Pleakley the talking tūī at Ōtorohanga Kiwi House and Native Bird Park.
A barking tūī could soon be asking Ōtorohanga Kiwi House and Native Bird Park visitors for a donation.
Ōtorohanga Kiwi House and Native Bird Park operations manager Julian Phillips with Pleakley. Photo: Chris Gardner
Pleakley, joined the team from a Department of Conservation facility last August after being hand reared, is a talker.
“We could put a donation box out there and he could ask people to give donations as they walk past,” said the attraction’s new operations manager Julian Phillips.
“I think it would be a gold mine. It would be one of the most beneficial things for our organisation.”
The kiwi house received a $2 million loan from Ōtorohanga District Council in 2020 to help fund an $8 million redevelopment.
Phillips was appointed to the role, 2IC to manager Richard Spittle, last Monday after joining the organisation six years ago.
Pleakley is one of three tūī in the park and keepers discovered he could talk when he responded to barking dogs.
“He said, ‘shut up’ and broke into a bark,” Philips said.
“Later, he mimicked wildlife manager Mat Ronaldson and said ‘good boy’.
“The bird’s a real character. “He does not speak to staff as much as he does to guests. He sees it as a great way to bring people to his cage and get them talking.”
Talking tūī are uncommon but not unheard of and can learn up to 150 phrases, Phillips said.
Aside from talking to a tūī, Phillips is exploring fighting avian flu with lasers by trialling a laser-based deterrent system to scare 50,000 starlings a night away from the native bird park.
The attraction previously employed students with plywood clackers to scare the starlings away at dusk, he said, but this method had become less effective as the starlings have become used to the noise.
“We have got to keep precautions in place, and we are working with the Ministry for Primary Industries,” he said.
Laser technology has been used to scare birds in The Netherlands for years, and New Zealand growers are beginning to adopt it.
Phillips is mindful that lasers can travel up to 700 metres so would have to be contained within the park so as not to disturb the parks birds or their neighbours.
The organisation is seeking permission from the Civil Aviation Authority for the trial.
He is also investigating grapeseed extract which, he understands, repel some birds.
Phillips is hoping for a busy summer, after the attraction featured in a national campaign.
Pleakley the talking tūī at Ōtorohanga Kiwi House and Native Bird Park.
