Whiteheads in Turitea

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Tuesday, 21 June 2011 18:19

Whiteheads in Turitea

Written by Paul Vandenberg

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Whitehead Paul Vandenberg

As a photographer with an interest in our native birds there is one bird in particular that is not well known to the average person and many would probably not see, unless being very observant, is the Whitehead. Apart from the obvious, they have a mostly white head and are endemic to New Zealand. Trying to photograph a Whitehead can be frustrating as they move in small flocks from tree to tree.

The Turitea Reserve is a great location where you will most likely encounter them along one of the many walkways through and around the reserve. To the untrained you could be mistaken for thinking a noisy flock of birds around you is just sparrows or silvereyes, but look a little closely, as you could be among whiteheads. Preferring native and older exotic forest they are doing well in the Turitea bush. Like our little Grey Warbler, who often become the host parents for the Shinning Cuckoo, the Whiteheads, at just 15cm, are the main host bird of the Long-tailed Cuckoo which is many times larger at a massive 40cm, so whole family groups all help to feed the large hungry Cuckoo chicks. So do check out our wonderful walkways and keep your eyes and ears open, and camera ready!

Enjoy.

Last modified on Wednesday, 22 June 2011 08:57

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Paul Vandenberg

I have lived in Palmerston North my entire life, born in Palmy in 1964 and have a passion for our flora and fauna. married for 20 years with two teenage daughters, help...
My working life has evolved around the heavy transport industry, but I would prefer to be working with people and nature, so this is where my other passion for wild life photography has taken off and I just love sharing my images with people, where I get a real buzz when people not only like them, but learn something new from my photo's. I go tramping, hiking at every opportunity and have led and joined many trips into some of our stunning bush walks.
My current goals are to be more active with people and improving awareness of the beautiful Manawatu, I am also in the process of enhancing one of our parks with dedicated plantings to attract butterflies for all to see and study. also would like to see more people enjoy my photography where I am always looking for ways to better myself to get that wow factor from my work.

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