pītoitoi - North Island robin
Petroica longipes? More like long pipes with those long, spindly legs.
Photo: Geoff Shepherd
pītoitoi - North Island robin
Petroica longipes
New Zealand Status: Endemic
Conservation Status: Declining
Lifespan: The oldest robin recorded was an impressive 16 years of age.
Size: 18cm (smaller than a blackbird)
Weight: 35g
- Forest clearance.
- Predation by rats, possums, stoats and feral cats. As lone incubators, females are especially vulnerable, leading to a potential lack of females in the population.
Is it a robin?
Look for: Females and young birds are a lighter grey. Males become darker as they get older, becoming almost black as an adult. Males and females sometimes show off a patch of white feathers at the base of their beak.
Listen for: Their most common call sounds like they are saying their name in te reo Maori: pi-toi-toi-toi-toi. Loudly!
Did you know?
You might know the North Island robin as toutouwai. They are known as pitoitoi in Pureora, where our population came from, which is why we call them this.
Their latin name does indeed translate to 'long legs.' You might see them doing a little dance to trick invertebrates to come to the surface by making them think it's raining.
Pitoitoi @ Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari
40 pitoitoi were translocated from Pureora Forest to Maungatautari in 2011 followed by another 40 in 2012.
Keep your eyes peeled as you stroll through the Southern Enclosure. They are often seen on the track, perched on a signpost or balancing on a supplejack vine.
While we don't encourage feeding birds or intervening in any way, if you stand still you may be lucky enough to have one hop closer to you. While we can tell ourselves they're doing this because they want to befriend us, it's more likely that they're after the insects from the ground we have disturbed while walking. And don't let their cuteness fool you! Robins will often take larger prey items and fling them from side to side or against the ground or a log to break their meal into more manageable pieces.