Tieke
| Saddleback | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| North Island saddleback | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Callaeidae |
| Genus: |
Philesturnus I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1832 |
| Species | |
|
P. rufusater |
|
P. rufusater
P. carunculatus
The saddlebacks or tieke are two species of New Zealand bird of the family Callaeidae. Both are glossy black with a chestnut saddle. Its taxonomic family is also known as that of the (New Zealand) "wattlebirds" and includes the two subspecies (one for each main island) of the kōkako as well as the extinct huia. All members of this family have coloured fleshy appendages on either side of the beak known as "wattles". In the case of the saddlebacks, they are a vivid red in colour.
Its common name is derived from the demarcated brown plumage on its back which resembles a saddle. The Maori name of tieke is from the particular sound of one of this species' common calls: ti-e-ke-ke-ke-ke.
There are two species:
The saddlebacks appear to be a remnant of an early expansion of passerines in New Zealand and are two of five New Zealand wattlebirds of the family Callaeidae, the others being the extinct huia, the endangered North Island kōkako, and the probably extinct South Island kōkako. New Zealand wattlebirds have no close relatives apart from the stitchbird, and their taxonomic relationships to other birds remain to be determined.
Saddlebacks are larger than other arboreal insectivorous birds in New Zealand forests, measuring up to 25 cm (10 in) in length and weighing up to 75 grams (somewhat larger than a common blackbird). They will tear pieces of bark from tree trunks to find insects beneath, which are then dispatched and consumed with their short, robust, and unusually strong beak, but they will also feed on the ground in leaf litter. Their diet is not strictly insectivorous in nature and they have been observed eating fruit and drinking nectar. Poor fliers like their close relative the kōkakos, saddlebacks mostly bound from branch to branch but can fly noisily over short distances. Territorial birds, saddlebacks display antagonistic behaviour in this regard on three levels of intensity, singing out at dawn to mark their territory, making threat displays, which can include head bobbing, tail fanning, and warbling displays (at the same time the wattles become dilated), and finally, when a direct challenge is made to a bird's territory, fights can occur in which combatants attempt to grapple with the wattles of their foe.
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Wikipedia