Thank you Daryl for posting that Tui site, it's a beauty and gives great information on this bird.
Another name for the Tui here is Parson bird - referring to the 'decoration' on it's throat.

I do agree that birds are fun to watch with all sorts of antics that they get up to.
Beautiful way to start Sabbath morning too!

The Fantail is one of my favourite native birds. It is known for it's friendliness, and will often come close as you walk through the forest/bush. This is because humans disturb insects, and they get an easy feed!
The North Island species of this pied bird are lighter in colour to the South Island, and the Chatham Island species is entirely pied.
Common to forest, park and garden habitats, fantails are instantly recognisable by their flitting, darting flight as they hawk their insect prey while on wing, and the attractive spreading tail. (160mm)
South Island fantails are much darker in colour and have an amount of white in the tail. Colouring is overall brown-black, white tail feathers, wingbar and eyebrow strips of pied phase absent. Fantail nests are compact cups made using plant fibres, moss and spiders' webs.

Today I sat under a stand of willows, and enjoyed the flitting and darting of these friendly birds. It's so easy to hold a conversation with them.

Zita, it is winter here in the USA but during the summer months, we are in Alaska at our cabin. I would hear a beautiful trilling and finally figured out it was a Hermit Thrush. They are not there very long...come early in Spring, and leave in July.

They are not easy to see, obviously, since they are "hermits" by nature but you know they are around by their beautiful song! They are not really a beautiful bird but their song is one I hope to hear in Heaven as much as possible!

One summer I even videotaped the trees where I knew the thrush was and recorded his singing song. So now I have it whenever I want to hear it.

Just from the study of birds alone should convince the hardest atheist scientist that there IS a God in Heaven who is Creator!!

I am so homesick for Heaven! I can hardly wait.

Imagine the sight and sounds that will forever be experienced on the New Earth.

I was in the bush this morning, and a movement caught my eye. It was a tiny wax-eye, quite unafraid to be near me, searching the bushes for food. such a delightful moment, I have the same with fantails.

So yes, Daryl, imagine heaven, birds totally unafraid of us. We will hold out our hands, and they will alight. We will talk to them, and they respond, as they do here on earth.
I like nothing better than to be walking through the bush, and answering the birdcalls, and they responding for quite a distance.

Then too, I wonder about all the extinct birds that we know nothing about. There is going to be so much to see and learn just in the bird area alone. We will need eternity to enjoy it all!

I want to share with you our most famous bird, the Kiwi. There are several varieties of kiwi, with varieties of colour. An incredibly shy bird, one would only see it in the wild foreging in the dark.
We have kiwi houses here where you can visit and enjoy as they reverse their cycle, though I do have to wonder how that affects them, as I know humans who do night shift are affected with health problems.

Brown Kiwi - there are 3 species of these in different areas of New Zealand and they are distinguished by differences in colour and size. the females of all three subspecies are larger and have longer bills than their male counterparts.
The plumage of the North Island brown kiwi is mainly a dark grey streaked with reddish brown, especially on the back but with less of a tinting on the head. On average, the North Island brown kiwi is smaller than the other subspecies and is further distinguished by its plumage being coarser to the touch, due to the stiffened ends of the feathers. This species inhabits bush and scrub areas of the northern half of the North Island and is particularly numerous in Northland.
The South Island ( where I live) brown kiwi is similar in colouring to the North Island brown kiwi but the streaking is a lighter, duller brown. It inhabits high-rainfall forests of the South Island. Further south in Stewart Island is again a similar species to the North Island brown, but larger in size and is found in forested areas of the main (Stewart) island - there are several smaller islands dotted around.
Then we have the Great Spotted Kiwi and the Little Spotted Kiwi.Obviously the Great Spotted on is larger in size, but similar in colouring with a distinctive deep reddish-brown ting across the back. This is my favourite of the Kiwis.
Our little spotted kiwi is the smallest and rarest of the kiwis. Once found on the West Coast of the South Island and in the sourthern part of the North Island, this species is now on the endangered list. Its existence is reduced to a small population on Kapity Island where it was introduced early this century.A Wildlife Service programme of transfers to sanctuary islands could soon see it established elsewhere as well.
If you take a look on http://www.mercurybay.co.nz/local/kiwiinfo.html
You will learn heaps more about our fasinating icon.
I have just done a search, and there is also a site on Kiwis helping kiwis - how we are going about saving these fasinating birds.
I was recently at a Wildlife Centre here in the city and enjoyed a closeup view of these wonderful birds.

[ February 04, 2005, 11:27 PM: Message edited by: Zita ]