New Zealand Wattlebirds: Callaeidae

Wattlebirds live on both main islands (North and South Islands) of New Zealand and many offshore islands. Wattlebirds are New Zealand endemics, meaning that they are found only there and nowhere else in the world.

Wattlebirds inhabit native temperate forests of New Zealand, which are made up of a mix of hardwoods and podocarps (Southern Hemisphere conifers).

Wattlebirds eat mostly insects, including insect larvae (LAR-vee), wetas (giant New Zealand crickets), fruits of native trees, fern fronds, and leaves. On Cuvier Island, a small bird, the fantail, has taken to following foraging saddlebacks, snagging various flying insects escaping from the disturbances made by the saddlebacks. Since the saddlebacks eat noisily while producing a small rain of shredded bark and leaves, and occasionally call out during feeding, they are easy to find.