Takahe

The South Island takahē is a flightless swamphen indigenous to New Zealand and the largest living member of the rail family. It is often known by the abbreviated name takahē, which it shares with the recently extinct North Island takahē. The two takahē species are also known as notornis. In the wild, takahē inhabit native grasslands. They eat mostly the starchy leaf bases of tussock and sedge species, and also tussock seeds when available. If snow cover is heavy, they will move to the forest and feed mainly on underground rhizomes of the summer green fern.

Conservation status: Endangered (Population increasing)

Scientific name: Porphyrio hochstetteri

Length: 2.1 ft.

Rank: Species

Higher classification: Swamphen

Family: Rallidae

Kingdom: Animalia