A few days ago, Courtney and I ventured to the Botanical Gardens, located in central Christchurch, for a bit of relaxation and outdoor time. It was a truly beautiful day in every way: breezy, just hot enough to be comfortable in the shade, and no bugs. We wandered around for a while trying to find a tucked away little spot to sit down and enjoy the gardens and some activity planning. Courtney brought her MacBook, and I supplied the wireless 3G broadband modem so we could look up some cool bike routes and tramping trips.

As we were laying there on our blanket, looking up into the underside of a huge tree, we notice two fairly large birds nesting in the branches high above. They weren’t moving around much, just perched on a branch, with their heads turned around resting on their backs (similar to a resting duck). At first I thought it was a hawk because of its size. After about 45 minutes one of the birds took flight and landed on a smaller tree. I rushed up to get a closer look. The bird didn’t fly away; it just turned around to look at me. I must have been only two metres away. Up close, I noticed it had a gray iridescent head, tip of the tail, back and wings. It had a longish orange beak that curved downward at the tip (similar to a hawk but not as dramatic). Its head looked like a normal pigeon, with small beady eyes and the distinctive overall shape. I thought to myself: is this some kind of cool mutant New Zealand pigeon (it was 2-3 times the size of a normal pigeon)?

The next day, my colleague and friend, Ryan, helped me identify the bird from my verbal description. It turns out the birds I saw were male and female Kererus (the New Zealand pigeon). Here are some of the more interesting facts about this bird (some of which I experienced first hand):

• Kereru seem totally unafraid of man
• They are entirely vegetarian
• They are faithful to their mates
• Unlike most birds, they can drink without raising their heads to swallow
• They primarily eat fruit and play a big part in spreading seeds across forest land
• They shower in light rain by hanging upside-down on a branch and let the rain fall on their bellies
• They lay a single egg, which is long, narrow and white
• The male and female take turns sitting on the egg; alternating 12-hour shifts
• They produce a cottage cheese-like milk called “crop-milk” for their young (penguins and flamingos are the only other birds that do this)
• They are known for their spectacular aerial displays during mating

It was truly awesome to witness an unseen (for me) and uncommon bird in the wild in a new country. Discovering its uniqueness only made it that much better. You can find more information about the Kereru at the New Zealand Birds website and Wikipedia. The very beginning of this video clip shows Kereru flying and perching.   Enjoy!