Megalurus punctatus
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
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 →
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New Zealand · 2023
© Samuel Amaris · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
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New Zealand · 2025
© Michael Morgan · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
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New Zealand · 2024
© Emily Roberts · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egmont National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 2 | Rakiura National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a New Zealand Fernbird sighting in Rakiura National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 42nd most-seen of the 80 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a New Zealand Fernbird in Rakiura National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May–September and December–January, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most New Zealand 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 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate New Zealand Fernbird sightings, Rakiura National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Egmont National Park (New Zealand, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the New Zealand Fernbird is recorded against all the birds logged in Rakiura National Park (7 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.
