The kereru is the largest pigeon in New Zealand.  The head, throat, upper breast and upperparts are a metallic green with purplish sheen.  The upper breast is shaped like a babies bib and clearly stands out against the pristine white of the lower breast and underparts.  The bill is crimson with an orange tip and both the eye and feet are crimson.  The call is a soft penetrating 'kuu'.

The kereru is herbivorous and although they will eat foliage and flowers they love to eat fruit.  The favoured fruits are miro, pigeonwood, puriri, taraire, and tawa but also coprosma, elder, hangehange, kahikatea, karaka, nikau, and titoki are eaten. 

Breeding is between September and  February and is timed to coincide with certain fruits being available.  The nest is a flimsy affair, often a precariously balanced platform of sticks on a horizontal fork.  Often the egg or chick can be seen from the ground through the nest. Both adults incubate for about 30 days and the young kereru fledge at between 30 - 45 days old.

Photography by: Simon Fordham © (left) and Dr Kerry Rodgers © (right)

References: Heather, B.D.; Robertson, H.A. 2000 The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand. Auckland, Viking.