Rifleman

The Rifleman, known in Maori as titipounamu, is New Zealand's smallest surviving native bird, weighing only a few grams. Males are bright olive-green above with pale underparts, while females are duller, streaky brown, both sexes sharing a very short tail that gives the bird an almost tail-less, rounded silhouette, and a fine, slightly upturned bill.

It belongs to the ancient family Acanthisittidae, the New Zealand wrens, an evolutionary lineage that split from all other songbirds tens of millions of years ago and today survives only as the Rifleman and the rarer Rock Wren, all other members having gone extinct in recent centuries. Constantly active, Riflemen move in short, whirring flights and quick hops as they search tree trunks and branches for tiny insects.

Key field marks

• Tiny size, New Zealand's smallest bird
• Very short tail giving a rounded, almost tail-less silhouette
• Male: bright olive-green upperparts, pale underparts
• Female: streaky brown upperparts, duller than male
• Fine, slightly upturned bill

Similar species

• No other New Zealand bird is as small; the only other surviving member of its ancient family, the Rock Wren, occurs only in alpine South Island habitat and is browner with a longer tail than the male Rifleman's green.
• Silvereyes are similarly small but show a distinct white eye-ring and a proportionally longer tail, unlike the Rifleman's stub tail.

Range

Found throughout the North and South Islands of New Zealand wherever suitable native forest remains, absent from Stewart Island.

Habitat

Inhabits native forest of many types, from lowland broadleaf forest to beech forest, foraging mainly on tree trunks, branches, and foliage.

Migration

Sedentary, holding small stable territories year-round.

Behavior

Constantly active, moving in quick hops up and along branches and trunks, gleaning insects from bark and foliage, with short whirring flights between trees.

Voice

Gives extremely high-pitched, thin, almost insect-like calls, pitched so high that some people cannot hear them at all.

Feeding

Feeds almost entirely on small insects and spiders gleaned from bark crevices, moss, and foliage, working systematically up tree trunks and along branches.

Nesting

Builds an enclosed, domed nest with a side entrance in a tree cavity, crevice, or dense vegetation; both parents, and sometimes additional helpers, share incubation and feeding duties for the four to five eggs and chicks.