Rare bird found dead

A rare koekoea¯, a long-tailed cuckoo, has died in Wellington after hitting a house window in Strathmore.

The large bird appeared to fly in to a window after being harassed by tu¯¯ı, the population of which is booming in the city.

Te Motu Kairangi-Miramar Ecological Restoration founder Joakim Liman said a resident alerted him, after seeing tu¯¯ı ‘‘screaming around’’, potentially scaring the koekoea¯ and causing it to flee.

‘‘They had seen some tu¯¯ı there that had been harassing. It’s very likely that the tu¯¯ı were chasing this guy and he had decided to take the window as a reflection of another bush or tree,’’ he said.

Liman said he’d only seen koekoea¯ on Somes-Matiu Island and Ka¯piti Island, not in Wellington City itself.

The koekoea¯ had a distinct shriek. ‘‘This is a bird that you don’t often come across. You very rarely see it, sometimes you can hear it if you’re quite lucky.’’

The koekoea¯ is a migratory species which only comes to New Zealand to breed. It has a conservation status of naturally uncommon.

During winter, koekoea¯ live in an arc of Pacific islands extending 11,000 kilometres from Micronesia in the west to the Pitcairn group in the east, but they only breed in New Zealand.

To deter birds from hitting windows and glass balustrades, people can use antistrike window stickers, Liman said. The stickers reflect ultraviolet light which helps birds identify a window.

Department of Conservation spokesman Herb Christophers said most people wouldn’t spot a koekoea¯ but they were regulars where there was native forest.