Songbird hits right note in bid to save native pigeon

Greedy, a bit dim and prone to get drunk on berries, kereru, or native wood pigeon, numbers are falling by about 20 per cent every 10 years.

The country's best-known songstress is coming to the aid of a bird that doesn't sing, isn't very bright and has a reputation for drunkenness.

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa has agreed to be patron of the $150,000 Kereru Discovery Project headed by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa in partnership with Wellington Zoo and Victoria University and due to be launched next month.

The aim is to halt the population decline of the endangered native wood pigeon, thought to be up to 20 per cent every decade.

The project includes advice on what home gardeners can do to attract the birds and a website on which city dwellers can register their properties so they can supply information about kereru in their backyards.

Apart from their size and striking iridescent-green colouring, kereru are known for their comical antics in spring and summer when they become drunk from gorging on berries which ferment in their stomachs.

Because of that, every year birds end up at the Department of Conservation or bird rescue centres.

That has contributed to their reputation for being a little dim.

"They are greedy, they have a bigger mouth proportionately than any other native bird so they can fit lots of fruit in," said project head Dr Eric Dorfman, Te Papa's head of science environment programmes.

But kereru were a favourite with the public and Dame Kiri.

"Dame Kiri was really enthusiastic and really willing to help because she has kereru on her Bay of Islands property and cares deeply about New Zealand wildlife," Dr Dorfman said.

The project, funded by the Royal Society and the Lotteries Commission, was the first of its kind in New Zealand.

"We realised the most exciting thing would be to have a public outreach programme, because the birds tend to be faithful to one site and they are one of the few native birds people see in their backyards."

The campaign will be launched on August 11 and include a documentary. A public open day at Te Papa follows on August 12.

Although Dame Kiri will speak at the launch she will not sing - and neither does the kereru. Instead, it makes a soft cooing sound, especially during the breeding season.