Morepork/ruru
Image: Sabine Bernert ©

Bird songs and calls

Introduction

Listen to and download recordings of songs and calls of New Zealand birds.

Saving the files: Right-click the song link for options to save. More help on files.

Reusing the files: Bird songs may be reused according to our copyright terms.

Dawn chorus

Dawn chorus with bellbird/korimako in the foreground (MP3, 1,853K) 
01:58 – Birds singing from silver beech trees in Abel Tasman National Park.

Dawn chorus with tūī in the foreground (MP3, 2,889K)
03:04 – Tui and a chorus of many other birds singing in mixed bush and flowering kowhai.

Dawn chorus with blackbirds in the foreground (MP3, 2,281K)
02:25 – Adult male blackbird and many other birds giving song in garden surroundings.

Native birds A - Z 

Auckland Island teal song (MP3, 492K)
00:30 – Auckland Island teal song.

Australasian crested grebe song (MP3, 862K)
00:54 – Pair display call on Lake Alexandrina with adult male giving a growling call

Bellbird/korimako group (MP3, 2,821K)
01:22 – Five adults singing on Little Barrier Island.

Bellbird/korimako adult male (MP3, 561K) 
00:35 – Adult male

Bellbird/korimako adult alarm call (MP3, 1,300K)
01:22 – Adult sitting in a tree near a track giving an alarm call.

Adult black stilt/kakī song (MP3, 2,380K) 
02:36 – Territorial and alarm calls of two adults protecting their young

Blue duck/whio song (MP3, 1,342K)
01:24 – Adult pair in a stream communicating and answering tape recorded calls.

Chatham Island oystercatcher/tōrea song (MP3, 3,077K)
03:16 – Chatham Island oystercatcher/tōrea song.

Chatham Island pigeon/parea song (MP3, 1,278K)
01:21 – Chatham Island pigeon/parea singing, eating berries, hopping between trees and occasionally flying.

Chatham Island tūī song (MP3, 2,982K)
03:10 – Adult male territorial calls.

Fantail: Chatham Island fantail song (MP3 1,597K) 
01:41 – Singing from a song perch.

Fantail: North Island fantail song (MP3, 230K)
00:14 – Making short feeding flights and giving calls.

Fantail: North Island fantail song (MP3 1,842K)
00:1:57 – Adult giving territorial calls while moving from perch to perch in willows.

Fantail: South Island fantail (MP3, 2,015K)
02:08 – Adult male territorial song.

Grey warbler song (MP3, 527K)
01:26 – Territorial call, flying between perches, answering a tape recorder.

Hutton's shearwater/tītī song (MP3, 485K)
00:30 – Calling at burrow entrance.

Kākā: North Island kākā song (MP3, 1,382K)
01:28 – North Island kākā song.

Kākā: South Island kākā song (MP3, 2,540K)
02:41 – South Island kākā song.

Kākāpō male 'booms' (MP3, 2,102K)
02:14 – Adult male 'booming' to attract females.

Kākāpō male 'chings' (MP3, 345K)
00:22 – Adult male 'chinging' to attract females.

Kākāpō male territorial calls (MP3, 2,361K)
02:30 – Adult male giving territorial calls (00:43). Screaming in answer to playback of booming call played through amplifier.

Kākāpō female song (MP3, 1,396K)
01:28 – Adult female.

Kea song (MP3, 977K)
01:02 – Kea responding to recordings of their calls.

Kiwi: Male North Island brown kiwi song (MP3, 558K)
00:35 – Male brown kiwi calling his mate.

Kiwi: Female North Island brown kiwi song (MP3, 2252K)
02:24 – Female brown kiwi calling her mate.

Kōkako song (MP3, 1,793K)
01:53 – Kōkako song.

Kōkako alarm call (MP3, 1,266K)
01:21 – Kōkako song, alarm call in response to playback of recorded distress call.

Morepork/ruru song (MP3, 1,620K)
01:43 – Morepork/ruru song.

New Zealand dotterel/tūturiwhatu song (MP3, 3,371K)
03:35 – New Zealand dotterel song.

New Zealand pigeon/kererū/kūkū/kūkupa (MP3, 1,868K)
01:58 – Three adults in song and in-flight wingbeats (cicadas in the background).

New Zealand falcon/kārearea juvenile female song (MP3, 721K)
00:45 – Captive juvenile female giving a call apparently used as warning or irritation.

New Zealand falcon/kārearea female song (MP3, 468K)
00:29 – Female giving calls soliciting food from male.

New Zealand parakeet/kākāriki: red-crowned parakeet song (MP3, 317K)
00:19 – Adult red-crowned parakeet song.

New Zealand parakeet/kākāriki: red-crowned parakeet song (MP3, 3,529K)
03:45 – Adult red-crowned parakeet song.

New Zealand parakeet/kākāriki: orange-fronted parakeet song (MP3, 3,262K)
03:28 – Captive orange-fronted parakeet giving territorial calls in response to recordings from tape recorder and other captive yellow-crowned parakeets nearby.

New Zealand robin/toutouwai song (MP3, 1,440K)
01:22 New Zealand robin song at Kowhai River, Kaikouras, Marlborough.

North Island robin/toutouwai song (MP3 1,553K)
01:38 – North Island robin song.

Paradise duck song (MP3, 1,135K)
01:12 – Pair giving breeding calls on territory and displaying pair bond (female has higher pitched call, male has wheezy call).

Rock wren call (MP3, 248K)
00:02 – Rock wren contact call.

Rock wren call (MP3, 3,411K)
01:49 – Rock wren chicks begging.

North Island saddleback/tīeke song (MP3, 1,745K)
01:51 – Saddleback/tīeke song.

South Island saddleback/tīeke song (MP3, 1,406K)
01:29 – Two males giving territorial calls responding to playback of taped calls.

Silvereye/wax-eye song (MP3, 2,721K)
02:53 – Song at Apple Valley Road, west of Nelson.

Stitchbird/hihi song (MP3, 3,830)
04:04 – Adult territorial calls.

Takahē song (MP3, 622K)
00:38 – Takahē song.

Takahē song (MP3, 611K)
00:52 – Takahē song.

Chatham Island tomtit song (MP3, 1,549K)
01:43 – Adult male in Glory Bay, Pitt Island, Chatham Islands.

North Island tomtit song (MP3, 2,808K)
02:59 – In mixed forest near Mount Bruce.

South Island tomtit song (MP3, 1,440K)
01:31 – Adult male South Island tomtit on Rabbit Island, Nelson.

Tūī communication calls (MP3, 2,228K)
02:22 – Communication calls.

Tūī territorial calls (MP3, 3,001K)
03:11 – Male territorial calls.

Buff weka song (MP3, 1,315K)
01:37 – Weka answering recorded calls.

North Island weka song (MP3, 1,080K)
01:07 – North Island weka giving territorial calls.

Western weka song (MP3, 651K)
00:41 – Adult Western weka song.

Westland petrel/tāiko song (MP3, 6,945K) 
07:24 – Two adult Westland petrel/tāiko sitting on surface outside burrows.

White heron/kōtuku song (MP3, 6,753K) 
07:11 – 21 heron pairs and some white-throated shags nesting beside a river. Male gives harsh croak, female has soft 'who-who' call, chicks 'click-click'. Shags in the background make a softer call.

Whitehead/pōpokotea flock (MP3, 707K)
00:44 – Flock feeding in a homestead garden and trees on Little Barrier Island.

Whitehead/pōpokotea territorial call (MP3, 3,549K)
03:46 – Adult male feeding under a canopy of beech trees in Whiteman's Valley, attracted by playback of calls, replying vigorously.

Yellow-eyed penguin/hoiho adults and chick (MP3, 2,417K)
02:34 – Parents calling in the vicinity of the nest and feeding chicks. 

Yellowhead/mohua song (MP3, 506K) 
00:30 – Adult male song.

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