Dictionary:

takahe

  (tə-kä'ē, tə-kī')

An almost extinct flightless bird (Notornis mantelli) of New Zealand, having a large red bill and brightly colored green and blue plumage.

[Maori takahē.]

Porphyrio mantelli

SUBFAMILY

Rallinae

TAXONOMY

Notornis mantelli Owen, 1848, Waingongoro, North Island, New Zealand. Nominate race of North Island recently extinct, may merit species status; one extant race P. m. hochstetteri.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

French: Talève takahé; German: Takahe; Spanish: Calamón Takahe.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

24.8 in (63 cm); 4–9 lb (1.8-4.2 kg). Flightless; thickset, with massive red bill, and purple and green plumage; undertailcoverts white. Juvenile brownish-gray. Chick has black fluffy down and black bill that turns red in the adult stage.

DISTRIBUTION

Fiordland, South Island, New Zealand; also introduced to four nearshore islands.

HABITAT

Alpine tussock grassland, scrub and beech forest (Fiordland); pastures (islands).

BEHAVIOR

Strongly territorial; permanent territories 5–148 acres (2–60 ha), much smaller on islands. Shy; normally has slow, deliberate walk but runs quickly. During winter snow, descends from grassland to forest or scrub up to 6.2 miles (10 km) away.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Eats leaf bases of alpine grasses; in winter also seeds and fern rhizomes. On islands eats introduced grasses.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Breeds mainly October through December. Nest a bowl of grass on ground. Eggs one to three (usually two); pale buff color with blotches of mauve and brown; incubation 29–31 days. Young dependent on adults for food for four months. Age of first breeding two years. Survival to one year 27–71%; survival on islands 89%.

CONSERVATION STATUS

"Rediscovered" in 1948; some translocated to islands in 1984–1991. Captive-bred birds are released into all populations. Endangered, with a very small population (100–160 birds from 1980 to 2000 in Fiordland; 55 adults on islands in 1998). Island populations breed successfully.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

Possibly hunted widely in the past.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: flightless New Zealand birds similar to gallinules
  Synonyms: notornis, Notornis mantelli