I once got kicked in the face by a pukeko. Well. No, it was two of them and they kind of did this running leap at my face at the same time. It was quite impressive really - worthy of a Bruce Lee movie.

Pukekos are one of those polarising kinds of birds in New Zealand. People either love them; or hate them. To some they are a cute clumsy bird - kiwiana at its finest, to other’s they are a pest, and to some select few, they are stew.

I am writing this blog post - because of the amount of dead pukekos I encountered on the roadside while driving up North last week. Their white feathers up in the air, their legs tangled, their eyes glassy. It made me sad. That these animals were given no ounce of respect - their lives ended by a human who properly did not even stop their car to see what they hit. I believe that all animals deserve respect - regardless of any arbitrary classification system that they have fallen into, i.e pest or game bird here in New Zealand.

I writing this blog post to explore the plight of the pukeko and how awesome these birds really are.

First off. Hold the phone - what is a pukeko?

For most New Zealanders, pukekos are easily identifiable. With those long spindly legs, bright blue feathers, and wide flat feet. They are hard to miss really.

Walter Buller, the early naturalist was apparently a fan. In his History of the Birds in New Zealand (!873) he wrote that “The Swamp Hen may fairly be considered one of the best of our native birds. The brightness of the plumage, and the extreme elegance of its movements at once arrest and please the eye” - pp. 187.

They are part of the rail family - the same family of the Takahe. Pukeko are simply their slightly more streamlined cousins.

Their feathers are a deep rich indigo blue on the front, black on the back and white feathers on the underside of their tails. They have a red front shield, red beak and red long legs. Their eyes are also red.

Their chicks start off with black feathers as well as a black beak, but as they grow older they start developing the different hues.

Pukeko are not endemic to New Zealand, they are found in Australia, Africa, parts of Europe and Asia, but are known in other places as purple swamp hens. Our pukeko most likely flew across from Australia thousands of years ago. Which is a sight I would have liked to see - as they make such a ruckus simply flying across the lake - can not imagine them flying for such a distance.

Potato, Carrot and Pukeko?

For some individuals, when they lay eyes on a pukeko all they see is an ingredient to their hearty stew. Even though, an old saying goes that boil a pukeko with a stone for three days, remove the pukeko and eat the stone. Meaning they are tough as boots or perhaps stone, to eat.

New Zealand’s drooling over pukeko stew is apparently not a new phenomenon. Buller in his history of New Zealand birds wrote that they make good eating, if “hung sufficiently long and properly dressed, it makes an excellent dish” - pp. 187

Also, see the below excerpt from Fielding Star newspaper, published in 1886 where pukekos are once again seen as an ingredient.

Pukeko are eaten still to this day. Below is an excerpt from a New Zealand Geographic article from Jan - March, 1994 -

“Peter Lapwood, a Waikato Fish and Game Council ranger, believes they are underrated, and swears that pukeko makes a delicious soup. And if Tui’s Commonsense Cookery is anything to go by, stewed “pukaki” regularly made its appearance on the post-war rural dinner table, along with partridge and rabbit.”

Scrolling through some hunting forums was a nightmare. People describing pukekos in terms of fried breasts, tough meat, hunters talking about their dogs tearing pukekos apart, and discussions on planning to shot them even though they are native and protected, and can not be just shot without any kind of permit. Do not venture on to hunting forums if you wish to keep your innocence, it is a scary place. I am now scarred for life.

The sad thing is - even though hunters delight in shooting them - a lot of them are just discarded and not even eaten. What a waste of life.

What a Pest!?

Farmers will most likely not shed a tear for the death of a pukeko. Pukekos are often seen as an agricultural pest - as they like to rip up vegetables and have a nibble or two. However, farmers do need a permit to shot them.

Pukekos being seen as a garden pest is not new. Maori would spend a lot of time chasing pukekos from kumera and taro gardens, uttering

“Hie, hie! Haere ki to huhi, haere ki to repo, Haere ki a Hine-wairua-kokako! Hie, hie!”

Away, away! Go off to the swamp, go off to the bog, Go off to Hine-wairua-kokako [the spiritual ancestor of wading birds]! Away, away!” - New Zealand Geographic, 1994.

Pukekos are scary?

These are wild animals. Not your petting zoo fare - they will attack if they feel threatened. They do not like hugs and pets and smooches like your adorable puppy - they like space. As I mentioned earlier, I have been attacked by a pukeko - or two, it hurts, its scary, it’s confrontational. But, I do not now have a vendetta against all pukekos. People like to vehemently hate some animals for simply existing, cough possums cough cough, but they are simply just living their lives. Like we all are trying to do.

If you also pass on this fear and dislike to your children over these bird - it is not really helping anything either. Do not let your children get too close to pukekos - as I mentioned above they are wild animals - give them space. Appreciate them from a distance - that way your child does not have to have a scarring traumatic event regarding a pukeko attack that may taint their whole future relationship with that bird. Just food for thought.

Pukeko - a really awesome bird?

Pukekos are cool. You heard it here first folks. Pukeko rock my socks. Nothing gets me more bushy tailed and dewy eyed than when those raptor like calls of the pukeko reach my ears.

Pukeko are cool and I am going to tell you why.

They all join in for the baby rearing

A pukeko tribe’s females will all lay eggs in the same nest. This is known as joint laying. Once hatched, the group raise the chicks all together.

They have the cutest babies ever

Just look at that guy - pure cuteness.

They eat like a parrot

Pukeko like to pick up grass blades with their long spidery talons, and eat it like a parrot almost.

Their feathers are beautiful

Have a seat one day and simply stare at a pukeko. You will notice all the different hues in their feathers - the blues, blacks and whites. They are very beautiful.

They will make you smile

Watching a baby pukeko clumsily walk around with their too large feet or a pukeko flying, screaming all the while - well it is a sight that is hard not to smile at.

Just look at this old ad to see for yourself -

I think that we us a country take pukekos for granted. They do not have few numbers, they are not tittering on the verge of extinction, they do not have conservation movements championing their existence, nor do they have buildings named after them. And because of this idea that they are common, we expect them to always be here and thus are almost overlooked by many.

Humans seem to have this deep love for always separating animals into some kind of useful categories. We have food, pet, farm, native, non-native, rare, common etc. The pukeko because of its numbers and these ingrained labels and utilitarian features - has found itself on the chopping block . It has found itself viewed with apathy if seen killed on the road - can you imagine the outrage if someone found a dead Takahe on the road - heads would roll, but a pukeko dead by the side of the road is either meet with disinterest, or ignored completely. It has been labelled as a pest by many. Farmers are outraged that they dare encroach on their land. Land that was all bird’s domain before human’s came marching in. We seem to always get butt hurt over animals going where they are not “supposed” to. By these arbitrary ideas of land ownership.

And hunters salivate at the chance to shoot one in the face.

I think we need to start looking at animals without these arbitrary labels - and simply appreciate them for them. I hope this blog post gave you an idea of the pukekos place in New Zealand as well as how awesome they really are.

The Plight of the Pukeko.