Ka Awatea (Bellbird)

The Māori name for Bellbird is Korimako, it is only found in NZ in native and exotic forest throughout the North, South, Stewart and Auckland Islands; also found on many smaller offshore islands.  Bellbirds have a special toothbrush-like tongue that allows them to collect nectar from flowers.  The male is olive-green with a dark purple tinted head and blackish wings and tail. The female is olive-brown with a pale yellow stripe from the base of the bill to below the eye. Both adults have a notably red eye and their flight is noisy and whirring due to a notch in one of the primary wing feathers.  The korimako has a varied and melodious song, described by Captain Cook as sounding like 'small bells exquisitely tuned’. The call is similar to the tūī but more pure in tone. Both sexes sing long, loud songs, often in duet or with other bellbirds in chorus. Bellbirds even have regional dialects (or accents) so that, while the pure bell notes are always present, the combination and variety of the call differs from place to place.