Tui - photos

Tui & Pohutukawa	Tui	Tui	Tui & Flax
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About Tui

The Tui is endemic to New Zealand. It belongs to the honeyeater family. The bird has a metallic blue-green shine with a base colour of black. They also have a white tuft under their throat. Tui are considered to be very intelligent birds.

It is also extremely aggressive toward other birds and is known for its crazy antics such as aerial acrobatics. Their song is one the world's most complex and is ever changing. They incorporate sounds from their environment into their song and are like parrots in that they can imitate human speech. The range of Tui sounds goes beyond human hearing which explains why there are gaps in their song while still appearing to sing.

Tui can be seen eating nectar from flax when it is in flower, and the kowhai, and pohutukawa in blossum. They are important seed dispersers for native plants. Flying from tree to tree, Tui often swoop dangerously in flight including vertical climbs then dropping out of the air. They then correct their course with furious and loud flapping of their wings.