Saddleback
Liz Bonnin presents the formerly widespread saddleback of New Zealand.
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Liz Bonnin presents the formerly widespread saddleback of New Zealand. It's loud, piping and whistling calls once resounded throughout New Zealand's forests, but now the saddleback is heard only on smaller offshore islands. This is a bird in exile. About the size of a European blackbird, saddlebacks are predominantly black with a rust-coloured saddle-shaped patch on their backs. In Maori culture this mark came from the demi-God Maui who, after trying to catch the sun, asked the saddleback to fetch water. The bird refused, so hot-handed Maui grabbed it and left a scorch mark on the bird's back. As well as this chestnut saddle, the bird has two bright red wattles at the base of its beak which it can dilate when it displays. It also has an extensive vocabulary and one of its calls has earned it the Maori name 鈥�"Ti-e-ke".
Producer : Andrew Dawes
Last on
More episodes
Previous
Saddleback (Philesturnus carunculatus)
Webpage image courtesy of Tui De Roy / naturepl.com.
漏 Tui De Roy / naturepl.com
Broadcasts
- Wed 17 Dec 2014 05:58成人快手 Radio 4
- Sun 21 Dec 2014 08:58成人快手 Radio 4
- Tue 17 Nov 2015 05:58成人快手 Radio 4
- Fri 7 Jun 2019 05:58成人快手 Radio 4
- Mon 31 Aug 2020 05:58成人快手 Radio 4
- Fri 19 Aug 2022 05:58成人快手 Radio 4
- Thu 19 Oct 2023 05:58成人快手 Radio 4
Podcast: Planet Puffin
Exploring all things puffin - the silly and the serious, the scientific and the cultural.
Try this new podcast
Five stories of birds and birdsong are told by the people inspired by them.
Podcast
-
![]()
Tweet of the Day
Discover birds through their songs and calls. 265 programmes of 90 seconds, over a year
