Weka

• Its incurable curiosity and bold character have made it famous: it steals small objects from walkers, and those same qualities historically made it easy to catch.
• It was an important resource for several Māori iwi, who used it for food, perfume, oil to treat inflammation, feathers for clothing and as a lure for dogs; its sustainable use remains a live issue in its conservation.
• For two centuries it was released on many small islands and on Macquarie Island as food for castaways and birders; in some cases it ended up becoming a problem for other threatened wildlife, and has had to be eradicated from them.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat & environment

Highly varied: forest, wetland, scrub, grassland, farmland and even suburban areas, on more than seventy New Zealand islands. It is extinct over large areas of the mainland

Birth weight

Precocial: born covered in down and leaves the nest within a few hours

Size at birth

Precocial: born covered in down and leaves the nest within a few hours

Sexual maturity

11.9 months

Gestation / incubation

Both sexes incubate and raise the chicks

Litter / clutch size

It usually lays between August and January. It is monogamous and pairs tend to stay together for life

Sources consulted: IUCN Red List; BirdLife DataZone; Departamento de Conservación de Nueva Zelanda (Threatened Species Recovery Plan 29, 1999); Britannica; eBird; Sparrman 1786, Museum Carlsonianum; Beattie 1995; Olson 1973 y 1975

Best time: All year round, at dawn and dusk, when it gives its duetting calls