The striking, iridescent plumage of the vigilant kōtare, or kingfisher, can be seen throughout the Tasman region, as it perches high, scoping for its next meal.
Halcyon Sanctus Vagans otherwise known as the sacred kingfisher, or kōtare, is the only species of kingfisher
that is native to Aotearoa of the 84 species worldwide
These diminutive hunters live in a wide range of habitats with water sources and elevated perches including estuaries, coast lands, lakes, rivers and forests. They have striking plumage with blue green backs and caps, cream to orange underparts and collar and a distinctive black eye stripe. Females tend to be more green than blue in colour.
Breeding is from September to February and young are raised in nest cavities that the kōtare chisel out of banks, cliffs, logs and trees with their strong beaks.
They are prodigious hunters, swooping down on prey from trees, powerlines, rocks or other high perches. Their diet includes mainly crabs in estuarine areas but also fish, tadpoles, freshwater crayfish, lizards, mice, cicadas, weta and other insects inland.
Kōtare were admired by Māori for their patience and diligence. An alert sentry likened to a kōtare was being paid a compliment. The elevated platform in a pā where sentries stood was known as a kōtare. It comes as little surprise that the collective noun for a group of kingfishers is “a concerntration of kingfishers”.
In myth it is said the kingfisher had the power to calm the sea, and was a symbol of peace and tranquility – evident in its scientifc name “Halcyon”.
