Why save native birdlife if all they do is sing from dawn till dusk?

[Shaka_Khan]

I've never heard of a Tui before.

Birds help spread the forest by swallowing the seeds of the trees and then dumping them on the ground.

[CountArach]

I get birds nesting above my room every now and again. You get used to it.

[LittleGrizzly]

My old house used to be terrible for bird noises, there used to be an owl going all through the night replaced by some chirpy birds in the early hours...

[El Diablo]

A tui is a native bird of New Zealand and is (to the best of my knowledge) not found anywhere else. It was also known as a "Parsons bird" due to the white tuft making it look like a "vicar".

They used to be very rare around the suburbs of Wellington until they built a predator proof fence around Wellington's old water reserviour site (near Karori) and made a bird santuary in the midst of the city. An absolutely terrific idea and if you are ever in Wellington I highly recommend a trip there, tui, kaka and now they even have a few Tuatara (lizards species as old as dinosaurs) as well.

But as the link from the OP suggested people (in a noisey city) are complaining about the noise of a few birds. Pretty funny and stupid really. Plus to complain the ring the sanctuary to complain - like they are the sanctuary's pets!!

As for Kea they are not a huge problem (like monkeys can be) as there are not that many of them and their habitat is pretty limited and does not really overlap with people apart from on ski fields etc. They are up there as one of the coolest animals on the planet - just for sheer personality.

[Louis VI the Fat]

a bird santuary in the midst of the city. An absolutely terrific idea and if you are ever in Wellington I highly recommend a trip there, tui, kaka and now they even have a few Tuatara (lizards species as old as dinosaurs) as well.

My other post in this thread about me being an avid birdwatcher was, of course, humourous nonsense. (I should really learn that it works better in a bar, told with animated gestures and to people who know bloody well that the last thing I'd do is lay down in the mud and stare at birds. Not to mention, that if cut off from modern civilisation, I'd die within hours.)

Nevertheless, things like the quote above is why NZ is one of those countries that will invariably make me green with envy. In my next life I so want to be born there. Or maybe I should spend a few months out of this one for an extensive trip there, and see a few Polynesian Islands in the neighbourhood as well. Should be great.

[Adrian II]

Birds are overrated. I've said it before.

[TruePraetorian]

With the expanding "Empire" of humanity, the species of the Aves class (wikipedia is makes me look s-m-r-t ) known as birds are going to eventually either fall out of the sky from CO2 posioning or turn black and have smokers coughs instead of tweeting, so I say take the shotgun option and get some sleep