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Kiwi dawn chorus has the X Factor

21 Dec 2010

New Zealand’s famed dawn chorus - a host of unique forest songbirds - have gone online singing out for attention.

Usually heard down in the garden or high above the forest floor, visitors can now also hear them performing at any hour of the day or night on the Department of Conservation’s native bird song page.

But not content with just that, DOC says that it’s now time to push the talents of New Zealand’s greatest singers to a higher level, and has launched an albeit light-hearted attempt to determine which flighty performer has the greatest X factor.

The Dawn Chorus X Factor is an online talent quest, promoted by DOC and open to all feathered New Zealand natives with a singing voice.

Not limited to Kiwis, the public has been invited to help choose the song bird that’s most worthy of the title of New Zealand’s #1 Christmas sound.

Kiwi songbirds
DOC spokesman Chris Pitt says the X Factor refers to "something special - and that's what New Zealand's birds have got."

"They are special not just because of their song - though what other country has a tui described as Jimmy Barnes doing an imitation of Frank Sinatra - but because of what they've been through."

Before man arrived, New Zealand was a country of birds with no mammalian predators, where camouflage was all that was needed to hide from the occasional hungry falcon, Pitt says.

"When the stoats and rats arrived, their technique of standing still pretending to be a tree didn't cut the mustard - so a lot of them have been lost, or nearly lost - the kakapo being a case in point."

Deafening dawn chorus
Early visitors to New Zealand shores - including Captain James Cook - described the dawn chorus as deafening.

While it will never be that way again, careful management and protection of species is bringing the chorus back to the forests in many places, Pitt says.

"So the X Factor that our birds have is a mixture of the joy of being alive, and of the sadness of what's been lost. Any song that contains those elements has got Number One written all over it!"

Chris Pitt says that his personal favourite is the bellbird: "If you get up early enough - Captain Cook must have because he mentioned them in his journals - you can hear the bellbirds' clear tones bouncing off the darkness as dawn breaks. They start the dawn chorus around my place!"

Dawn Chorus X Factor contenders
The main contenders in the Dawn Chorus X Factor, as selected by DOC, and guest judge Ronan Kea-ting - one of New Zealand’s best known avian performers - are:

Bellbird / korimako
The bellbird is named for its melodious song, which Captain Cook described as sounding "like small bells exquisitely tuned". Usually heard before it is seen, the bellbird is small with olive green colouring. The female is dull olive-brown, with a slight blue sheen on the head and a pale yellow cheek stripe, while the male is olive green, with a purplish head and black outer wing and tail feathers.

Tui / parson bird
Tui are common throughout New Zealand - in forests, towns and on off-shore islands - and are often heard singing their melodies. The tui’s gutteral style mimics other birds, and its wide vocal range goes to ultra high frequency so humans can’t hear everything. The tui is easily recognised by a distinctive white tuft under the throat, which contrasts with the metallic blue-green sheen and underlying black plumage.

North Island kaka
The kaka is a large parrot - big colour, big beak, big eater, big noise - belonging to the same family as the cheeky kea. Flocks of sociable kaka gather early morning and late evening, and their amusing antics and cackling sound led Maori to refer to them as chattering and gossiping.

North Island robin / toutouwai
The North Island robin is a small bird with a big voice that echoes through the trees. It’s a friendly bird that lives in native bush and exotic forests, and likes to follow visitors through the trees. North Island robins measure 18cm from beak to tail, weigh about 35gm, and have long, thin legs.

North Island weka
The North Island weka is the original sub woofer with its deep ‘tuug tuug’ sound, and ripping ‘weka weka weka’. It’s found in the Eastland hills between Matawai and Opotiki, where a few thousand survive, and newly released populations also exist in the Bay of Islands, near Auckland and on some off-shore islands.

Listen to New Zealand bird song

Vote for New Zealand’s Dawn Chorus X Factor

New Zealand bird destinations

New Zealand’s fabulous song birds are a quintessential part of any Down Under visitor experience. Birds can be heard in gardens and forests all over New Zealand, but there are also many destinations where visitors can go to hear the dawn chorus in full. Here are just a few: