Bird songs and calls
Introduction
Listen to and download recordings of songs and calls of New Zealand birds.Downloading the songs: Right-click the song link for options to save. More help on files.
Reusing the songs: These bird songs are Crown Copyright. They may be reused, even commercially, as long as you credit the Department of Conservation (NZ). More about copyright.
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.
Bird species
Auckland Island teal song (MP3, 492K)
00:30 – Auckland Island teal song.
Australasian bittern/matuku-hūrepo territorial call (MP3, 1,886K)
02:00 – Booming call.
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.
More bird songs and calls
For other bird calls visit NZ Birds Online.
