Kōmiromiro

Kōmiromiro | Tomtit (Petroica macrocephala)

Hump Ridge Tomtit (M) by Digitaltrails (CC BY NC SA 2.0) via Flickr

Call

South Island tomtit call (Source: Department of Conservation CC BY 4.0)

Where is home?

Native forests, scrublands, and exotic pine plantations

How are they doing?

Not Threatened
(Chatham Island subspecies is Threatened – Nationally Endangered)
Vulnerable to introduced predators.

What are they known for?

• Kōmiromiro (or miromiro) are very observant birds, able to spot food from 10m away. They often forage by perching and observing on a branch before darting in to catch their insect prey.

• Miromiro are sexually dimorphic, meaning the sexes look different. Males are usually black and the females are brown, both with a white or light-coloured underbelly and a tiny white moustache (note the kōmiromiro in the Taharaki Skyside is an unusual colour morph).

Kōmiromiro connections

• The sharp-eyed miromiro is often referred to in te ao Māori as a scout and messenger, and an observant person is said to have ‘he kanohi kōmiromiro’ or ‘karu miromiro’ (the eye of a tomtit), referring to the careful way the bird looks for small insects.

• ‘Miro’ means to twist, twirl, or spin rapidly – a nod to the quickness and agility of these manu.