The Great Kererū Count is NZ’s biggest citizen science project to help gather information on the abundance and distribution of the New Zealand pigeon – also known as kererū, kūkū or kūkupa.
Everyone in New Zealand can get involved with the Great kererū count, whether you see any kererū or not, sharing your observations with us will help build up a clearer picture of where the kererū live, how many there are and what they are feeding on.
The humble kererū is one of New Zealand’s most valuable assets when it comes to our native forests. Long before humans came to this country, kererū have been undertaking the largest plant restoration project the country has ever seen. Kererū are the only bird left in New Zealand that are able to swallow and disperse the seeds from our largest native trees such as tawa, taraire, pūriri and matai. Kererū can live for over 21 years and are essential for native bush regeneration. Their disappearance would be a disaster for our native forests.
For further information: www.greatkererucount.nz/
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Explore how you can use the The Great Kererū count citizen science project with your class.
Find out more about kererū.
The Hub has numerous resources on native birds. Conserving native birds - introduction is a good place to start or browse under our bird topic. We also have a topic on citizen science.
