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The New Zealand fernbird or simply fernbird is an insectivorous bird endemic to New Zealand. In the Māori language, it is named kōtātā or mātātā.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
ID tip
The adult has a brown plumage streaked in black. The head, the upperparts and the brown wings are streaked blackish. The long graduated tail is a duller brown, with the rectrices darker. On the underparts, the chin, throat, breast and abdomen are whitish, finely mottled and also streaked blackish on the breast. The flanks, the sides of the chest and the subcaudal covers are brown and streaked blackish, more clearly on the flanks. On the head, the forehead and cap are brown. The presence of a whitish eyebrow may be more or less clear.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where it lives
When to see it
Peak activity in December · a resident species across most of its range
Easily confused with
Lanceolated WarblerLocustella lanceolataThe lanceolated warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the genus Locustella.
Barratt's WarblerBradypterus barrattiThe bird is 15 cm in size, and its average weight is 15 g.
Learn the New Zealand Fernbird for real
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