It's that time again in Ōtautahi-Christchurch, NZ, when the fruit on the te kouka cabbage trees are at peak ripeness. That brings in the kererū to parts of the city.

Here are some of my photos of kererū eating te kouka fruit in the city from this long weekend. It includes what I think is the first time I've seen a kererū on Rose Street (that's on one of my fortnightly survey routes, which I've run since 2008).

https://www.inaturalist.nz/observations/347375376

#kererū #Ōtautahi #Christchurch #nz #birds #iNaturalistNZ #frugivory #UrbanEcology #nature

A Kererū, or New Zealand Pigeon, showing off its colours

#Birds #BirdsOfMastodon #NaturePhotography #Nature #Aotearoa #New Zealand #Kereru

Playing with some beats…

A Keruru’s wing beats ran through Koala and a bit of simple sequencing + an old video loop, and some video effects and mixing 😀

#GoVJ #koalasampler #Kereru #Glitch

BIRD NEWS FLASH! I saw a kererū in Lincoln, NZ, on my bike ride home this evening. I’ve been counting birds at Lincoln since 2003 and this is the first time I’ve seen a kererū here.

I hope it sticks around.

This is the 4th kererū sighting on #iNaturalist (previously once in 2017 and twice in 2012).

https://www.inaturalist.nz/observations/343764606

#kererū #birds #nz #lincoln

Behold, a feeding frenzy of Plum Sharks!

Plum sharks AKA kererū, the NZ wood pigeon.

Plums are in full fruit in Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, NZ, at the moment. I was on Valley Road today in Cashmere there were at least 11 kererū feasting in the plum trees up the side of the road.

I think plums are one of the big reasons that these birds venture down from the hills into the city at this time of year.

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/333255361

#birds #fruigivory #plums #Prunus #woodpigeon #pigeons #kererū #nz #Christchurch #nature #iNaturalist #iNaturalistNZ

Tūī expressing some firm opinions about not wanting to share a kōwhai tree with a kererū 🙂

#nzbirdphotos #tuibird #kereru

Kereru waiting out a rainfall near Wainuiomata last week

#Kereru #NZbirds #NZbirdphotography

The kōwhai trees are in fabulous full bloom across Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, NZ. They're blooming about a month late this year and are making up for that with a huge number of flowers.

That's making the korimako and kererū in the Cashmere hills happy. The korimako are pollinating the kōwhai flowers, which I guess also makes the kōwhai happy, to the extent that a kōwhai tree can be happy. The kererū, on the other hand, are eating the kowhai's flowers and young leaves.

korimako: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/315198237
kererū: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/315196715

#NZ #nature #Christchurch #Ōtautahi #birds #pollination #herbivory #Anthornis #Hemiphaga #kererū #korimako