{{Short description|Genus of birds}} {{About|the bird|the Tainui chieftain|Kōkako (Tainui)}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=October 2024}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = Kōkako | image = Kōkako.jpg | taxon = Callaeas | authority = Forster, JR, 1788 | type_species = ''Glaucopis cinerea'' | type_species_authority = Gmelin, JF, 1788 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = *''Callaeas cinereus'' *''Callaeas wilsoni'' | synonyms = }}
'''Kōkako'''{{efn|The spelling ''kokako'' (without a macron) is common in New Zealand English.}} {{IPAc-en|"|k|O:|k|@|k|oU}}<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Chambers Dictionary|publisher=Chambers|year=2003|isbn=0-550-10105-5|edition=9th|chapter=kokako}}</ref> are two species of forest bird in the genus '''''Callaeas''''' which are endemic to New Zealand, the endangered North Island kōkako (''Callaeas wilsoni'')<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/north-island-kokako-callaeas-wilsoni|title=North Island Kokako Callaeas wilsoni|website=BirdLife International|access-date=23 October 2019}}</ref> and the presumed extinct South Island kōkako (''Callaeas cinereus'').<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/south-island-kokako-callaeas-cinereus|title=South Island Kokako Callaeas cinereus|website=BirdLife International|access-date=23 October 2019}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/kokako/|title=Kōkako|website=Department of Conservation|publisher=New Zealand Government|access-date=23 October 2019}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.terranature.org/kokako.htm|title=New Zealand Ecology - Kokako|website=TerraNature|access-date=2019-10-24}}</ref> They are both slate-grey with wattles and have black masks.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nzbirds.com/birds/kokako.html|title=Kokako|last=Olliver|first=Narena|date=2005|website=New Zealand Birds|access-date=23 October 2019}}</ref> They belong to a family containing five species of New Zealand wattlebirds,<ref name=":0" /> the other three being two species of tīeke (saddleback) and the extinct huia.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> Previously widespread, kōkako populations throughout New Zealand have been decimated by the predations of mammalian invasive species such as possums, stoats, cats and rats, and their range has contracted significantly.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://www.forestandbird.org.nz/resources/kokako-crowned-bird-year|title=Kōkako Crowned Bird of the Year|date=31 October 2016|website=Forest & Bird|language=en|access-date=2019-10-24}}</ref> In the past, this bird was called the New Zealand crow. It is not closely related to the crow, but looks like one from a distance.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/north-island-kokako|title=North Island kokako|website=New Zealand Birds Online|access-date=23 October 2019}}</ref>
==Taxonomy== The genus ''Callaeas'' was introduced in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster to accommodate a single species, the South Island kōkako, which is therefore the type species.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Forster | first=Johann Reinhold | author-link=Johann Reinhold Forster | year=1788 | title=Enchiridion Historiae Naturali Inserviens | language=Latin | location=Halle, Germany | publisher=Prostat apud Hemmerde et Schwetschke | page=35 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/25760759 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Greenway | editor2-first=James C. Jr | year=1962 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=15 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=157 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14485530 }}</ref> The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek word ''kallaia'' for a cock's wattles.<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=85 | url=https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n85/mode/1up }}</ref>
The kōkako appears to be a remnant of an early expansion of passerines in New Zealand and is one of five species of New Zealand wattlebirds of the family Callaeidae, the others being two species of endangered tieke, or saddleback, and the extinct huia.<ref name=":3" /> New Zealand wattlebirds have no close relatives apart from the stitchbird, and their taxonomic relationships to other birds remain to be determined.<ref name="Ewen2006">{{cite journal |last1=Ewen |first1=John G |last2=Flux |first2=Ian |last3=Ericson |first3=Per GP |year=2006 |title=Systematic affinities of two enigmatic New Zealand passerines of high conservation priority, the hihi or stitchbird ''Notiomystis cincta'' and the kokako ''Callaeas cinerea'' |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=40 |pmid=16527495 |issue=1 |pages=281–84 |url=http://www.nrm.se/download/18.4e1d3ca810c24ddc7038000945/Ewen+et+al+Stitchbird+MPEV+2006.pdf |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2006.01.026 |archive-date=2021-04-19 |access-date=2010-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419145703/http://www.nrm.se/download/18.4e1d3ca810c24ddc7038000945/Ewen+et+al+Stitchbird+MPEV+2006.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== Description == left|thumb|North Island kōkako, closeup of head showing blue wattles The North Island kōkako, ''Callaeas wilsoni'' has blue wattles (although this colour develops with age: in the young of this bird they are actually coloured a light pink).<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite web|url=http://www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz/kokako|title=North Island Kokako|website=Tiritiri Matangi Open Sanctuary|publisher=Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi Inc.|access-date=2019-10-24|archive-date=2018-08-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180811040838/http://www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz/kokako|url-status=dead}}</ref> The South Island kōkako, ''Callaeas cinereus'', by contrast has largely orange wattles, with only a small patch of blue at the base.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />
==Behaviour==
The kōkako has a beautiful, clear, organ-like song.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /> Its call can carry for kilometres. Breeding pairs sing together in a bell-like duet for up to an hour in the early morning.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":6" /> Different populations in different parts of the North Island (if any populations of the South Island kōkako remain they are at present unknown) have distinctly different songs.
The kōkako is a poor flier and seldom flies more than 100 metres.<ref name=":3" /> The wings of this species are relatively short and rounded.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":6" /> It prefers to hop and leap from branch to branch on its powerful grey legs.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":6" /> It does not fly so much as glide and when seen exhibiting this behaviour they will generally scramble up tall trees (frequently New Zealand podocarps such as rimu and mataī) before gliding to others nearby.<ref name=":6" /> Its ecological niche has been compared to that of a flying squirrel.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Atlas of Amazing Birds|last=Sewell|first=Matt|publisher=Pavilion Books|year=2019|isbn=9781843654629}}</ref> Its diet consists of leaves, fern fronds, flowers, fruit and invertebrates.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" />
== Relationship with humans == [[File:Kokako in a new home.jpg|right|thumb|A kōkako about to be released in the Hunua Ranges near Auckland]]
Māori myth refers to the kōkako in several stories. In one notable story, a kōkako gave Māui water as he fought the sun by filling its plump wattles with water and offering it to Māui to quench his thirst.<ref name=":1" /> Māui rewarded kōkako for its kindness by stretching its legs until they were lean, long and strong, so that kōkako could easily leap through the forest to find food.<ref name=":1" />
The kōkako appears on the reverse side of the New Zealand $50 note.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/notes-and-coins/notes/banknotes-in-circulation/banknote-features-for-each-denomination/50-dollars|title=$50|website=Reserve Bank of New Zealand|access-date=2019-10-24}}</ref>
== See also == * Birds of New Zealand * Wattle
==Notes== {{notelist|colwidth=30em}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== *Murphy S.A., Flux I.A. and Double M.C. (2006) Recent evolutionary history of New Zealand's North and South Island Kokako (''Callaeas cinerea'') inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences. ''Emu'' 106: 41–48.
== External links == {{Commons|Callaeas wilsoni}} * [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArKldLmFQ8d_dHFYUWNOT0dMSkpCQUNqU1c3RVRfUUE&usp=sharing Database and map of potential South Island kōkako reports] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20160123110315/http://www.kokakorecovery.org.nz/ Kokako Recovery] A website developed by private enthusiasts to promote the Kokako Recovery Programme * {{cite web | url = http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents/science-and-technical/tsrp30.pdf| title = North Island kokako recovery plan| author = J. Innes| author2 = I. Flux | year = 1999| publisher = Department of Conservation, Wellington, New Zealand | access-date = 2007-04-18}} * [http://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Callaeas-wilsoni Kōkako vocalizations] (Xeno-canto) * [http://www.terranature.org/wattlebirds.htm TerraNature page on wattlebirds] * [http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/search.aspx?advanced=colOnlineTitle:Kokako+colCollectionGroup:CH Artworks featuring Kokako] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904201346/https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/search.aspx?advanced%3DcolOnlineTitle:Kokako%2BcolCollectionGroup:CH |date=2019-09-04 }} and ** [http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/Taxon.aspx?irn=11596 Specimens of kōkako including albinos] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130413001147/http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/Taxon.aspx?irn=11596 |date=2013-04-13 }} in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa * [https://web.archive.org/web/20111202073649/http://www.1080facts.co.nz/1080_case_studies The role of 1080 poison in pest control for kōkako recovery] * [http://www.ohinemuri.org.nz/natural-heritage/kokako-lost Kokako Lost - The Last Days of the Great Barrier and Coromandel Crow] A journal of 26 months of field research on kōkako in the southern Coromandel, by Sid Marsh
{{Callaeidae}} {{Birds of New Zealand}} {{Passeriformes|Pa.|state=collapsed}} {{Portal bar|Birds|New Zealand}} {{Taxonbar|from1=Q15059422}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kokako}} Category:Callaeas Category:Birds of New Zealand