Birds of New Zealand – Ngā Manu O Aotearoa
Melissa Boardman
HarperCollins
pub. 2020

05 March, 2021

Birds of New Zealand – Ngā Manu O Aotearoa by Melissa Boardman has many different native New Zealand birds, from beady-eyed moreporks to little blue penguins, to the cheeky kea. I loved the smooth pages, and it was a delight to browse through. As well as being filled with beautiful illustrations of our native birds, it also includes the Māori names for them.

It gives a full description of the birds; what they look like, the collective nouns for them, the translations, and even a part about the author. To write and illustrate the book, Melissa travelled all over, having incredible encounters with some of the rarest birds in New Zealand!

Some of the collective nouns that have been invented are: he kakaranga kōtare, a rattle of kingfishers; he pereru piwakawaka, a flutter of fantails; and he whetete pukeko, a gawky of pukeko.

This book is perfect for someone who loves birds. It is more of a coffee table book to look at whenever you would like, but it would be a lovely gift for someone.

It is a good book for kids to learn about our birds, but it’s great for any age to enjoy, and it is an excellent Te Reo Māori resource.

The message this book is sending is that a big percentage of our native birds are endangered and that we can help to keep them safe.

A lot of the collective nouns were invented by the author, as most of our birds do not have collective nouns.

Grace is 13 years old and lives in Papamoa.