I taw I taw a putty tat.

Talking birds always intrigue me. Maybe it has something to do with my childhood love of Tweety Bird and Woody the Woodpecker. The birds in New Zealand are really cool. Recently we've become acquainted with the Tui, a sort of crow looking bird with a white tuft on the throat. They sound like R2D2 on acid. Here's a video of one we found on our walk...

And here's a video of a Tui bird at a bird recovery center in New Zealand that TALKS!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqF33vc_q68

More cool birds we saw in New Zealand on our trip last year to the South Island (all photos are copyrighted and property of Melissa Cox - all rights reserved):

Bellbird (wild)

Kaka (in sanctuary)

Takahē (in sanctuary, extremely endangered - only 263 remaining in beginning of 2013)