Takahe (Porphyrio hochstetteri) are another member of New Zealand’s wonderful endemic avifauna. Once thought to be extinct, they are making a comeback and giving us a glimpse of a lifestyle that we don’t really associate with birds.

Takahe are part of the swamphen radiation in the genus Porphyrio. These species have a wide distribution through tropical and subtropical areas of the world with many lineages colonizing islands. Once there, many evolve autochthonous flightless forms. Takahe are just one of those flightless type.

In fact, they may be the last of the non-volant lineages. Many of the island species are extinct with some that may have been last seen the middle of last century. I don’t know whether it’s the late arrival of man in Aotearoa or the large size, or some combination of both, but more types of insular flightless birds survive in New Zealand than anywhere else. We saw weka in a previous post.

It is still a small remnant of the diversity of flightless forms that once occurred. But to me Takahe are still special in the simple fact that they are terrestrial herbivores. New Zealand once harbor giant herbivorous birds (Dinornithiformes) that occupied niches that mammals like elephant, bison and deer fill elsewhere. Watching Takahe is a glimpse into that world. The cows of the bird world.

While Hawai`i did have a number of flightless rail lineages, swamphens never made it to the archipelago. Our large herbivorous niches were occupied by a novel radiation of giant dabbling ducks. Still visiting Zealandia in Wellington and being in the presence of these large plant-eating rails was a real treat.