{"id":117,"date":"2018-02-28T23:51:40","date_gmt":"2018-02-28T23:51:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/clements\/?p=117"},"modified":"2018-03-01T00:10:33","modified_gmt":"2018-03-01T00:10:33","slug":"bird-of-the-week-the-pukeko","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/clements\/2018\/02\/28\/bird-of-the-week-the-pukeko\/","title":{"rendered":"Bird of the week – the p\u016bkeko"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Saturday my wife and I were on a beautiful beach on the east coast of New Zealand near the small town of Matata. We were enjoying some takeaway seafood there (i.e., that is the Aussi or Kiwi phrase for \u201ctake-out food\u201d \u2013 we did actually pay for it) from a place called \u201cAunty\u2019s and Uncle Caf\u00e9 and Takeaway\u201d when we noticed an exotic looking bird.<\/p>\n

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We learned it was the p\u016bkeko<\/strong>. Although we only saw one there in Matata, we were to see many others later. Especially early in the morning the next day as we drove along the windy coastal roads. Apparently p\u016bkeko enjoy foraging beside roads, and we saw at least one p\u016bkeko warning sign in New Zealand. There the warning signs are usually note \u201cwandering\u201d as in \u201cwandering p\u016bkeko\u201d or \u201cwandering kiwi.\u201d<\/p>\n

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As you might expect, there is quite a road toll and we did see the remains of many unfortunate p\u016bkeko on the road.<\/p>\n

I need to quote New Zealand Geographic here to give you further insights on the character and reputation of the p\u016bkeko. This is from an article called \u201cP\u016bkeko: The Indomitable Swamphen\u201d<\/strong> at<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.nzgeo.com\/stories\/pukeko-the-indomitable-swamphen\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cPopularly regarded as brainless kamikazes<\/strong> lacking all road sense, pukeko are confounding scientists with their complex, flexible social lives. And, while other native birds struggle to survive environmental changes, pukeko seem to take everything in their strutting stride<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

I just noticed the name of the author of the article \u2013 Ian Jamieson<\/strong>.\u00a0I was doing my Ph.D. the same time he was doing a postdoc at Queen\u2019s University in Kingston, Ontario, and then went to New Zealand to continue to work as an Australian ornithologist and write entertaining New Zealand geographic articles like this one. Alas in looking him up, I discovered that he passed away at age 58 in 2015 \u2013 see the following for a moving tribute.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.otago.ac.nz\/zoology\/otago086317.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

More details of Ian\u2019s biography are at http:\/\/newzealandecology.org\/nzje\/3307.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

The social life that Ian referred to in the article is that they are generally communal nesters. They live in groups whereby it literally does \u201ctake a village to raise a child\u201d<\/strong> as they all share care of the communal nests. I read somewhere that they sometimes steal each other\u2019s eggs, but that doesn\u2019t quite make sense because it sounds like the eggs are communal property anyway!<\/p>\n

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They are very recognizable with their purple-blue body, black wings, red legs, bill and frontal shield. P\u016bkeko is the Maori name used for the bird in New Zealand. Little did we realize as we beheld this cool bird in New Zealand that we were in for a surprise when we came home to Australia.<\/p>\n

Tuesday night when after we had returned to Wagga Wagga that afternoon, I went for a walk by Lake Albert to shake off my jetlag. Jetlag does some bizarre things to people, and as I rubbed my eyes beholding these strutting birds by the lake, I thought, is this really the same bird?<\/p>\n

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It turns out it is \u2013 in fact they are the same subspecies \u2013 the Latin name is Porphyrio porphyrio melanotus<\/em>. In Australia it is known as the purple swamphen<\/strong>. Somehow I prefer the more quirky kiwi name p\u016bkeko<\/strong>.<\/p>\n