Tui

The Tui - or Parson bird - is renowned for its variable songs. It perches high in the trees with its body feathers fluffed and its tongue partly extended. It is said that it is the first bird to sing in the morning and the last to finish at night. Its feathers are mainly iridescent green with dark bluish-purple, appearing black at a distance, and has a white double tuft of throat feathers.The female looks the same only smaller. It is commonly found in the bush, and also lives in suburban gardens.
They usually nest in the canopy of a tree, and the nest is usually a bulky structure of twigs and sticks with a sparse lining of moss and leaves. The female constructs most of the nest, and builds several close together before laying three or four white or pink eggs with reddish brown spec... read moreks. The female incubates for about 14 days while the male sings from nearby trees, performs aerial displays, and infrequently feeds the female. Although both parents feed the nestlings, the female generally does most of the feeding and cleaning out of the nest. On leaving the nest, the young stay up to three weeks with their parents being fed insects, fruit and nectar. Tuis feed on nectar from the Kowhai and Pohutukawa trees and flax,and on insects. They're attracted to fruit in gardens and orchards.