New Zealand scientists are using fossilised moa poo (coprolites) to study the diets and habitats of the large flightless native birds, which became extinct around 500...
Researchers from Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research and Adelaide University in Australia have managed to extract ancient DNA from feathers belonging to four species of the extinct...
An interdisciplinary team of conservation biologist Priscilla Wehi, mātauranga Māori and linguistics expert Tom Roa, computational biologist Murray Cox and Māori linguist Hēmi Whaanga sought to...
An international team of researchers from New Zealand, Australia and Denmark have published research revealing new evidence of how the moa (large, long-lived ratites) were hunted...
One of New Zealand’s iconic moa species was almost wiped out during the last ice age according to recently published research. DNA from ancient eastern moa...
New Zealand separated from Gondwana around 65 million years ago. Due to the geographical isolation and a lack of ground-dwelling predators, our birds evolved unique characteristics....
Takahē once lived throughout Te Waipounamu South Island. Māori reported that their night cry sounded like the striking of two pieces of pounamu. Habitat loss and...
A DNA study of extinct elephant bird specimens held at Wellington’s Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa have revealed the birds to be the kiwi’s...
In 1880, Alice McKenzie saw a large blue bird in a remote part of Fiordland. Alice and her family made careful observations of the bird and...
The kererū (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae), also called kūkū, kūkupa, wood pigeon or simply New Zealand pigeon, is endemic and one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most valuable assets...
It is estimated there are currently 209 breeding bird species in Aotearoa New Zealand. How can we tell what bird species we are observing? All living...
E whakapae ana kei te āhua 209 ngā momo manu whakawhānau i Aotearoa. Me pēhea tātou e mōhio he aha ngā momo manu e mātaitia ana...
Feather cloaks (kahu huruhuru) are treasured possessions of many Māori tribes and are in museum collections around the world. Much knowledge about the materials used to...
An ecosystem consists of all of the organisms living within an area and the interactions between them and the physical environment. All ecosystems, whether they are...
The huia (Heteralocha acutirostris) was a majestic bird with vibrant orange wattles, shiny black feathers and white-tipped tail feathers. Unfortunately, this bird is extinct, with the...
By including five extinct species in its Bird of the Year competition, Forest & Bird is providing a way to mourn what we’ve lost – and...
The kiwi is New Zealand’s most iconic bird – we even call ourselves Kiwis – yet all kiwi species are threatened and require ongoing action to...
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