Weka
VulcanSpirit
Richard & Alison Brunstrom
Sun 12 May 2013 09:21
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Weka (pronounced wecka) Gallirallus
australis are flightless diurnal (active in the daytime) birds about
the size of a large hen, once very common in NZ. They fill a niche akin to a
hedgehog or badger, and eat almost anything. They are rails, so related to
moorhens and the like, and are now effectively extinct in North Island though
surviving reasonably well in parts of the South. They have a robust sharp
pointed bill and the adults at least are well able to defend themselves against
stoats- hence their continued existance. They are quite inquisitive and readily
approach people for scraps.
Here is one looking to share our
picnic:
 The crew of Vulcan Spirit both completed the Queen
Charlotte track (71km) on mountain bikes, from Cook's Ship Cove back towards
Picton in Marlborough Sound, possibly the best thing we did in NZ. Weka were
extremely common here; here is one investigating our tent to see if it's
edible:
 They'll tackle almost anything. I had my toe bitten
while siting at a picnic table (presumably it looked like a nice juicy grub),
they'll jump an amazing height right up into fruit bushes to steal the
fruit and they'll steal and dismember your hiking boots if you leave them
outside the tent.
Weka are fiercely hierarchical; there is a strictly
enforced literal pecking order which at this campsite led to weka chasing each
other around the tent. In the middle of the night three of them chasing each
other fell over one of our guy ropes in turn causing an enormous and
hilarious commotion and squawking one after another.
real characters, and one of my favourite NZ birds.
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