New Zealand Pigeon or Kereru

Today Blipmate and I went on a photographic jaunt, combined with lunch in a cafe and then a trip to her cousins to see if we could spot some native pigeons, common in her area.

We were successful in finding them - in fact spotted several.

The New Zealand pigeon is fully protected and although wide spread, is threatened in some areas. They eat fruit and foliage and today we watched one eating flowers. After eating, the pigeon is often so full that it finds it difficult to fly and can be approached quite closely.

As the only bird able to swallow many of the larger fruits, the NZ pigeon plays an important role in seed dispersal in the NZ forests.

Check, out the extras to see the pigeon in a flower feeding frenzy.