Average Height = 50 cm
Average Weight = males 1050 g, females 850 g (about the size of a chicken)
Age = can live up to 9 years
Usually seen wearing = a feather cloak in a rich iridescent indigo blue, trimmed with a black back and wings tinged with green, and an under-tail tuft of pure white.
Distinguishing features = ruby-red eyes, a scarlet bill, and ‘gawky' orange-red legs with long toes. Not afraid of cars!
Hangs out = in whanau groups around swampy areas and nearby lumpy pasture. Sometimes seen perching in trees ("a pukeko in a pongo tree...")
Mode of travel = prefers swimming and running but will take to the skies for short awkward flights with lots of flapping and legs dangling when startled.
Alias = Porphyrio porphyrio of the subspecies melanotus and the family Rallidae (ie. a Rail)
Voice = been described as a cry "...that has elements of a rusty hinge and a squealy pig..."
Pop back to Te Pūkeko Gallery
Hear the soundtrack of a pūkeko in a pond from D.A. Clark's superb Tasmantis CD
