Kererū

{{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Kereru | status = Conservation status: Lower risk (nt) | image = Kereru.jpg | image_width = 210px | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Aves | ordo = Columbiformes | familia = Columbidae | genus = Hemiphaga | genus_authority = Bonaparte, 1854 | species = H. novaeseelandiae | binomial = Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae | binomial_authority = (Gmelin, 1789) }}

The Kererū or New Zealand Pigeon (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae novaeseelandiae) is a bird endemic to New Zealand. Kererū is a Maori name, and other Maori names for the bird are Kūkupa and Kūkū, used particularly in Northland Region, and Parea on the Chatham Islands.

It is the only member of the pigeon genus Hemiphaga (Bonaparte, 1854). It is sometimes called a wood pigeon, though it is not the same as the wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) which is a member of a different genus.

The Kererū is herbivorous, primarily eating fruit from native trees. It plays an important ecological role, as it is the only bird capable of eating the largest native drupes and thus spreading the seeds.

The Kererū is the second largest member of the family Columbidae. It grows to some 51 cm (20 in) in length and 650 g in weight on the mainland, and 55 cm (22 in) and 800 g on the Chatham Islands. Its head, throat and wings are generally a shiny green-purple colour, but with a bronze tinge to the feathers on the mainland and an ashy-grey wash on the Chathams. Its breast is typically white and the bill red with an orange-ish tip. The feet and eye red. Juvenilles have a simliar colour but are generally more paler with dull colours for the beak, eyes and feet and a shorter tail.

The Kererū makes an occasional soft coo sound (hence the onomatopoeic names), and its wings make a very distinctive whooshing sound as it flies. The bird's flight is also very distinctive - birds will often ascend slowly before making impressively steep parabolic dives.

Breeding generally depends on the occurrence of ripe fruit, which is usually between October and April. It nests in trees, laying a single egg which is incubated for 28 days. The young bird then takes another 36 days to fledge.

The population of the Kererū dropped considerably in recent years, especially in the North Island, but is still relatively common in the west of the South Island and in coastal Otago. They are commonly found in native forests (lowlands in particular), scrub, rural and city gardens and parks.

See also

• List of New Zealand birds

• Hugh Robertson and Barrie Heather - The Hand Guide to the Birds of New Zealand, Penguin Books (1999) ISBN 014028835-X