Kererū can measure up to 51cm (21") from tail to beak, and weigh about 650g (1.5lb). Chicks are fed "pigeon milk", a protein-rich milky secretion from the walls of the parents' crops, mixed with fruit pulp.
Since the extinction of the Moa, the Kererū and are now the only bird species that are big enough to swallow large fruit, such as those of karaka, miro, tawa and taraire, and disperse the seed over long distances. The disappearance of these birds could be a disaster for the regeneration of our NZ forests.
Nationally, the Kererū population is considered to be stable, but its numbers are gradually declining in areas where predation and illegal hunting are unchecked. That decline has been offset due to recovery on predator-free offshore islands, or from large-scale recovery at sites with widespread pest control, particularly near large urban centres. Although the Kererū was traditionally hunted for its meat and feathers, hunting of the bird is now illegal.
The most serious threat to the Kererū comes from predators. Recent studies in several parts of the country have found that many nests produce no fledglings at all. Rats, stoats, cats and possums eat their eggs and nestlings; stoats and cats will also attack and kill adult Kererū.
Like many NZ natives, the Kererū inhabit thick dark bush, and while they are relatively placid - as the biggest bush birds they are not threatened by other native animals - their location makes them inherently challenging to photograph because of the very dim conditions and the obstructing vegetation. Between a long focal length and open aperture, the depth of field is razor thin.
Thanks for your kind words and interest!
No, they are plentiful in most areas - we see them around local parks and reserves in the city and Auckland City is surrounded on the West and South East with large areas of bush, and they are also plentiful on the 50 islands of the Hauraki Gulf. One of the great things about Auckland is that one can be in the bush and hidden from the city in less than 40 minutes, either by road or ferry. The challenge is the thick bush within which they prefer to live. It is almost a jungle, with dense vegetation and deep shadows and contrasts caused by the layers of trees and ferns that are characteristic of NZ natural rainforest.
There have been extensive efforts to eradicate possums and stoats (which were introduced by misguided folks more than a century ago) but the other factor is cats (domestic and feral) and dogs which are harder to openly target.
Sadly those predators are threatening a large proportion of NZ native wildlife, especially our birds. Many of them ceased to fly because when NZ split from Australia, it was the era of the birds and we have only one native mammal, a bat (two variants). So, without predators the birds evolved in unique ways that did not work well when humans (first Māori and later Europeans) brought their predatory pests with them. That and hunting has already made extinct a bunch of unique birds, including the world's largest the Moa, which could stand at almost 3m tall. They were hunted and also suffered habitat loss as Māori burnt bush to settle.
