Saddleback/Tieke
Saddleback/Tieke
Our saddleback is part of the very, very old wattlebird family. A wattle is a coloured flap of skin that hangs beneath the beak. The saddleback’s cousins, the extinct huia and the kokako also have wattles.
Saddlebacks have a special language of clicks and tweets that they use with their partner – a language of love you could say. The male saddleback is a great singer, and he will impress a potential mate with his song.
There are two sub-species of Saddleback – the North Island saddleback and the South Island saddleback.
Saddlebacks are in trouble!
Saddlebacks are poor fliers. They nest near the ground – so predators don’t have to look far to find them.
Saddlebacks used to be found all over New Zealand but with the arrival of pests and the destruction of their forest home, saddlebacks struggled to survive . By the early 1900s the South Island saddleback was only found on three islands – Big South Cape, Pukeweka and Soloman. The North Island saddle back was only found in one place, Hen Island in the Hauraki Gulf.
The saddleback got its name because it has a brown saddle on its back. Legend has it, that our Maori god Maui got angry with the saddleback because he didn’t bring him water when Maui was lassoing the sun to slow it down. Maui grabbed the tieke with his fiery hand and burnt its feathers. From that day the saddleback wore a brown ‘saddle’.
Disaster strikes
In 1962 a boat brought rats to Big South Cape island and they spread to the nearby Pukeweka and Soloman islands. There was no safe home for the South Island saddleback. Thirty six saddlebacks were rescued and put on a predator free island. This saved the South Island saddleback from extinction.
>>> There are around 7000 North Island saddleback, and only 650 South island saddleback in existence!
Where are they now?
North Island saddlebacks and South Island saddlebacks now live mainly on pest-free islands or mainland islands. If you are keen to spot a saddleback in the wild try exploring Tiritiri Matangi island near Auckland or Zealandia in Wellington
If you’re in a forest where saddlebacks live chances are these bold birds will come out to meet you!
The saddleback is a very territorial bird, so chances are it’s saying ‘go away’, ‘stay clear’.
It might even be doing a battle-dance that involves noisy singing, head-bobs and tail-fans. When it’s really angry its wattle will get bigger!
If a saddleback doesn’t appear, have a look for them low down in the forest where they’ll be looking for their favourite foods. They love grubs and other insects that live in dead wood, as well as fruit and nectar from forest trees like coprosma.
Failing that, listen for their song – it sounds like the Maori name for the bird – ‘tie-e ke-ke-ke-ke’.
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