my cousin of the week #29

a new zealand tui, or Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae. the common name tui is the traditional maori name for these beautiful and energetic birds.

my cousin of the week #28

a blue penguin in its nest borrow. these guys have a lot of names throughout the south. formally it is a Eudyptula minor, otherwise it can be called a little penguin, a fairy penguin in aussie, little blues, and kororā in māori.

my cousin of the week #27

a variable oystercatcher in new zealand, aka Haematopus unicolor, or a torea-pango to the maori.

my cousin of the week #26

a pūkeko and her chick, in new zealand. pūkeko is the māori name for what can also be called a purple swamphen or a Porphyrio porphyrio.

my cousin of the week #25... the not so challenging challenge

well i got a lot of correct guesses in my ornithological challenge this weekend!


to everyone who guessed these "mystery" chicks were galliformes you were indeed correct. however more to the point if you guess they were peafowl, aka, peachicks, aka peacocks, and/or aka peahen you were absolutely right!

so congrats to both Albertonykus and Danonychus on this challenge!


here are the little guys with their mommy, a full grown indian peahen or a Pavo cristatus.


when i saw the chicks (which at times was hard, due to their great camouflage!) i was floored! i would not have pictured peacocks having this exact colouration when they were newly hatched...

not that i thought they should have the crazy bright adult colours either. you can't grow up to full size if your flamboyant your whole life. predators would like that just a little bit too much!

no i was confused and surprised by the chicks colour as i know what a teen peafowl's colours were. these right here. i would have thought they'd have had these colours since hatching. obviously i was wrong.

much like the assiniboine park zoo in winnipeg mentioned by Danonychus, the calgary zoo has many peafowl that are allowed to simply wander around the grounds.

i find it interesting that all the peahens i saw had chicks of varying sizes and ages with them (as all these photos are from my trip to zoo today). i would have thought they'd all breed at about the same time and have similar aged offspring. obviously not the case.

ornithological challenge... and my cousin of the week #24

a cute set of bird chicks i found at the calgary zoo.

your ornithological challenge, what do these little guys grow up into?

i was totally blown away when i found out! their not what i expected at all...

my cousin of the week #23

a pair of new zealand royal spoonbills, which also sometimes go as black-billed spoonbills, or Platalea regia to scientists.

my cousin of the week #22

the pretty, but extreme introduced pest, the common myna, aka indian nyna, and/or in sciency speak an Acridotheres tristis in the bay of islands, new zealand.

my cousin of the week #21

a australasian gannet, aka australian gannetor, a Morus serrator, or Sula bassana, or finally in maori a Tākapu.

my cousin of the week #20

a australasian gannet, aka australian gannetor, a Morus serrator, or Sula bassana, and finally to the maori a Tākapu flying over wellington harbour.

my cousin of week #20

a new zealand red billed seagull, or Chroicocephalus scopulinus in latin, and in maori tarapunga or akiaki.

my cousin of the week #19

an australasian harrier, aka Circus approximans, or in maori kāhu. despite being a very common and often seen bird in new zealand, this bird of prey is incredibly shy, and has a talent for avoiding picture distance. this is the ONLY picture i have ever managed to snap of this elusive hawk. a proper drive by it was too, you'll notice the motion blur of everything else as we drove past this guy.

my cousin of the week #18

a new zealand yellow eyed penguin, or Megadyptes antipodes to sciency folks, and/or a hoiho to the maori.

my cousin of the week #17

a new zealand bell bird or Anthornis melanura. it also known by its maori name Korimako.

my cousin of the week #17

a spur-winged plover in dunedin. they are also known as masked lapwings.

my cousin of the week #16

two of my favourite birds, in the best photo i've ever taken of them! two new zealand kingfishers, aka todiramphus sanctus or in maori kōtare.

my cousin of the week #14

an endangered new zealand robin.

my cousin of the week #13

one of my all time favourite birds, a kingfisher. this is a sacred kingfisher or todiramphus sanctus i saw in new zealand, but they are also found in australia and many of the other islands between the two. they were called kōtare by the maori.

my cousin of the week #12

a new zealand tauhou, also known as the silver-eye, white–eye, wax–eye, and blight bird.

my cousin of the week #11

an australian waterhen i saw at the melbourne zoo.