Rifleman / tītipounamu (Acanthisitta chloris)

Rob Roy Glacier Track, Mount Aspiring NP, New Zealand. Jan 4, 2017.

comments (3)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

Seems a bit top heavy this one :) Posted 8 years ago
1. Thibaud Aronson
  
  Lion
  
  Haha yeah such a funny one, it's the smallest bird on NZ, and quite the Houdini. They move about in noisy groups, and you'll hear them before you see them. And then they go quiet, you blink, and they completely vanish into the bush. Posted 8 years ago
2. 1. Ferdy Christant
    
    Lion
    
    That behavior reminds me of this bird:
    
    Small, noisy, always in groups. They even have a "leave nobody behind" policy where they actually wait for the slow ones to catch up. Very social birds. Posted 8 years ago, modified 8 years ago

The Rifleman

The rifleman is a small insectivorous passerine bird that is endemic to New Zealand. It belongs to the Acanthisittidae family, also known as the New Zealand wrens, of which it is one of only two surviving species. The rifleman resembles a wren in form, but is not related to the family of true wrens, Troglodytidae, nor the fairy-wrens of Australia.

The rifleman is named after a colonial New Zealand regiment because its plumage drew similarities with the military uniform of a rifleman.

Info 1 0

Similar species: Perching Birds

Species identified by Thibaud Aronson