Aotearoa New Zealand is known worldwide for its unique native birdlife. Ngā manu a Tānemahuta have been taonga from the first moments of early Polynesian immigration.
Ngā manu a Tānemahuta
This interactive provides a brief introduction to Māori knowledge of seven featured bird species.
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Manu – along with trees and mankind – are descendants of Tāne and therefore related to each other. Another group name for manu is te aitanga kapakapa a Tāne – the wing-flapping children of Tāne, and the forest trees are also called te hua a Tāne – hua meaning both children and the fruits and berries of the trees. While manu is a generic word for bird, it is also used for other flying things like bats or kites. In some situations, manu were seen as messengers from spirit worlds carrying warnings or reassurances either from atua sources or from deceased loved ones.
Manu were an important source of protein foods. The kererū/kūkupa and kākā were the two most important food birds to pre-European Māori – both were snared and speared. The condition of the manu was always tested before deciding to proceed with a hunt. Manu were also caught using a mōkai – a tame or decoy bird – or in fruiting seasons when they became too fat to fly away or if it rained heavily and they became grounded. Snares, traps, spears and ladders made for fowling demonstrate Māori craft skills and technologies.
Bird feathers were valued items and used for diverse purposes depending on their qualities. Birds taken for feathers rather than food include kōkako, huia, kōtare and kōtuku. Feathers were used to make cloaks, to wear in the hair and to adorn clothing, weapons, waka, toys, containers and other objects. Bird feathers and skins were used in dressing wounds and burns or for making fragrant sachets to wear as pendants. Bird oils were used medicinally and in tattooing and to preserve foods in hue (gourds). The bones of larger birds were used to make many items, including needles, fish hooks, kōauau and earrings. Māori knowledge of birds extended to valued knowledge of bird habits and habitats that was carefully taught and passed down from one generation to the next in whānau/kingroup apprenticeships and wānanga.
Korimako/kōmako
These small honeyeaters are valued for their role as pollinators and for their song.
Māori compliment outstanding orators and singers by referring to them as korimako.
The species is also known as bellbird (Anthornis melanura). Captain James Cook wrote that its song was “like small bells most exquisitely tuned”.
Sourced from iNaturalistNZ.
Manu provide rich sources of Māori symbolism in sayings and metaphors. For example, a good singer or eloquent orator might be called a korimako/kōmako (bellbird), a restless person might be compared to a pīwakawaka/tīrairaka (fantail), while a hooting rūrū (morepork) might be seen as expressing loneliness or lament for a lover’s absence. There are traditions of birds with supernatural powers and stories of people riding giant birds such as the beautiful sisters Reitū and Reipae who flew north from their home in the Waikato on the back of a magic kārearea (falcon) to marry and become important ancestors to the iwi of Te Tai Tokerau.
Some manu – tūī, kererū, pīwakawaka, rūrū and kōtare – are still fairly commonly seen as they have managed to adapt (at least to some extent) to urbanised habitats containing indigenous and introduced trees and plants in residential gardens and nature reserves.
Related content
Māori knowledge of animals is an introduction to Māori knowledge of a selected sample of animal species indigenous to Aotearoa. Mātauranga Māori about animals known to tūpuna is presented in six groupings:
- Kurī
- Kiore
- Ngā manu a Tānemahuta (featuring pīwakawaka, tūī, kererū, rūrū, kōtare, tītī and toroa)
- Ngā ika a Tangaroa (featuring makō and tohorā)
- Ngārara – te aitanga a Punga
- Te aitanga pepeke.
The Hub has extensive resources curated under the topic Birds. Use the filters to narrow your search.
Activity ideas
These activities support learning about the six animal groupings mentioned above:
Useful links
Te Ara has several stories about ngā manu and native birds and bats.
Visit the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa website to view these images:
Reference
Stewart, G. T. (2024). Animals of Aotearoa: Kaupapa Māori Summaries. Anthrozoös, 37(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/08927936.2023.2254552
Acknowledgement
This content has been developed by Professor Georgina Tuari Stewart (Ngāti Kura, Ngāpuhi-nui-tonu, Pare Hauraki), Auckland University of Technology, and Dr Sally Birdsall, University of Auckland, with funding and support from the Ministry for Primary Industries – Manatū Ahu Matua and the Australian and New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Research and Teaching (ANZCCART).
Animals of Aotearoa and animal ethics
Animals of Aotearoa: Kaupapa Māori Summaries and Exploring the Three Rs of Animal Ethics with Māori Ideas were developed with funding from the Australian and New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Research and Teaching (ANZCCART) and the Ministry for Primary Industries. The silhouette design was created for this project and is the copyright of Professor Georgina Tuari Stewart and Dr Sally Birdsall.
