Pūkeko

The pūkeko is a widespread and easily recognizable bird that has benefitted greatly by the clearing of land for agriculture. In addition to its brilliant red frontal shield and deep violet breast plumage, the pūkeko is interesting for having a complex social life. In many areas, pūkeko live in permanent social groups and defend a shared territory that is used for both feeding and breeding. Social groups can have multiple breeding males and females, but all eggs are laid in a single nest and the group offspring are raised by all group members.

​

Identification

The pūkeko is a large, conspicious rail found throughout New Zealand. The head, breast and throat are deep blue/violet, the back and wings are black, and the under-tail coverts are conspicuously white. The conical bright red bill is connected to a similarly coloured ‘frontal shield’ ornament covering the forehead, the eyes are also red. The legs and feet are orange, with long, slim toes. Females are smaller than males, but similarly coloured. Juveniles are similar to adults but duller, with black eyes and black bill and shield that turn to red around 3 months of age.

Voice: pūkeko are very vocal with a variety of calls. Territorial ‘crowing’ is the loudest and most frequently heard call. A variety of contact calls including ‘’n’yip’, ‘hiccup’ and ‘squawk’ are used between adults, and between adults and chicks. The defence call is a loud, shrill screech used when a harrier is nearby. A similar, but deeper and hoarser, call is made during aggressive interactions between individuals. A soft nasal drone is performed during copulation runs.

Similar species: takahē are about twice the size (in weight) and flightless, with a green back and wing cover. Juveniles may be confused with the spotless crake which lacks a frontal shield and has a more slender bill. Rare vagrant dusky moorhen is more likely to be seen swimming, is not as upright as a pūkeko, and is smaller and greyer with a yellow tip to the red bill, and a dark center to the otherwise white undertail. The equally rare (in New Zealand) black-tailed native-hen is much smaller with a green-and-orange bill, white spots on the flanks and a longer tail that is black underneath.

​

Distribution and Habitat

Pūkeko are found throughout New Zealand, although less common in drier regions. They are typically found near sheltered fresh or brackish water (e.g. vegetated swamps, streams or lagoons), especially adjacent to open grassy areas and pastures. Pūkeko are regularly seen near roadside and drainage ditches and along the margins of scrub or forested areas, from sea level up to 2300 m. Pūkeko are resident on Chatham and Pitt Islands (though scarce there in the presence of dense weka populations) and on Raoul Island in the Kermadec Islands. They have been recorded as vagrants on L’Esperance Rock (Kermadec Islands, September 1988), Campbell Island (January 1947) and Snares Islands (April 2016).

​

Population

Pūkeko are very abundant and widespread, with high population densities in areas of the North Island and west coast of South Island. New Zealand’s pūkeko population was estimated to be >600,000 birds in the 1980s.

​

Ecological and Economic Impacts

Pūkeko may be hunted under license in New Zealand. While many shot birds are not consumed, the pūkeko is underrated as table fare. Their blue breast feathers are prized as fly-tying feathers and for use in Māori cloaks.

In some areas, pūkeko are considered an agricultural or garden pest, as they will pull-up and eat planted vegetables and crops. Pūkeko caused much damage to tree planting programmes on Tiritiri Matangi and Mana Islands until the solution of planting seedlings inside plastic tube cloches was implemented. Large populations of pūkeko may also cause minor damage to livestock paddocks by eating grasses and soiling water troughs. For these reasons, landowners and managers occasionally seek permission to cull pūkeko, either by shooting or poisoning birds. The Department of Conservation has periodically controlled pūkeko numbers at managed sites on Great Barrier Island to reduce their predation of brown teal ducklings. While pūkeko will occasionally attack, kill and eat offspring of other bird species, they are not considered a regular predator.

​

Breeding

Pūkeko have a highly variable mating system. Birds may nest as monogamous pairs but can also form polyandrous, polygynandrous and, more rarely, polygynous groups. Any of these groups may also have non-breeding helpers. When multiple breeding females are present, all lay in the same nest, a phenomenom known as “joint-laying”. Clutch size is typically 4-6 eggs per females and when multiple females contribute to a single nest the total clutch size can be as high as 18 eggs. Incubation is predominantly by breeding males, with some assistance from breeding females. All group members contribute to chick care. Incubation begins midway through laying and lasts 23-27 days. Hatching is spread over several days, but is more synchronous than laying. Chicks begin leaving the nest after 4-5 days, but are fed by adults for c. 2 months. In the North Island, laying can occur in any month, with a peak in August to November. In the South Island, breeding normally takes place between September and January.

​

Behaviour and ecology

Pūkeko are commonly seen foraging in paddocks and along roadsides. When disturbed, they prefer to run or hide rather than fly, but once airborne, they are capable fliers and can fly long distances (e.g. to offshore islands). Despite not having webbed feet, they are also strong swimmers.

Pūkeko are territorial, and aggressive interactions between birds from neighboring groups are common. Such territorial interactions are noisy affairs and often involve several birds from each group. Aggressive interactions typically begin with ritualised posturing that emphasises the bird’s size and also display the frontal shield ornament. Occasionally, aggressive interactions escalate to full on fights where individuals bite and kick one another. Territorial defence is typically performed by males.

Adult pukeko have few natural predators. Juvenile birds are often targeted by swamp harriers, but adult birds will fight vigorously to defend their offspring. Pūkeko have been observed attacking cats and stoats.

​

Food

Pūkeko are primarily vegetarian, but animal foods make up a small proportion of the diet. Most common foods are the stems, shoots, leaves and seeds of grasses (e.g. Poa, Glyceria, and Anthoxanthum spp.), sedges (e.g. Carex and Scirpus spp.), rushes (Juncus spp.), clover (Trifolium spp.) and bullrush (Typha spp.). They also eat garden vegetables and crop plants. Animal foods consist mostly of insects, spiders and earthworms however there are rare reports of pukeko taking larger prey such as frogs, lizards, fish and nestling birds. The bill is used to cut, rip or dig up plants which are typically held and manipulated in the foot (i.e. ‘parrot style’) as they are eaten.