Whitehead (bird)
| Whitehead | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Mohouidae |
| Genus: | Mohoua |
| Species: | M. albicilla |
| Binomial name | |
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Mohoua albicilla (Lesson, 1830) |
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The whitehead (Mohoua albicilla) or pōpokotea is a small species ( 15 cm in length, 18.5/14.5 g.) of passerine bird endemic to New Zealand. It is currently classified in the family Mohouidae. The male whitehead's upperparts, wings and tail are a pale brown in colour, while the head and underparts are white – in the case of the male an almost pure white in colour. Females and juveniles have similar colouration except that the nape and crown (top of the head) are shaded brown. The black beak and eyes contrast with the white head and the feet are bluish black in colouration.
Formerly quite common and widespread in native forests in the North Island, the whitehead has suffered a marked decline in the past two centuries since European colonisation and today is restricted to a fraction of its former range. Historically, deforestation has destroyed large areas of habitat for this species but today the greatest threat is the predations of invasive mammalian species such as rats and stoats. It has been the subject of an active conservation campaign and has been successfully reintroduced into reserves near Auckland and Wellington respectively. In the past whiteheads held a special place in maori culture. As well as the species appearing in many legends, whiteheads were viewed by Maori to have roles as messengers of the gods and as fortune tellers or seers – and because of these beliefs, live birds were caught and used in several different kinds of ceremonial rites.
The range of this species has always been restricted to the North Island of New Zealand, as well as several offshore islands surrounding it, including Little Barrier Island (where it is the most common forest bird)Great Barrier Island and Kapiti Island; it has however, contracted markedly since the 19th century due to a number of human induced factors- see the Conservation section below. The distributions of the whitehead and its close relative, the yellowhead are allopatric, with the range of the latter species conversely being restricted to the South Island. whiteheads are generally restricted to the larger tracts of older scrub and native forest that remain in the North Island but have proven their adaptibility by establishing populations in a number of exotic pine plantations, particularly on the North Island Volcanic Plateau.
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Wikipedia