TUI’S

danger

People

animals

facts

Tūī are unique (endemic) to New Zealand and belong to the honeyeater family, which means they feed mainly on nectar from flowers of native plants such as kōwhai, puriri, rewarewa, kahikatea, pohutukawa, rātā and flax. Occasionally they will eat insects too. Tūī are important pollinators of many native trees and will fly large distances, especially during winter for their favourite foods.

Scientific name

Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae

tui

facts

The tūī can be found throughout the three main islands of New Zealand. The Chatham Islands have their own subspecies of tūī that differs from the mainland variety mostly in being larger.

Publications

Learn more

Learn how to identify 10 forest birds

Contacts

Phone 0800 DOC HOT line (0800 362 468) 24 hour emergency number to report:

Sick or injured wildlifeWhale or dolphin strandings

facts

Courting takes place between September and October when they sing high up in the trees in the early morning and late afternoon. Display dives, where the bird will fly up in a sweeping arch and then dive at speed almost vertically, are also associated with breeding. Only females build nests, which are constructed from twigs, fine grasses and moss.

facts

A good sign of a successful restoration programme, in areas of New Zealand, is the sound of the tūī warbling in surrounding shrubs. These clever birds are often confusing to the human ear as they mimic sounds such as the calls of the bellbird. They combine bell-like notes with harsh clicks, barks, cackles and wheezes.

facts

Tūī will live where there is a balance of ground cover, shrubs and trees. Tūī are quite aggressive, and will chase other tūī and other species (such as bellbird, silvereye and kereru) away from good food sources

facts

Tūī are unique (endemic) to New Zealand and belong to the honeyeater family, which means they feed mainly on nectar from flowers of native plants such as kōwhai, puriri, rewarewa, kahikatea, pohutukawa, rātā and flax. Occasionally they will eat insects too. Tūī are important pollinators of many native trees and will fly large distances, especially during winter for their favourite foods.

description

Tui’s have a white feather throat. Tui’s suck necked out of a kowhai tree.

Where do they live?

The tui is endemic to in New Zealand which means that they don’t live anywhere else in the world. • Although they mainly live in forested areas, tui will fly up to 25km to visit parks and gardens in search of food

What do they eat?

Tui are honey-eaters feeding mainly on nectar from native flowers like kowhai, flax, pohutukawa and rewarewa. Honeyeaters have brush-like tongues for sipping the nectar. Tui also eat native insects and fruit. During winter and early spring tui will range far and wide in search of nectar bearing flowers. This is the time they are most common in urban gardens and when they feed on non-native plants

facts

Tui are a fully protected in New Zealand.

The name Tui is derived from the Maori language with the plural being simply tui.

Europeans who first colonised New Zealand called it the Parson Bird due to the tufts of white feathers on its neck that resembled a parson’s clerical collar.