The South Island Takahē is the world's largest rail (a type of medium sized, ground-dwelling bird with short wings and long toes). It is also incredibly rare with only 445 birds left. In fact - there were once so few birds that the Takahē was thought to be extinct for nearly 50 years. Although the Takahe has wings, they are only used for mating and aggression.
Description
Takahē are flightless birds with stout, red legs and a strong red beak. They have dark blue feathers on their head, neck and chest with peacock blue shoulders and olive green and iridescent turquoise wings and back.
Takahē weigh between 2.3 and 3.8kg and in the wild their average lifespan is between 16 and 18 years. In captivity their average lifespan is between 20 and 22 years.
Habitat
Takahē are indigenous to swampland but due to swamp being converted to farmland they have adapted to live in grassland. Over winter, if the snow is deep, Takahē will move to a nearby forest to avoid freezing. They are only found in one place in the wild, the Murchisons Mountains where they were rediscovered in 1948. They also live on the predator proof offshore islands of Kapiti, Tiritiri Matangi, Maud, Mana and Motutapu. They also live at the wildlife sanctuary's of Te Anau and Mt Bruce. DOC have a full list of all the places Takahē live, both in captivity and in the wild.
Diet
Takahē eat the starchy, leafy bases of tussock and sedge species and tussock seeds. Over winter, if the snow cover is heavy, they will move to a nearby forest and eat the underground stems of the summer green fern.
Threats
The main threat to Takahē is mammalian predators, particularly stoats. Deer are also a problem, not just because they eat the tussock grasses that the Takahē eat, but because the way the Deer eat the tussock grasses it stunt's their growth so they don't grow properly.
Some other natural problems that effect Takahē are avalanches and a cold climate.
How can we help?
Takahē are endangered and New Zealand is doing as much as they can to help this rare bird. Deer numbers have been controlled since 1980 and there is currently trapping for stoats and other mammalian predators being done around Takahē sites. Between 1986 and 2010 Takahē eggs were raised in captivity before the chicks were released back into the wild. Since 1984, any captive raised birds have been used to establish offshore populations.
One of the ways that we can help the Takahē is by sponsoring one. This is a program that DOC runs so they can use the money people sponsor to help the Takakē. We can also go to one of the many places that has a breeding programme for Takahē and lean more about them.
The North Island Takahē is extinct, as are many other native New Zealand birds, let's not let the South Island Takahē be one of them.
References
DOC: https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/takahe/#
NZ Geographic: https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/takahe-the-bird-that-came-back-from-the-dead/
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Island_takahē
Iucn Red List: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22692808/170983662
NZ Birds Online: http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/south-island-takahe
http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/north-island-takahe
Takahē are flightless birds with stout, red legs and a strong red beak. They have dark blue feathers on their head, neck and chest with peacock blue shoulders and olive green and iridescent turquoise wings and back.
Takahē weigh between 2.3 and 3.8kg and in the wild their average lifespan is between 16 and 18 years. In captivity their average lifespan is between 20 and 22 years.
Habitat
Takahē are indigenous to swampland but due to swamp being converted to farmland they have adapted to live in grassland. Over winter, if the snow is deep, Takahē will move to a nearby forest to avoid freezing. They are only found in one place in the wild, the Murchisons Mountains where they were rediscovered in 1948. They also live on the predator proof offshore islands of Kapiti, Tiritiri Matangi, Maud, Mana and Motutapu. They also live at the wildlife sanctuary's of Te Anau and Mt Bruce. DOC have a full list of all the places Takahē live, both in captivity and in the wild.
Diet
Takahē eat the starchy, leafy bases of tussock and sedge species and tussock seeds. Over winter, if the snow cover is heavy, they will move to a nearby forest and eat the underground stems of the summer green fern.
Threats
The main threat to Takahē is mammalian predators, particularly stoats. Deer are also a problem, not just because they eat the tussock grasses that the Takahē eat, but because the way the Deer eat the tussock grasses it stunt's their growth so they don't grow properly.
Some other natural problems that effect Takahē are avalanches and a cold climate.
How can we help?
Takahē are endangered and New Zealand is doing as much as they can to help this rare bird. Deer numbers have been controlled since 1980 and there is currently trapping for stoats and other mammalian predators being done around Takahē sites. Between 1986 and 2010 Takahē eggs were raised in captivity before the chicks were released back into the wild. Since 1984, any captive raised birds have been used to establish offshore populations.
One of the ways that we can help the Takahē is by sponsoring one. This is a program that DOC runs so they can use the money people sponsor to help the Takakē. We can also go to one of the many places that has a breeding programme for Takahē and lean more about them.
The North Island Takahē is extinct, as are many other native New Zealand birds, let's not let the South Island Takahē be one of them.
References
DOC: https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/takahe/#
NZ Geographic: https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/takahe-the-bird-that-came-back-from-the-dead/
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Island_takahē
Iucn Red List: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22692808/170983662
NZ Birds Online: http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/south-island-takahe
http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/north-island-takahe