Recalling The Stories - Interesting Information About The Tui

Some say that early colonists called the tui the 'parson bird' because it sang like a preacher with an angelic voice. Some people also think of the tui as a 'preacher' because it recited karakia - prayers and it had the white feather at the throat like a priest.

• Did you know that a pure black tui is called "papua" in Maori.

• Did you know that a young tui still unable to fly is called "pi" in Maori.

• Did you know that a young fledgling tui is called "pikari" in Maori.

• Did you know that in summer the male tui is named by Maori as "kopurehe" and the female is named "kouwha". After early summer the male is named "kokouri" and the female is named "kokotea". When fully grown and fattened with food, the tui is named "koko" in Maori.

• Did you know when the tui causes its feathers to fan out this is called a "manu whakakenakena". A flock of tui is called a "whiri koko" and where they meet is called a "hapua koko".

• Did you know that the tui pecks its own breast and this causes excess oil to flow and it makes the feathers shiny and sleek. Some say that the tui did this to lose its body weight in preparation for its long flight back to the spirit place of Hawaiki.

• Did you know that Maori kept tui as pets and that the tui was trained to talk. Some trainers would insert a small plug down the throat of a tui to widen it. Sometimes the beak of a tui was split and the hairs on the tongue were shaved. These procedures were carried out to make the tui sound more humanlike.

• Did you know that people listened to the words of the tui and if a tui talked at dawn this was known as "wheko" - means warble or sing as a bird. If the tui spoke at night people thought this was a bad omen.

Acknowledgment: Thanks to Murdoch Riley who wrote a beautiful book called 'Maori Bird Lore - An Introduction', published in 2001 and to my whanau and friends either living or passed on who have great memories and similar tales to tell.