Take me home, muddy road

Don't we all need the weekend off after a week working hard in dirt?

The determination and stern look on this guy is close to how a lot of people feel after a hard week. Or a hard day's night.

The purple swamphen, pukeko in maori, is a colourful abundancy in New Zealand. With some variations, it is found everywhere near water. It is considered a pest by some farmers since it eats any green seedlings, and it soil water throughs for the farm animal.

Sometimes it even eats other birds’ chicks.

It is a social bird, often living in family groups were the eggs of all the females are laid in one nest. The chicks get raised by the group.

It is also a bit noisy, but the sound of it near lodgings somehow become a homey symbol when spending some time in rural New Zealand.
http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/pukeko

#pukeko #purple #swamphen #bird #colors #colours #newzealand #New #Zealand #kiwi #kiwiexperience #birdislands #Southisland #christchurch #canterbury #swamp #beach #hardwork #Nikon #NikonD800 #D800 #Nikkor #300mm #f4 #2012CE #Porphyrio #melanotus #Spencerville #Aotearoa #AotearoaNewZealand
Pūkeko | Pukeko | New Zealand Birds Online

A large relatively compact rail with deep blue-violet head, breast and throat, black back and wings, white under-tail coverts, red eyes and orange legs and feet with long slim toes. The distinctive bright red conical bill is connected to a similarly coloured ‘frontal shield’ ornament covering the forehead.

South Island Takahē (Wildlife by CollectA)

The takahē are, well were, two species of flightless swamphens endemic to New Zealand. The North Island takahē (Porphyrio mantelli) became extinct shortly after the Maori settlement of New Zealand in the early 1300s. The South Island takahē (P. hochstetteri) is still alive, but just barely. Its population declined rapidly naturally after the last glaciation, when rising temperatures […]

Read more... https://animaltoyforum.com/blog/south-island-takahe-wildlife-by-collecta/

#Porphyrio #PorphyrioHochstetteri #SouthIslandTakahe #CollectA