Poodytes punctatus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The New Zealand fernbird or simply fernbird (Poodytes punctatus) is an insectivorous bird endemic to New Zealand. In the Māori language, it is named kōtātā or mātātā. The New Zealand fernbird, Poodytes punctatus, was described by the French zoologists Jean Quoy and Joseph Gaimard in 1832 from a specimen collected in Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere, South Island, New Zealand. They coined the binomial name, Synallaxis punctata.
In the past, this species had the binomial names Bowdleria punctatus, and more recently, Megalurus punctatus. Recent moluecular phylogenetic studies of the grassbird family Locustellidae have shown that the genus Megalurus was not monophyletic, resulting in the New Zealand fernbird, and four other Australasian species, now considered to be in the genus Poodytes.
There are five subspecies of New Zealand fernbird present on different islands. They differ in extent of reddish-brown and intensity of streaking, as well as size: Poodytes punctatus vealeae (Kemp, R, 1912) – North Island (New Zealand)
Poodytes punctatus punctatus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1832) – South Island (New Zealand) Poodytes punctatus stewartianus (Oliver, 1930) – Stewart Island (New Zealand... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abel Tasman National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 2 | Fiordland National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 3 | Egmont National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 4 | Arthur's Pass National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 5 | Rakiura National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Auckland | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Fernbird sighting in Fiordland National Park on a given day, based on 105 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 62nd most-seen of the 94 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–March, May, September and November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Fernbird in Fiordland National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April, June–August, October and December, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Fernbird sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Fernbird sightings, Fiordland National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Abel Tasman National Park (New Zealand, about 20%).
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Fernbird that you can see in Fiordland National Park (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Chaffinch (about 70%), New Zealand Fantail (about 70%) and New Zealand Bellbird (about 60%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Fernbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Fiordland National Park (105 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
