Ruru in white rātā

Meet ‘Ruru in the White rātā’

️ Did you know that there are 10 species of rātā native to New Zealand??

3 trees (1 of which is white Bartlett’s rātā which is endangered) , 1 shrub and and 6 climbing vines (two of which are white)

trees can live for aprox 1000 years

Pōhutukawa and rātā are members of the Myrtle family. They are all under potential threat from the fungal disease myrtle rust which is now established in New Zealand.

Did you know Morepork (Ruru) lay almost perfectly round eggs (about the size of ping pong balls) and incubate rolled under their wings rather than sitting on them ???

Virtually silent in flight

Can turn their heads 270 degrees

Considered a ‘Watchful Gardian’ seeing them is considered a good sign, unless they utter a peircing ‘yelp’ call instead of their normal call… this can be an ominous forewarning of bad news or events.

Morepork are not considered endangered, however their numbers are in decline. We can support the population by choosing to plant large growing trees, preferably native and by being responsible pet owners.

I paired these two together because there is a myth that seems to have originated in the South island in which during the the fight between the forest birds and sea birds the former were defeated, and the life of Ruru who was the leader of the birds was saved by Rata who was venturing to avenge his father. Later, when Rata had his felled tree re-erected by the forest birds on account of his neglect of the proper ceremonial, it was Ruru who assisted him, taught him the ceremony and asked the forest birds to fashion the canoe for him. (This is a story for another time…. another feathered friend is also included in it).

The reason for choosing white vs crimson is more to make it a talking point to raise awareness for the huge range of sub species.