New Zealand fernbird

{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=June 2024}}{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2026}} {{Speciesbox | image = New_Zealand_Fernbird_-_New_Zealand_(39254373902).jpg | image_caption = | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2017 |title=''Poodytes punctatus'' |volume=2017 |article-number=e.T103798407A118851189 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T103798407A118851189.en |access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref> | genus = Poodytes | species = punctatus | authority = (Quoy & Gaimard, 1832) | synonyms = ''Bowdleria punctata''<br />''Megalurus punctatus'' }}

The '''New Zealand fernbird''' or simply '''fernbird''' ('''''Poodytes punctatus''''') is an insectivorous bird endemic to New Zealand. In the Māori language, it is named {{lang|mi|kōtātā}} or {{lang|mi|mātātā}}.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Megalurus punctatus|url=https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=561018#null|website=ITIS}}</ref>

==Taxonomy== The New Zealand fernbird, ''Poodytes punctatus,'' was described by the French zoologists Jean Quoy and Joseph Gaimard in 1832 from a specimen collected in Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, South Island, New Zealand. They coined the binomial name, ''Synallaxis punctata''.<ref>{{ cite book | last1=Quoy | first1=Jean | author1-link=Jean René Constant Quoy | last2=Gaimard | first2=Joseph Paul | author2-link=Joseph Paul Gaimard | editor-last=Dumont d'Urville | editor-first=Jules | editor-link=Jules Dumont d'Urville | year=1830 | title=Voyage de la corvette l'Astrolabe: exécuté par ordre du roi, pendant les années 1826-1827-1828-1829: Zoologie | volume=1 | language=French | location=Paris | publisher=J. Tastu | page=255 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2064311 }}</ref>{{efn|Although the volume of the ''Voyage de la corvette l'Astrolabe'' has 1830 on the title page it was not published until 1832.<ref>{{ cite journal | last=Mlíkovský | first=Jiří | year=2012 | title=The dating of the ornithological part of Quoy and Gaimard's "''Voyage de l'Astrolabe''"| journal=Zoological Bibliography | volume=2 | issue=2&3 | pages=59–69 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/54038142 }}</ref>}}

In the past, this species had the binomial names ''Bowdleria punctatus,''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Olson |first=Storrs L. |date=1990-01-01 |title=Osteology and systematics of the fernbirds (Bowdleria; Sylviidae) |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q124308736 |journal=Notornis |language=English |volume=37 |issue=3–4 |pages=161–171}}</ref> and more recently, ''Megalurus punctatus.''<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sibley |first1=Charles G. |last2=Ahlquist |first2=Jon E. |date=1987-03-01 |title=The Relationships of Four Species of New Zealand Passerine Birds |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q124308727 |journal=Emu |volume=87 |issue=1 |pages=63–66 |doi=10.1071/MU9870063|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Recent moluecular phylogenetic studies of the grassbird family Locustellidae have shown that the genus ''Megalurus'' was not monophyletic, resulting in the New Zealand fernbird, and four other Australasian species, now considered to be in the genus ''Poodytes.''<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Alström |first1=Per |last2=Cibois |first2=Alice |last3=Irestedt |first3=Martin |last4=Zuccon |first4=Dario |last5=Gelang |first5=Magnus |last6=Fjeldså |first6=Jon |last7=Andersen |first7=Michael J. |last8=Moyle |first8=Robert G. |last9=Pasquet |first9=Éric |last10=Olsson |first10=Urban |date=2018-04-03 |title=Comprehensive molecular phylogeny of the grassbirds and allies (Locustellidae) reveals extensive non-monophyly of traditional genera, and a proposal for a new classification |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q51670374 |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |language=English |volume=127 |pages=367–375 |doi=10.1016/J.YMPEV.2018.03.029 |pmid=29625229|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

There are five subspecies of New Zealand fernbird present on different islands.<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=August 2022 | title=Grassbirds, Donacobius, Malagasy warblers, cisticolas, allies | work=IOC World Bird List Version 12.2 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/grassbirds/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=29 August 2022 }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Fernbird / Mātātā |url= https://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/fernbird |website=New Zealand Birds Online |access-date=2024-01-18}}</ref> They differ in extent of reddish-brown and intensity of streaking, as well as size:<ref>{{Cite web|title=New Zealand Fernbird |url=http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-new-zealand-fernbird.html|website=oiseaux-birds}}</ref> * ''Poodytes punctatus vealeae'' (Kemp, R, 1912) – North Island (New Zealand) * ''Poodytes punctatus punctatus'' (Quoy & Gaimard, 1832) – South Island (New Zealand) * ''Poodytes punctatus stewartianus'' (Oliver, 1930) – Stewart Island (New Zealand) * ''Poodytes punctatus wilsoni'' (Stead, EF, 1936) – Codfish Island (=Whenua Hou, west of Stewart Island, New Zealand), named after New Zealand naturalist Robert Adams Wilson<ref>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Val |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q132874317 |title=Common Ground: Who's who in New Zealand botanical names. Supplement Two: Who's who in New Zealand botanical names. Supplement Two |date=2023-01-01 |language=English}}</ref> * ''Poodytes punctatus caudatus'' (Buller, 1894) – Snares Island (south of South Island, New Zealand)

The related Chatham fernbird (''Poodytes rufescens''), which became extinct around 1900, was sometimes treated as a subspecies of this species.<ref>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Poodytes rufescens'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T22728902A95000164 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22728902A95000164.en |access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref>

== Description == The adult has a brown plumage streaked in black. The head, the upperparts and the brown wings are streaked blackish. The long graduated tail is a duller brown, with the rectrices darker. On the underparts, the chin, throat, breast and abdomen are whitish, finely mottled and also streaked blackish on the breast. The flanks, the sides of the chest and the subcaudal covers are brown and streaked blackish, more clearly on the flanks. On the head, the forehead and cap are brown.

The presence of a whitish eyebrow may be more or less clear. The auricular coverts are grey-brown with darker fine streaks that blend into the brown of the upperparts on the sides of the neck.

The beak is blackish, with the lower mandible more gray. The eyes are dark brown. Legs and toes are pinkish-brown. Both sexes are similar and the juvenile also looks like the adults.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mégalure matata Megalurus punctatus|url=http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/fiche-megalure-matata.html|website=oiseaux-birds}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite web|title=Mégalure matata|url=https://ebird.org/species/fernbi1?siteLanguage=fr|website=ebird.org}}</ref>

The New Zealand fernbird is a rich brown above and white below, with brown spots on both the throat and breast. Early settlers called it the "swamp sparrow", no doubt because of its colouration.<ref name="WLONZ" /> The tail feathers are thin, dark brown, and spine-like. The birds reach a length of 18 cm (7 in) ― as measured from tip of beak to end of tail. However, almost half of that is tail.<ref name="WLONZ">"Wetlands of New Zealand; A Bitter-Sweet story", Janet Hunt, Random House, 2007</ref>

== Ecology == [[File:Bowdleria punctata (AM LB10379) (cropped).jpg|alt=New Zealand fernbird nest from the collection of Auckland Museum|left|thumb|New Zealand fernbird nest from the collection of Auckland Museum]]

The New Zealand fernbird is a reluctant flier, mainly moving about in vegetation or in occasional flights of less than 15 metres just above the vegetation. In the 19th century, Walter Buller described it as "one of our most common"<ref name="WLONZ"/> birds, but it has been adversely affected by the subsequent widespread destruction of its natural wetland habitat following European settlement and is now rare.<ref name="WLONZ"/>

The New Zealand fernbird lives mainly in wet shrubby environments with swamps, peat bogs or ponds, plantation areas, temperate shrublands.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mégalure matata|url=https://www.aerien.ch/oiseaux/Megalurus_punctatus.php|website=aerien.ch}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> It occupies an extremely wide area of occurrence at 657,000 km².<ref>{{Cite web|title=New Zealand Fernbird Poodytes punctatus|url=http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/103798407|website=datazone.birdlife}}</ref>

Field studies of the South Island fernbird showed they preferred shrubby habitats with low dense ground vegetation near an estuary margin.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Barlow |first=Maida |date=1983-01-01 |title=Territories of South Island fernbirds |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q124308746 |journal=Notornis |language=English |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=199–216}}</ref>

The New Zealand fernbird is insectivorous. It feeds on caterpillars, larvae, beetles, flies and moths, as well as small spiders emerging from the cocoon. It sometimes consumes seeds and fruits.

Its song is a series of rapid whistles and clicks. The contact between the two partners is a duet, a characteristic "u-tick",<ref name=":0" /> that is, a sonorous "uu" for the male, to which the female answers with a high-pitched "tick". The calls are metallic. When disturbed or threatened, the male emits a typical "too-lit" and "di,di,di,di" repeated at a rapid pace.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mégalure matata|url=https://ebird.org/species/fernbi1?siteLanguage=fr|website=ebird.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Poodytes punctatus|url=https://www.xeno-canto.org/explore?query=Poodytes+punctatus|website=xeno-canto}}</ref>

== Breeding == The birds nest in sedges or other vegetation close to the ground, making a deep woven cup of dried rushes lined with feathers. Breeding occurs from September to February, producing clutches of 2–3 pinkish-white eggs with brown or purple speckles. The Māori phrase "te whare o te mātātā" (a fernbird's house) describes a woven flax cape, made to keep out the weather;<ref>{{Cite web|last=Christina|first=Troup|date=24 September 2007|title=Wetland birds – Kingfishers and fernbirds – wetland margins|url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/wetland-birds/page-11|access-date=26 March 2020|website=Te ara Encyclopedia}}</ref> a testament to the design and strength of the nest.

Both adults incubate for about 13 days. The chicks are fed small insects by the parents. They leave the nest after 15–17 days and sometimes at 20–21 days after hatching. They can breed as early as 9 months of age. Pairs raise between 1 and 3 broods. Juveniles still depend on the parents for food for a few weeks after leaving the nest.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mégalure matata Megalurus punctatus|url=http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/fiche-megalure-matata.html|website=oiseaux-birds}}</ref>

In a two-year field study, South Island fernbirds strongly defended their territories during the preebreeding and breeding seasons.<ref name=":1" />

== Place in Māori culture ==

Māori revered the fernbird as an "oracle" or "wise bird" (''Manu tohu'').<ref name="WLONZ"/> The calls of the bird were interpreted as heralding success or failure in daily activities such as fishing, but on a more serious level they could also portend prosperity and health or disaster and death.<ref name="WLONZ"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Fernbird and the Kingfisher: {{!}} NZETC |url=https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-BesFore-t1-body-d2-d6-d22.html |access-date=2024-01-18 |website=nzetc.victoria.ac.nz}}</ref>

== Conservation status == Although the population is in decline,<ref name=":0" /> it is considered by the IUCN as a species of Least Concern.<ref>{{Cite web|title=New Zealand Fernbird Poodytes punctatus|url=http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/103798407|website=datazone.birdlife}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=New Zealand Fernbird|url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/103798407/118851189|website=iucnredlist}}</ref> According to the most recent Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Robertson |first1=Hugh Alexander |last2=Baird |first2=Karen A. |last3=Elliott |first3=Graeme |last4=Hitchmough |first4=Rod |last5=McArthur |first5=Nikki J. |last6=Makan |first6=Troy D. |last7=Miskelly |first7=Colin M. |last8=O'Donnell |first8=Colin |last9=Sagar |first9=Paul |last10=Scofield |first10=Richard Paul |last11=Taylor |first11=Graeme Arthur |last12=Michel |first12=Pascale |date=2021-12-01 |title=Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021 |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q124308704 |journal=New Zealand Threat Classification Series |language=English}}</ref> the subspecies have the following threat status:

* ''Poodytes punctatus vealeae'' – North Island – '''Declining''' * ''Poodytes punctatus punctatus'' – South Island – '''Declining''' * ''Poodytes punctatus stewartianus'' – Stewart Island – '''Nationally Vulnerable''' * ''Poodytes punctatus wilsoni'' – Codfish Island | Whenua Hou – '''Naturally Uncommon''' * ''Poodytes punctatus caudatus'' – Snares Island – '''Naturally Uncommon'''

New Zealand fernbird populations are affected by wetland drainage and rat predation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fernbird/mātātā |url=https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/fernbird-matata/ |access-date=2024-01-18 |website=Department of Conservation |language=en-nz}}</ref> Positive short-term affects on fernbird breeding, and no negative affects, were documented in a 2021 study to control introduced mammalian predators.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kilner |first1=Claire |last2=Kemp |first2=Josh |last3=Elliott |first3=Graeme |date=2022-01-01 |title=Short term effects of an aerial 1080 operation on mātātā (South Island fernbird, Poodytes punctatus punctatus) in a South Island wetland |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q124308758 |journal=Notornis |volume=69 |issue=4 |pages=203–210}}</ref>

== Notes == {{notelist}}

== Gallery == <gallery mode="packed-hover" heights="170px"> New Zealand Fernbird 0A2A6479.jpg File:New_Zealand_Fernbird_-_Okarito,_New_Zealand.jpg File:Nest_of_Fern-bird_(Sphenaeacus_punctatus).jpg Fernbird.jpg File:Bowdleria_punctata_(Fernbird;_Mātātā)_(48719489222).jpg </gallery>

== References == {{Reflist}} * Falla, R.A., Sibson, R.B., and Turbott, E.G. (1970). ''A Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand.'' London: Collins. {{ISBN|0-00-212022-4}} * Marshall, J., Kinsky, F.C., and Robinson, C.J.R. (1982). ''The Fiat Book of Common birds in New Zealand.'' Wellington: A.H. and A.W. Reed. {{ISBN|0-589-00759-9}}

== External links == {{commons category|Megalurus punctatus}} * ''Poodytes punctatus'' discussed on RNZ ''Critter of the Week'', [https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/collections/critter-of-the-week/audio/2018906111/critter-of-the-week-matata-nz-fernbird 8 September 2023]

Category:Endemic birds of New Zealand Category:Poodytes Category:Birds described in 1832 Category:Taxa named by Jean René Constant Quoy Category:Taxa named by Joseph Paul Gaimard