Birds
Tui
Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae · also called tuis
A tui moves through a New Zealand garden collecting nectar with a brush-tipped tongue, a curled tuft of white throat feathers flashing against otherwise dark, iridescent plumage. Its voice covers an unusually wide range too, melodic song, harsh clicks, convincing mimicry of other birds, and in captivity, occasionally, human speech.
Overview
The tui, Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae, is a nectar-feeding bird native to forest and garden habitat across New Zealand. Its distinctive white throat tuft and extraordinarily varied vocal repertoire make it one of the country’s most recognisable native birds.
A voice built for more than song
Few birds match the sheer range of sounds a tui can produce, and that vocal flexibility, paired with its role pollinating native flowering plants, makes it both an acoustic standout and a genuinely important part of New Zealand’s forest ecology.
Status
Least Concern — widespread and stable across suitable forest and garden habitat throughout New Zealand.
Tui: common questions
Can a tui really imitate human speech?
Yes, individuals kept in captivity have been documented learning to imitate human speech, an extension of the tui's already extraordinarily varied vocal repertoire, which in the wild includes melodic song, harsh clicks and coughs, and convincing mimicry of other bird species, making the tui one of the more vocally flexible birds found in New Zealand.
What is the white tuft on a tui's throat for?
The distinctive tuft of curled white feathers at a tui's throat is one of the species' most immediately recognisable physical features, standing out clearly against its otherwise dark, iridescent plumage, though its specific functional role beyond visual identification and possible display is not the primary documented purpose.
How does a tui help New Zealand's native plants?
As a tui moves between flowers to feed on nectar using its specialised brush-tipped tongue, it transfers pollen from flower to flower in the process, making it a significant pollinator for a range of native New Zealand plant species and giving the bird an ecological importance that extends well beyond its own population.
Do tuis live in gardens as well as forests?
Yes, the tui has adapted reasonably well to suburban garden habitat in New Zealand, particularly in areas planted with suitable native flowering plants that provide a reliable nectar source, allowing the species to thrive in some human-altered environments in addition to its native forest and scrubland habitat.