North and South Island kōkako

North and South Island kōkako

As depicted here by the artist John Gerrard Keulemans, the North Island kōkako (front) has blue wattles at the base of its beak. The wattles of the South Island kōkako (rear) are orange. Both are sleek, blue-grey birds with a black face mask. South Island kōkako numbers dwindled through the 20th century, and the last confirmed sightings were in the 1960s. Tantalising reports of their song, feathers, and characteristic moss-grubbing have persisted – from Stewart Island and Fiordland, north to the Kahurangi and Nelson Lakes areas. Some sceptics think that the songs may be from kākā, which often mimic the calls of other birds. Kōkako songs may have been remembered and repeated within a local kākā population.