| Huia bird |
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'The Huia Song' by OM Shakespeare (with permission from the New Zealand Music Society) Huia: Heteralocha acutirostris The Huia belonged to a family found only in New Zealand, a family so ancient that no relation is found elsewhere. The ancient Callaeidae family flew to New Zealand 60 million years ago, and like many of the birds in the isolated archipelago, Huia adopted ground feeding habits in an ecology devoid of mammals. The Huia, above all other species in the forest, was sacred to Maori. She was closely associated with the great chiefs of the land, and only chiefs of distinction could properly wear the tail feathers. The Huia was probably New Zealand's most eccentric bird. It was a large 48 cm (19 inch) black bird with a bright orange "wattle" at the base of an ivory beak. It had a distinguishing wide band of white at the end of its long tail feathers. Extinct A large songbird confined to the dense forests of southern North Island in New Zealand. Huia was unique, the only bird in the world with completely different beak forms in the male and female: the male had a short, thick strong beak and was able to stab rotting tree trunks to getaccess to grubs, while the female used her long, narrow curved beak enabling her to reach into otherwise unreachable places. They mostly travelled in pairs, in cooperative roles, helping each other to get food. They were so sexually dimorphic that they were at first thought to be separate species. The bird was probably not uncommon when the first European settlers colonised the country. The arrival of the settlers apparently led to greater catches of Huia, partly because of greater demand by the Maori and partly because skins were exported. Buller (1888) reported that 646 birds were killed on one site within a few days. Introduced predators and collecting for natural history cabinets reduced the number further, and by the 1890s the bird was decidedly rare. The last reliable observation were two males and a female seen in late Dec 1907, though unsubstantiated (but probably genuine) reports of sightings persist until 1923 and rumours of observations up to the 1960s (Phillipps 1963). A Rotorua ranger, William Cobeldick, spotted a pair of Huia near Lake Waikareiti, and a lone Huia at Taharua stream in Urewera national park in 1924, but the bird had been ruled extinct many years before these sightings. Nowadays, all that remains is some 120 specimens in museums in New Zealand and probably a hundred more elsewhere. Extinction of the Huia (Heteralocha acutirostris) in 1907 was a tragic loss to New Zealand's ancient native avifauna. The tragic loss of the Huia serves as a reminder of the importance of bird protection. feathers for fashion Extinction of the Huia is sadly related to an international fashion of wearing their feathers in hats. On a royal visit to New Zealand, the Prince of York who later became King George V of England, was presented with a Huia tail feather by a Maori chief. Huia tail feathers are a traditional Maori symbol of authority. The Prince of York followed the old custom of wearing Huia feathers in headress, by placing the feather in his hat. This set off a world fashion trend that was devastating for Huia. Tail feathers and stuffed birds were in such demand that the bird was hunted vigorously until it was no longer found. While the Prince of York's visit obviously affected the plight of the Huia, it is not known if it was the total cause of extinction, as the bird's habitat was severely depleted by 1907.
Painted by Buller |
