- Porphyrio mantelli
Description
63cm (about 25in) 3kg (6.6lbs) Flightless - the largest living member of the rail family. Looks like a very large Pukeko (Purple Swamphen), but with a massive scarlet bill and shield, paler towards the tip. Eyes are brown; legs and feet are red. Plumage colour ranges from an iridescent dark blue head, neck and breast, with peacock blue shoulders to an olive green and blue back and wings. White undertail. Immature is duller with a dark grey bill and shield. Mainly vegetarian, feeding on the tough stems of tussock and other grasses. Breeding: Oct-Jan
Identification
This unusual bird, was once thought to be extinct. There were only four recorded sightings in the 19th century and then none were seen until 1948, when a few pairs were rediscovered in the alpine tussock grasslands of the Murchison Mountains, in Fiordland, South Island. For more information please see NZ's Dept. of Conservation website: http://www.doc.govt.nz/Conservation/001~Plants-and-Animals/001~Native-Animals/Takahe.asp
Natural range is now restricted to the tussock grassland and beech forest in the mountains west of Lake Te Anau, in the southwest of South Island.
The Takahe has been introduced to the following island sanctuaries, where it is hoped that its numbers will recover in the predator free environments: Kapiti, Tiritiri Matangi, Maud and Mana Islands. The population on these islands has now reached about 60 birds.
