Feathered Friends

The Feathered Friends

New Zealand’s birds think they are of regal blood. They walk with their heads held high, and there’s not scuffing of the feet either. As if Andalusians on parade the kick up each foot--every step is deliberate. With their flashy colors and high stepping ways it is no wonder they garner all the attention while the shy kiwi shirks about at night as if ashamed of his drab colors and squat build.

The Pukeko seems the most arrogant while the Tui is hot on his heels. Blue-black feathers shimmer in the sunlight, his bright red beak and legs stand out as flares in the night. He is a Doctor Seuss character. And how haughty when he walks! The dark tail feathers flick up with each step revealing a white undershirt, a gentlemen lifting his waistcoat to take a bow. Comparable to a crow they are matched in size and absurdity by the magpie. The magpie’s wings are black with white spots. He sports a yellow beak and looks as if out of child’s coloring book, complete with long tail feathers. If the Pukeko is the queen’s guard then the Magpie the court jester.

Thinking much too highly of himself, like a too short police officer, the Tui commands your attention everywhere he treads. The size of a pigeon they comically bob their heads with each step, and keeping in time the legs step up and down like soldiers on the march. The Tui has a brown body and shoulders, their wings and tail are of an unassuming black but the sharp beak and legs are of an uncompromising yellow. Beneath their feathers they too wear white undergarments, visible only when in flight.

As common as they are precocious the Pukeko, Magpie and Tui are of no great importance to the average Kiwi, but to the visitor from a far off land, their presence makes the New Zealand fairytale all but complete.

January 31, 2006