New Zealand pigeon
The
New Zealand pigeon or
kererū is a bird endemic to New Zealand. Māori call it
kererū in most of the country but
kūkupa and
kūkū in some parts of the North Island, particularly in Northland. Commonly called
wood pigeon, they are distinct from the wood pigeon of the Northern Hemisphere, which is a member of a different genus. The New Zealand pigeon belongs to the family Columbidae, and the subfamily Treroninae, which is found throughout Southeast Asia, Malaya, Africa and New Zealand. The members of this subfamily feed largely on fruits, mainly drupes. New Zealand pigeons are members of the pigeon genus
Hemiphaga, which is endemic to the New Zealand archipelago and Norfolk Island. However recently a
Hemiphaga bone was found on Raoul Island. The Chatham pigeon or Chatham Island pigeon is traditionally considered a subspecies of the kererū, but is here treated as a separate species.