NZ Native Bird Week: Maori kept Tui birds in cages and trained them to greet visitors

NZ Native Bird Week: Maori kept Tui birds in cages and trained them to greet visitors

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Back to the day day day day day.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Yeah, do do do do do do do do Native
bird week here at fact of the day yesterday. What
was his today? The key? We we can run faster

(00:26):
and it's monogamous. Did you know?

Speaker 1 (00:28):
I don't know that we're monogamous. Boring a god get
a life?

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Such an outdated concept. I'm just planting, seem just slightly
planting sea. It sounds like you're talking a lot about it,
but you're too cowardly. I'm just planting. It's fine. Well today.
The bird we're talking about was once called the New
Zealand creeper okay, also known as the poly bird, the

(00:58):
po bird. Captain Cook described them as the flesh is
most delicious, and it was the greatest luxury of the
woods afforded us explass captain. Oh my god, I thought
he was such a great guy. First strike on the
bard against you've got free. The poe bee eater was

(01:19):
what it was called before we said on the final
term for the bird. And he guesses, no, the poe
what the po the po bee eater? It doesn't eat bees.
It doesn't eat bees, not the wicker No, no, I
feel it doesn't guess though the other things that walker, okay, pook,

(01:41):
that's what's a flying bird. And I wanted to do
it would have been so far down the list of
New Zealand birds I would have ever thought would have
been Fanti but burger. But Burger gets drunk, Yes, gets
drunk on New Zealand flats because you know how they
eat nectar yea, the flax the way the flowers open,
ferments within the flower. And that's why if you see

(02:02):
two is horning flags and then they like don't fly,
they've got boothed from their alcohol content of the good
gun house. Oh yeah, fermented foods, good gun.

Speaker 1 (02:13):
Because they get drunk on the within themselves, the berries.
That's why your pitts shouldn't eat them. The cucker seeds
in the ground.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Perfectly toxic to dogs. What dogs you might have wanted
to win? Or two he flies? Why you can hear
its wings? You know it's like they's got the big
yet yeah you hear it. Well, that's because they evolved
to fly in very thick forests and stay below the canopy.

(02:44):
I'm learning a lot of birds in New Zealand learn
to stay below the canopy and just gave up flying
all together. Because of my old mate, my favorite extinct
New Zealand bird, the haast eagle. Span of meters, yeah
a ten kgs. You're reading a lot about them, just
thinking half legal factor. Those things are still around. You'd

(03:05):
have to watch out for your tiny friends. Are your
short friends? Yeah, I gonna be filling goal on high
country sheet. Yeah it's your dog. Had to spen in
the back countit all of a sudden, it just disappeared,
that's for certain. All birds have a sound producing organ
called a syrynx, which is typically controlled by two sets
of muscles. Too, E's have nine sets of muscles. Is

(03:26):
to keep predators away because they're so low. What do
you mean, well, why you said they make a noise
when they fly? Is that why? No, no, no, no, no,
it's just because their wings developed to be short and wide,
they can from maneuverability than it is for like gliding
a long distance flying. They're hopping from bit to bits
the dense forest. It was thick, short, wide wings, but

(03:48):
then that means they have to flap them a whole
lot more when they're flying out in the earth. So
they've got nine thing, jiggis's so cool, But then separate
factor is the reason they can sing so well is
they've got nine sets of musts and a jewel voice box.
Had a good tutor growing up. Yeah, you know, like
basically trained, trained like Hailey's classically trained, basically trained. Won't

(04:11):
just forget that the nine sets of muscles and the
jewel voice box. Also, if you've ever seen, like most
birds when they sing, they go like that, he just
opened the bak.

Speaker 3 (04:23):
I never actually seen do that. When you watch a
two week it goes, yeah, moves, puffing cheese, yeah, all.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
Sorts, just like a toy in the studio. I know. Yeah,
as as a that's what I said. Yeah, they have
a proud bird and a proud man, but they have
to move a lot more because of the nine sets
of muscles. Wow in their neck. But this is all
led up to the to the fact. Wait, we haven't
even done the fact. We've been up to the Also

(04:58):
just before I had the main fact, this is a
lot of fats. We had a lot of sound. That's
the main fact. Toos have regional accents. The Chatham Island
too is bigger than the mainland New Zealand. Yeah, and
because he's like a purple bird, Hey, I'm a bird.
There's no toys in christ Church. I just read this,

(05:20):
learned this recently. They're trying to reintroduce them christ churches.
Have you seen a wall in the sky? Yeah, sky,
get the Christ like bitter turn back.

Speaker 1 (05:36):
They get to the c Yeah, South Island and they're like,
oh no, is that christ Church wall?

Speaker 2 (05:40):
You can't get in there. You've all been silly. There's
nowhere for them to. Today's fact about to is no
trees and christ ships. That's insane. The president of FATS
is that toos were kept in cages by Malti tribes
who trained them to repeat welcome speeches. No one to
be able to seventy words. It's long like a parrot. Yeah,

(06:03):
get to the the the rile and but I guess
there was just a too in a cage, sort of
like an answering machine like no tom, I ca Wow,

(06:25):
that's beautiful. So today's spect to the day is the
toy an amazing bird, and unless you're in christ Church,
you'll probably see one today. Wellington has probably I think
all of christ Church's to is moved to Wellington. They
didn't everywhere in just look up recently when national got
on Yeah, I probably moving back, Chris, actually because they
must have their sweet government jobs. But today's spect to

(06:46):
the day is the TOI and time's gone by. Were
kept in cages and trained to repeat welcome speeches for
Maori tribes.