#hemiphaga

[herpsandbirds]

Kereru or New Zealand Wood Pigeon (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae), family Columbidae, order Columbiformes, Piopio, New Zealand

photograph by Marcin Dyduch

[snototter]

A kererū (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae) sitting in a nīkau palm tree in Waitakere, Aotearoa

by Charles J Sharp

[fishsfailureson]

Drew over a photo I took a while back. This is also another entry for my sideblog @artist-quests, original photo below the cut.

[best-bird-tournament]

Hemiphaga pigeon

Which is the best bird?

Kereru / New Zealand pigeon

Parea / Chatham pigeon

Voting ended onJun 5, 2025

[herpsandbirds]

Kereru or New Zealand Wood Pigeon (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae), family Columbidae, order Columbiformes, Piopio, New Zealand

photograph by Nithin Belle

[herpsandbirds]

Kereru or New Zealand Wood Pigeon (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae), family Columbidae, Tāwharanui Peninsula, New Zealand

photograph by JJ Harrison

[herpsandbirds]

Kereru or New Zealand Wood Pigeon (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae), family Columbidae, Bay of Islands, New Zealand

photograph by Yi Feng

[drhoz]

#2449 - Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae ssp. novaeseelandiae - Kererū

Hefty birb. NZ Pigeon Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae | By DanielFacebook

Hefty birb. NZ Pigeon Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae

AKA New Zealand Pigeon, kūkupa, kūkū, and Hagarrèroo (although that's a very odd word for the region and only recorded by one author in 1783). Previous binomials were Columba novaeseelandiae and Carpophaga novaeseelandiae.

A large endemic fruit and bud-eating pigeon, although there used to be another subspecies on Norfolk Island, and still one on the Chathams. A cultural treasure of the Māori, although the species is now protected from hunting after introduced predators including rats, stoats, and possums munched their way through the population. Still considered a species of Least Concern, though, so it's doing a lot better than far too many NZ bird species.

In one Māori legend, the hero and trickster Māui took the form of a kererū when he went down into the underworld in search of his parents and the kererū's iridescent green-blue and white plumage is because when Māui transformed he was carrying the skirt/apron and belt of his mother, Tāranga. The apron, Te Taro o Tāranga, is the white breast feathers; the belt, Te Tātua a Tāranga, is the green-blue feathers on the neck.

Kererū were the food of choice associated with New Year celebrations as the birds were at their fattest in late June or early July. They also tended to be easier to catch at this time of year because they're drunk on fermented berries. They cloud be caught in their thousands. Kererū feathers continue to be used for making kākahu cloaks, while the tail feathers were used to decorate the tahā huahua (food storage containers). One hunting method used waka waituhi, a water trough suspended in a tree wth snares around the edges. Tame kererū were used as decoys to entice others.

Mangorei, Taranaki, New Zealand