Parson Bird OR Tui - Page: 2

This bird, that the Maori called the Tui or Parson Bird is a honey eater. Its origin is doubtless from Australia and birders see them in New Zealand.

The Tui or Parson Bird is the one bird that resisted extinction and even prospered in the company of man in New Zealand and on surrounding isles. The Tui have penetrated the national emotions like no other New Zealand bird. The Tui became a familiar part of the every day lives, while other birds have faded into the deep bush and rejected man.

While taking a walk a Tui angrily and noisily dive bombed the person from a pine tree, before landing on a low branch of the tree across the path. The Parson Bird sat on the limb and watched through the branches of the tree. Was his mate nearby? Did they have a nest in the tree or was the Tui just being his usual antagonistic and annoying self?

Captain Cook while at Dusky Sound in 1773 on his second voyage, wrote thus of the Tui. "Under its throat hang two little tufts of snow-white feathers, called poies, which being the Otaheitean word for ear-rings, occasioned our giving that name to the bird; which is not more remarkable for the beauty of its plumage than the sweetness of its note. The flesh is also most delicious and was the greatest luxury the wood afforded us."

The Tui is colored a bright metallic green with turquoise imaging radiating off its shoulders and changes with the light. The top of its tail and lower part of its chest is a brilliant green too. On the Tui's neck you will find it decorated with thread like plumes. The Tui also has a clump of white under its chin.

Parson Birds are loners. Tuis are usually unaccompanied except at breeding time. Even though several Tuis may feed in the same tree they have clearly defined territories. Guthrie Smith maintains that the Tui very strongly resents the presence of other birds near its nest and will hunt them off.

These birds often soar and dive with their wings folded into their closed body. This seems as if they display the pleasure of life. Many people enjoy these birds so much they plant their gardens specifically for the Tui. They want to lure the birds to their yards and observe their antics.

When in flight their wings whir similar to the Mourning Dove. The whirring is caused by a notch in the wing feathers. When flying from one spot to another it generally flies high and moves downward abruptly to its objective.

It seems they noisily chortle and chuckle with croaks, shrill whistle like noises and whispers, seemingly always looking for attention. The ornithologist Guthrie-Smith maintained that "much of the Tui's singing we cannot hear, the notes too high, I suppose, for our human ears, for I have often watched the bird's throat from but a few yards distance swelling with song entirely inaudible." Guthrie-Smith also observed a female singing on the nest. "We were close to her, yet she sang as if her song could have no ending, as if the world was too full of the ecstasy of life for wrong and rapine to exist. The sun was shining above the flowing river, the leaves green, of every shape and shade, her great love had cast out fear." Some birders call the Parson Bird the nightingales of New Zealand. It is able to mimic other bird calls or even human speech.

In the forest birders observe the Tui in the tree tops where the buds and blossoms grow. Their diet consists mainly of honey using its long bill to harvest the nectar. The Parson Bird also targets large insects like cicadas. Bird watchers have witnessed the Tui beating the bushes making insects fall and then eat them. They are a belligerent and combative bird and will go after other birds like the Korimako, known as the Bellbird and other Tuis feeding nearby. People attract the Tui into their garden and yards with flowering trees like the Kowhai, Kaka Beak and New Zealand Flax. Like a hummingbird you can sometimes lure the Parson Bird with a dish of sugar and water. Having a gypsy like life style they travel to locales where they seek out gardens and forest patches searching for nectar, insects and fruit.

Some birds repeatedly inhabit the same summer breeding and winter feeding territories. These territories are from 15 to 20 miles apart. They usually breed in the months of September and October.

When the female constructs the nest she looks for a fork of a tree. Alone she builds the nest of small branchs and sticks. After the nest is complete she lines it with grass. Both the male and female provide food for the new born birds.

INTERESTING FACT- The Tui was of great importance to Maori. Besides being one of the Maori's favorite food, the birds often lived in cages. The people trained the birds to speak and welcome visitors. The Maori used their wonderful plumage for their ceremonial cloaks.