Urban taonga

Backyard sugar water feeding primarily attracts the most frequent native urban nectarivorous birds and these were target species for my research. All of these species are urban adaptors  which are able to forage and breed in cities despite the pressures of urbanisation.

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Tūī

Tūī are the largest and the most aggressive honeyeater present in cities; a highly territorial bird. Tūī, are known to defend flowering trees, and have been observed preventing access to high quality flowers and sugar water feeders in parks by less dominant birds. Their diet includes invertebrates, fruits and flower nectar.

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Korimako

Another New Zealand honeyeater that visits urban gardens is the korimako. Unlike tūī, korimako is absent in the largest New Zealand urban area – Auckland. Korimako rely on seasonally available fruits, honeydew, invertebrates, and includes more flower nectar in its diet than tūī.

 

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Tauhou

Self-introduced tauhou is the smallest sugar-water feeder visitor and, over winter can migrate over long distances in search of food. This omnivorous species includes nectar in its diverse diet  and is also often seen feeding on other supplementary food (e.g., fruit halves and fat balls) in urban gardens. Due to their small body size and lower levels of aggression relative to New Zealand honeyeaters, tauhou are usually prevented from competing for flower nectar in the presence of tūī and korimako.

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