New Zealand Native Bird Poems by Room 26
Orange-fronted Parakeet
Soaring, darting, flitting,
My grassy- green plumage
Protrudes out of the clear sapphire sky,
Lands in the burnt umber, trunk
Nesting peacefully ,
Taking off, darting through the trees,
My beady eyes scan the trees for juicy berries.
My outstretched wings
Slowly retract
Coming to rest against my pear-shaped body.
As I descend to my home
By Adam
Kea
My midnight button eyes peer,
Searching for predators.
I continue strolling,
Claws gripping the forest floor.
Sun reflecting
Off my ruffled plumage
Creating golden streaks
Down my olive and khaki body.
My emerald tail
Dragging along behind me.
Suddenly I spot
A bunch of ripe berries,
Perching on a jagged branch.
Shuffling swiftly over
plucking them off
As a delectable taste
Bursts into my mouth.
Completely satisfied…
By Eden
A Day as a Pukeko
Glancing, glaring, scanning, skimming,
Red sunken eyes peeking .
Elongated wings, ruffled, black, indigo,
White.
Out stretched scarlet legs, strutting graciously,
Murky habitat cloaks me
Sad and gloomy ,
Glum.
A predator lurks, it moves, it stalks.
A screech , a yell , an exasperating howl
Nuts, seeds, bugs, grass surround my webbed feet.
Jagged claws ready to pounce .
Awkwardly lingering then heading back home,
I fly, I swoop, I soar, I fall,
A clumsy landing.
Squatting down , my beak tucked against my breast
Asleep at last .
By Jacqueline
NZ Fairy Tern
A copper beak emerges
from hiding within the sand.
Then out comes a pearly head
that is not at all bland.
A silver body comes as well,
hopping out of it’s hiding place.
Two ruby legs, a creamy tail emerge,
prancing around with lots of grace.
When all of it has been revealed
You will know it as a New Zealand Fairy Tern!
By James
Elegant bird
A paua blue streak flows down its wing.
Reaching down to the tip of the tail.
Midnight black surrounds its breast.
Orange cheeks like an embarrassed mortal.
Moulted speckled feathers lay quietly in its nest.
White tipped striking tail feather stands out in the variety of green bush.
The huia was a sedentary bird living on the forest floor.
Debilitated flying was the weakness of this beautiful bird.
Curved beak points to the forest floor.
It was the largest species of New Zealand wattle bird.
You’re probably wondering where you can find it…
You can no longer see this unique bird.
By Kaitlyn
Kakapo
Kakapo, all silver and lime, you’re like a cheetah hurtling through the forest.
A female Kakapo, with charcoal eyes, manoeuvres its way to see the male dance.
Kakapo, gleaming with colours, waddles its way through the overgrown forest.
A Kakapo strides through the forest looking for fruit and seeds.
Pecking at seeds the Kakapo tries to get some food.
Out of the nest a mother wanders through searching for some food for her young.
By Kate
Chatham Island Black Robin
Swooping down
To grasp his prey
He attacks voraciously.
Gobbling the helpless wetas and grubs
The robin glides away
And perches himself on a branch.
Eyeing up wriggling worms
The sooty black robin
Darts down
Deep in the forest.
Approaching the worms
He scoops them up
Like a spoon.
He swallows
And twirls
Into the luminous sun rise.
By Kendall
Kea
Spreading your wings
You leave the branch
Where you perched for the long black night.
You spot a field
Of white, woolly shapes
And you dive towards the ground
Ripping flesh
From the helpless sheep.
You gobble your prey voraciously.
Hearing a shot
Ring out over the land
You rise swiftly into the crisp air.
All that remains of your presence
Is one amber tail feather
Floating downwards
Settling on the grass.
By Sarah
Brown kiwi
So vulnerable left in the forest, just a tiny chick.
Strange animals boomed calls to each other, knowing I was here, like they were tracking me.
Feet padded closer to me.
I deftly sprinted into my burrow
Digging in deep and hoping I was camouflaged.
Large hands grasped me, stroking my small back comfortingly.
I kicked and kicked my captor but it was nothing against him.
A gleaming needle was pierced through my skin, injecting a strange liquid into my body.
I soon woke in a strange capsule.
No bizarre creatures surrounded. No signs of attack. No footprints. I wasn‘t hurt. I look around. I soon realised I was under a wing.
Looking up to find a familiar pair of loving brown eyes staring at me.
My mother, I was found.
By Renee
Kea
Its beady eyes, voracious to devour food.
Scanning the area for its lunch.
Suddenly a rabbit zooms past,
Trying to act invisible.
Soaring through the air, wings outstretched,
Beating its wings, the Kea swoops.
Snatching the prey, pecking, and gobbling.
Rabbit’s vanished,
And the Kea’s apple-green belly protrudes.
Its plumage glowing.
Standing as still as a statue,
The fierce bird waits for more prey.
by Daniel
Chatham Island Snipe.
Ashen eyes glancing
Elongated creamy legs
Arrays of plumage
Feet rustle the leaves
Bolting, sniffing out its prey
Gulping down insects
by Joshua
