Eat to Live (Easy version)

Caterpillars are herbivores

Everything that we do uses energy. We use energy when we move, grow and talk. We even use energy when we sleep.

Humans and other animals get energy by eating food. Some animals only eat other animals. They are called carnivores. Some animals only eat plants. They are called herbivores.

Humans eat both plants and animals. They are called omnivores.

Plants do not have to eat to get energy. They make their own food through photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is a way that plants turn sunlight, air and water into food.

What foods do tui like to eat?

The tui is a type of bird called a honeyeater. Honeyeaters eat flower nectar, which is sweet and runny like honey! The stitchbird and the bellbird are also honeyeaters. Honeyeaters have a long beak and a special tongue that looks like a brush. It helps them collect nectar.

Tui feed on flowers all year but mainly during the winter and spring. Many native trees flower at this time.

They eat more invertebrates and fruit during summer. These foods are good for their new chicks. Tui can't eat really big fruits. Their mouths are too small and they can't swallow them.

Tui also eat honeydew. Honeydew is a sticky juice made by some insects.

Finding food is sometimes hard for tui. Some days they fly up to 30 kilometres to find food.

Kaka are omnivores

Beech trees use photosynthesis to capture energy from the sun.

Some native beech trees are covered in honeydew.