chatham Island classed as Threatened / Nationally Vulnerable.
Their feathers appear black at first glance but, in the light, show iridescent green and blue tones. The white curled tuft at their throat, called a poi, is often the easiest way to identify them from a distance.
What does a tūī sound like?
Even when unseen, the tūī makes itself known with its distinctive, inimitable call, which switches between sweet, high notes and throaty grunts and wheezes. When warning other birds off, they emit a loud screeching call.
Can you pick the difference between a bellbird and a tūī's song? This Bird Identification online course from DoC is a helpful start for learning to recognise the birdsong of tūī and other native birds when you’re out and about in the forest.
What does the tūī eat?
If you’ve ever looked across a garden planted in flowering kōwhai, flax or kōtukutuku (native fuchsia), you probably have a good idea of what tūī eat. Nectar and honeydew make up the majority of their diet year-round, with autumn seeing them searching for fruiting natives, such as kaikomako and rimu.
During the breeding season, they are also known to supplement their diet with invertebrate snacks, such as cicada and stick insects. In winter, backyard nectar or sugar water feeders are also popular with tūī, who tend to dominate any bird that dares to encroach on their sweet sip.
Tūī: Nesting and breeding
Tūī nest high in the canopy or subcanopy, with eggs laid through spring and early summer. Females do the building, creating robust and twiggy structures, often lined with soft grasses and embedded with mosses.
They usually lay between two and four eggs, with the females also taking on the incubation, brooding, and initial feeding. The male begins to pitch in once the chicks are a little older.
The New Zealand Garden Bird Survey has good news for tūī lovers, especially those in Canterbury. Results show a shallow increase in tūī (kōkō) counts in the long term (23%) and again in the short term (7%). Their regional long-term trends continue to show a rapid increase in Canterbury (207%) and now show a moderate increase in Marlborough (68%).
How to bring more tūī to your garden
Aside from your clean and predator-safe nectar feeder, native planting is the best way of feeding tūī. It’s also an easy option, as most native plants are hardy and bred to grow in our climate. Tūī will travel up to 10km daily for a trusted source of food (this could be your place!).
Having a range of flowering native trees and shrubs will help birds find food throughout the year. We've written lots about the seven best natives to plant for birds, and also worked with our friends at the Whakatipu Reforestation Trust who walk us through some of their favourite native species in the video below.
Banner image taken by Sarah Hamilton.
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