The South Island Robin

The South Island Robin Bird

26/06/2019

Hi guys! Thanks for visiting my blog

Today, I'll introduce you to a bird from New Zealand.

Yesterday, I was surfing the internet and I found something is new that I've ever known before. I was impressed by the bird in New Zealand - named Robin. Robins are small birds live in South Island which have dark grey-black colored over the upper body for males and light dark-grey colored for females.

There are a lot of websites talk about Robin and they give details in some different ways I choose three of them which show me the particular information that I think they are helpful for me to know more about that bird. All of them provide some facts around the bird which is expressed in the identification (description), distribution, habitat, threats, feeding (food), vocalisation. Besides, some of them also have too much information or less for people who want to find. Those sites may not have full evidence to express the facts are true. Accordingly, I do some comparisons about three sites to make sure that everyone knows what is the limitation of them and can have their choices in finding beneficial media.

The first site is Rare Species (https://rarespecies.nzfoa.org.nz/species/south-island-robin/)

When I read information off this site, I can get more details about the bird. However, this data gives me information on both of types of birds in North Island and South Island. Although the title on the page mentions only the bird in South Island, it talks about the birds in North Island more than another one. Then, if I want to use this information for my report, it will be okay but before that, I have to find more particulars of the South bird from other sites.

The second site is Wikipedia - one of the website that almost everyone finds as documentation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Island_robin)

Everyone uses it as a document for learning and so do I. It looks like equipment to solve the problem of information and learn some keywords around the particular topic. The limitation of Wikipedia is sometimes they give me undetermined details. However, the information about the South Island Bird in Wikipedia is full.

The third site is New Zealand Birds Online ( http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/south-island-robin )

Actually, this site has enough information that I need. You can think the information on this site is similar to details that Wikipedia has. Of course, you can choose one of them to know about anything you want. But I suggest that you use New Zealand Birds Online when you talk about the South Island Bird or other birds. Because this one talks deeper than the Wikipedia and it will make sure the evidence is true.

The Willowbank Trip

Willowbank trip

On June 4, my class in ESOL went to the Willowbank.

It was a raining day. After we finished period 1 at school, we started going to the place by bus. When we came there, we decided to divide into 3 groups to get easy to find information for our booklets. I remembered that my group was the last one to start visiting.

The main reason for this trip to Willowbank was preparing for practice assessment about the Kea bird but I thought it looked like that I enjoyed a lot of fun in there. My group walked past some places which are called animal's houses such as Llama, the horse, wallabies,..etc. There were many mammals which I hadn't known before and that visit was so amazing for me to reach something new even I had heard some people had been telling me about that.

Next, we came to the destination which the Kea lived. It made me feel like the jungle but exactly like the forest which is similar to the place Kea comes from. We met the woman guide, she gave us some information about the Kea bird.

I saw her feeding some birds with sweet food, especially honey. She said Kea birds would come with you if they felt hungry. Also, whether you didn't give them food, they would bite you anytime.

After that, we went to the nocturnal Kiwi house. It was dark inside and we had to be quiet when we were going there in order to not make Kiwi woke up. Then, at 12:45 we came to the coffee shop to have the seat to wait for the bus coming.

The trip was really nice for me in learning and having relaxation.

THE KEA

The Kea

Keas are members of large parrot which is found in the South Island of New Zealand and around high mountains.

They have a green feather with black and light orange with yellow and black feathers under its wings and rump. Their feather is blue and green dark colours. They look like all parrots they have 4 toes on each foot. Two of them point forward and the others point backwards. Those are helping Keas for catching objects and moving around in the tree and on the ground.

The Kea's beak is long and curved. The male's beak is approximately 4.5 - 5 cm long and the female's beak is smaller than the male (4 - 4.5cm). The Kea's beak is a very different shape to the kaka's beak which is much thicker and shorter.

Kea males weights are 750g-1kg and female is slightly at 700g-850g. That is about the weight of a very small chicken. The shape and weight of Kea ensure they don't lose heat too quickly when up in the freezing mountains.

The breeding season occurs in between July and January. They are two to five eggs are deposited into the nest. They hatch 21 days later. Female Keas spend an hour a day and half of the night feeding a short distance for the nest. Males help with the feeding when the chicks are about 1 month old.

Keas are endangered because they are still deliberately shot although they are protected by law. Because of that, during this time, people are trying to avoid acting that damage the Kea.