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The importance of introduced plants as a winter source of
nectar for Tui in Pukekura Park and Brooklands David Medway
It was stated in the souvenir programme produced for the official
opening of Brooklands on 10 March 1934 that “One of the
responsibilities that is appreciated by the Pukekura Park Board is
the necessity for increasing the natural food supply of the native
birds, and to this end the policy of planting honey and berry bearing
trees is to be steadily continued” (Puke Ariki ARC 2003-859, Box
2, MS 1695). The anonymous author of an “Out in the Park” article
which appeared in the Daily News at New Plymouth on 27 June
1974 wrote that native birds are “an integral part of the Pukekura
Park scene and many ornamental plantings have been made with the
specific objective of providing more food for them”. More recently, Ian
McDowell, Superintendent of Pukekura Park at the time he wrote,
was able to record that the introduced “single flowered camellias, tree
lucerne, Australian banksias, acacias and winter flowering eucalypts,
aloes, kniphofias (or red hot pokers) and the Taiwan cherry Prunus
campanulata were specifically planted throughout the park as they
all have flowers bearing nectar accessible to birds with brush-tipped
tongues” (Daily News 12/8/1995).
Photo David Medway
Some Tui (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae) appear to be resident in
Tui feeding at flowers of Aloe arborescens.
Pukekura Park and Brooklands (“the Park”), and several pairs nest
Brooklands, June 2002.
there each year. Their number increases significantly from about April
as birds arrive from elsewhere in search of floral nectar sources to sustain themselves during the cooler months
of the year. Tui are common in the Park from then until about October when most leave the area with the end of
Kowhai (Sophora microphylla) flowering.
Photo David Medway
Tui feeding at flowers of Camellia japonica ‘Emperor of Russia’. Brooklands, July 2005.
Tui seem to have adapted well to the loss of most of New Zealand’s prime lowland native forest that was probably
their principal habitat in former times. However, it appears that Tui in many parts of mainland New Zealand now
rely on the floral nectar of a variety of introduced plants to help meet their energy needs, particularly in the cooler
months of the year when those needs are greatest.
I spent about 204 hours on 96 days in June-August 2003 and in June-August 2004 in the Park. During this time
I saw Tui feeding 1247 times on nectar of the flowers of various plants, both native and introduced (see Tables 1
and 2). A very significant number of these, 1117 times or 90%, were observations of Tui feeding from flowers of
introduced plants. The introduced plants visited most for nectar were camellias (Camellia spp: Theaceae family),
to which there were 637 observed feeding visits involving 33 species and identified cultivars, and the Formosan
Cherry (Prunus campanulata), to which there were 339 observed feeding visits.
Table 1. Number of observations of Tui feeding at flowers other than camellias in June-August 2003 and in
June-August 2004 (The plants marked * are native New Zealand plants).
Alberta magna
2 Prunus campanulata 339
Aloe arborescens
10 Prunus ‘Accolade’ 11
Aloe ferox
2 Prunus ‘Fuku Bana’ 5
Aloe petricola
1 Prunus ‘Okame’ 10
Backhousia citriodora
3 Rhododendron arboreum 8
Banksia integrifolia
7 Rhododendron delavayi 10
Chiranthodendron pentadactylon
16 Rhododendron ‘Kermesinum’ 16
Corylopsis spicata
13 Rhododendron ‘Pink Delight’ 1
*Dysoxylum spectabile
93 Rhododendron ‘Rubrum’ 14
Edgeworthia gardneri 3 * Sophora microphylla 21
*Metrosideros fulgens
5 *Vitex lucens 7
*Pittosporum umbellatum 4
Total feeding observations: 601
The value of camellias as a source of floral nectar for some New Zealand birds has long been recognised, but their
importance in that regard has been little studied and remains unrecorded in the scientific literature. As early as
1924, W. W. Smith, who was Curator of Pukekura Park from 1908-1920, wrote that every winter and early spring
the Tui was to be seen in New Plymouth “sucking the honey from kowhai, eucalyptus and single camellias”
(Taranaki Herald 29/12/1924). Duncan & Davies Ltd, Nurserymen of New Plymouth, whose principal V.C. (later
Sir Victor) Davies became a member of the Pukekura Park Board in 1932, recognized the value of single flowered
camellias as a source of nectar for birds. For example, in their 1939 Catalogue of Choice Nursery Stock they included
single flowered camellias in a list of native and introduced plants sold by them which produced berries or honey
for attracting birds. In an article about Arbor Day which appeared in the Taranaki Herald of 4 August 1942 it was
stated that “A popular introduced shrub, the single flowered camellia, provides a great store for honey-eating birds
during the winter”.
Camellia japonica ‘Emperor of Russia’.
Photo David Medway
Brooklands, July 2004
Jack Goodwin, when he became Curator of the Park in 1949, was impressed by the way in which camellias in
the Park had held their own, and he found seedling camellias growing freely everywhere. Goodwin observed
that camellia flowers, especially the single
pinks and reds, were “beloved” by Tuis
and Bellbirds (Anthornis melanura) (New
Zealand Camellia Bulletin 2(4) (1961): 5-8).
Subsequent anonymous authors of “Out
in the Park” articles in the Daily News also
attested to the importance of camellias
as a source of floral nectar in the Park.
For example - “Most varieties of camellia
are coming into flower now much to the
delight of the tuis and the waxeyes which fly
from flower to flower gathering the nectar.
Camellias are an important source of food at
this time of the year for these birds” (Daily
Photo David Medway
News 2/7/1965); “Camellias are featured
prominently throughout Pukekura Park.
Tui feeding at flowers of Prunus campanulata.
The single flowered varieties are particularly
Brooklands, August 2003.
sought after by native birds especially the
tuis” (Daily News 15/8/1969); “Camellias are
prominent subjects throughout Pukekura Park and create a real attraction for native birds including the occasional
bellbird, numerous tuis and of course waxeyes. These birds can be seen on the single flowered varieties foraging for
nectar” (Daily News 12/6/1970); “Camellias are plentiful and are a constant source of nourishment to the native
birds” (Daily News 30/7/1971); and “The camellia species are particularly important in providing the nectar-
feeding birds with food during the
winter months, and in bush settings
like Pukekura Park the tui will often be
seen at close quarters feeding on these
flowers” (Daily News 16/8/1979).
Camellias of many sorts and ages are
numerous in the Park. Of particular
importance among them as sources of
floral nectar for Tui during my study,
as will be seen from Table 2, were
the old, large C. japonica ‘Emperor of
Russia’ growing on the main lawn at
Brooklands, and the plants of C. tsaii,
C. hybrid ‘Margaret Waterhouse’, C.
hybrid ‘Clarrie Fawcett’, C. hybrid
Photo David Medway
‘Citation’, and C. reticulata ‘Shot Silk’
Tui feeding at flowers of Rhododendron arboreum delavayi.
which are in the Camellia Collection on
Rhododendron Dell, July 2002.
Racecourse Walk in Pukekura Park.
Many of the “unnamed/unidentified cultivars” mentioned in Table 2 are single or semi-double flowered C. japonica
or C. saluenensis seedlings that are unnamed. Several of the camellia cultivars at which I saw Tui feeding during
my study have names that have not been registered. For example, ‘Tui’s Tucker’ and ‘Tui’s Mate’ are unregistered
names given by George Fuller, Curator of the Park from 1965-1990, to two large, single-flowered C. japonica
seedlings growing near the Shortland Street entrance to the Park. I have included my observations of Tui feeding
at the flowers of Gordonia chrysandra. Although this plant is not a camellia, it has camellia-like single flowers and
is also a member of the Theaceae family.
Table 2. Number of observations of Tui feeding at camellia flowers in June-August 2003
and in June-August 2004.
C. japonica ‘Emperor of Russia’
93 C. reticulata ‘Ross Clark’
5
C. tsaii
50 C. reticulata ‘Howard Asper’
5
C. hybrid ‘Margaret Waterhouse’
48 C. fraterna ‘Pink’
5
C. hybrid ‘Clarrie Fawcett’
40 C. hybrid ‘Pink WDC’
4
C. hybrid ‘Citation’
39 C. japonica ‘Kon-wabisuke’
4
C. reticulata ‘Shot Silk’
36 C. hybrid ‘Fairy Blush’ 4
C. japonica ‘Tui’s Mate’
21 C. reticulata ‘William Hertrich’ 3
C. transnokoensis
17 C. cuspidata
2
C. japonica ‘Tui’s Tucker’
17 C. reticulata ‘Inspiration’
2
C. hybrid ‘Dr Lesley’
16 C. reticulata ‘Crimson Robe’
2
C. reticulata ‘Confucius’
13 C. wabisuke ‘Tarokaja’
2
C. hybrid ‘Kunming x Parker’
12 C. japonica ‘R.L.Wheeler’
2
C. hybrid ‘Cornish Snow’
11 C. hybrid ‘Donation’
1
C. rosiflora
9 C. hybrid ‘Wirlinga Belle’
1
C. reticulata ‘Willow Wand’
6 C. hybrid ‘Gay Buttons’
1
C. chekiangoleosa
5 C. tsaii x fraterna
1
C. reticulata ‘Cornelian’
5 Gordonia chrysandra
9
C. unnamed/unidentified cultivars
155
Total feeding observations: 646
The anonymous author of an “Out in the Park” article in the Daily News of 6 September 1979 considered that
Tui are attracted to the Park by a continuing food supply through the winter. My study indicates that many of
the camellias and the Formosan Cherries growing in the Park are of prime importance as sources of floral nectar
for Tui during that time of year. The availability of suitable native and, especially, introduced nectar resources is
almost certainly the main reason why so many Tui are attracted to the Park, and reside there throughout the cooler
months. The continued provision of those resources in adequate number and variety will help ensure that the Park
remains an outstanding year-round habitat for Tui.
Reproduced from the Magazine of the Friends of Pukekura Park New Plymouth Inc.
Volume 3 No 2 (June 2008), Pages 3 - 6.
