Bird of the Month – April 2016

Fernbird, Matata  bowdleria punctata punctata  

(By Jo Halley)

This endearing little bird is another one of our natives more often heard than seen.

It lives and hides in scrubby vegetation in swamps, manuka scrub, gorse or flax, or bushline thickets. Usually only a repeated, quite strident, “utick” or “cherk” call, is the only indication that a fernbird is close by.

Not very accomplished flyers, they slip quietly amongst the vegetation, I often wish I could get through it so easily! This bird is bigger than a sparrow, smaller than a blackbird; a dark golden brown colour with long black streaks down its back, and has a white breast speckled with black. The tail is long, and usually scruffy at the ends.

Fernbirds nest close to the ground in spring. Pairs are territorial, and form life-long bonds. They eat small insects, spiders, moths and aphids.

They are commonly present right beside the Croesus Hut, in the olearia or leatherwood scrub just above the bushline. They are very sneaky, but patience should be rewarded eventually with a glimpse.