Audio / Video
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Yellowhead
Mohua
Mohua ochrocephala
Yellowhead are another of our insect eaters, having similar
feeding habits to grey warblers and brown creepers, with
whom it often flocks. Usually feeding well up in the canopy
on insects it is seen lower down from time to time and will
come down onto the forest floor. I have seen them scratching
vigerously, exactly like a barnyard hen, something I've not
observed inother species. They are busy feeders, seldom
still for any length of time
They are a flock bird. Thought to be sometimes polygamous, two females may share a nest, and equally the incubation. In the autumn they tend to flock up into quite large wintering groups. These break up in spring into pairs and trios, nesting in holes in trees.
The female is similarly coloured to the male, although the yellow is somewhat muted in comparison.
Its colouring and song earns it a second name of "Bush Canary"
Size... 150mm
They are a flock bird. Thought to be sometimes polygamous, two females may share a nest, and equally the incubation. In the autumn they tend to flock up into quite large wintering groups. These break up in spring into pairs and trios, nesting in holes in trees.
The female is similarly coloured to the male, although the yellow is somewhat muted in comparison.
Its colouring and song earns it a second name of "Bush Canary"
Size... 150mm
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Yellowhead Warble & Chatter Yellowhead have a quite distinctive pitch with all their song |
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Yellowhead "Signature Call" This phrase is very very distinctive |
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Yellowhead Chirring I usually hear this around breeding and family duties |
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Going to Nest Bird visiting the nest cavity in a Totara. |
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Odd feeding habits Yellowhead will occasionally feed on the ground where they often vigorously scratch like a barnyard hen. |
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Tripod Yellowhead regularly use their tail as a prop when feeding on a trunk. This can cause extreme wear, sometimes reducing the feathers to tatters. |
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