This is Bird Note.

A forest in New Zealand

rings with the sound of bellbirds,

whose indigenous name is Corimako.

Corimako are eight-inch mossy green birds

with dark wings and tail,

a purple sheen on the face, and red eyes.

They use their down-curved beaks and brush-tipped tongues to feed on nectar from flowers,

which they pollinate while they feed.

Many birds sing together, especially in the morning.

Pears sing duets, and a pair may counter-sing with its neighbors,

perhaps letting them know that this patch of land is taken.

It all builds to a brilliant ringing dawn chorus.

Yeah. ringing dawn chorus. Cori-Mako populations were drastically reduced in the 19th and early 20th century by disease and rats.

Thanks to predator control, their numbers are increasing in some places.

So their brilliant songs may ring through forests for years to come.

For Bird Note, I'm Mary McCann.

Bird Note gives you the sounds of birds every day,

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at BirdNote Radio.