Pukeko

Time for another utility box mural - this one is in Cobden, a nearby suburb was painted by artist Stacey Dunnachie saying "The design depicts 2 pukeko birds looking out for each other". If you don't know much about these birds, they are very common in New Zealand - they mostly scout around ditches and wetlands looking for scraps of food. They are coloured mostly blue and black with an orange beak and live in groups rather than by themselves.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Pukeko birds galore!

Since we've moved here to Kerikeri I've noticed there are a lot of these birds just about everywhere compared to anywhere else I've lived. The NZ Pukeko (pronounced poo-keck-oh) loves swampy, wet places and sometimes we see them on the edges of motorways because they love scrounging around for leftovers.

They have black and blue features with red beaks and unfortunately aren't very intelligent at all. Unlike our national Kiwi birds these ones aren't endangered at all because they are prolific breeders but they are predators of baby ducklings and are sometimes regarded as pests.

Two Pukekos sitting on the fence...

We live in an area where there's alot of creeks/streams and ditches along the roads, these guys the NZ Pukeko bird also known as Takahe is flightless so I when I saw then wandering through my backyard I quickly grabbed my camera. I turned my back and when I looked back they were on the fence from the ground. They are quite unintelligent creatures so I've got no idea how they managed to get up high but they seemed to be very happy getting a good view of my garden.

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