Whether you call them kererū, kuku or kukupa, you can find the New Zealand Pigeon (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae) all over inner west Auckland. Most sighting have been around Maungawhau (Mt Eden), Ōwairaka (Mt Albert) and Western Springs Park, but they’ll also visit gardens if you’re lucky.
The Forest & Bird 2018 Bird of the Year, plays an important part in dispersing the fruits of native species – tawa, puriri, karaka, five-finger and pigeonwood – so we want to encourage them. According to the Kererū Discovery Trust we should “plant a range of flowering and fruiting native trees and shrubs to provide nectar, seeds or berries all year round. Suitable plants could include kowhai, flax, and fuchsia for nectar and wineberry, karamu and nikau for fruit”. Their website has lots of other good advice on helping kererū.
- Visit New Zealand Birds Online for more on kererū.
- Read Auckland Council’s Urban kererū (PDF, 660.10 kB) leaflet.
- Record sightings during the Great Kererū Count each September.
- and remember that being drunk isn’t funny, except when it is a kererū gorging on fermented fruit…