How Much is a Bird in the Hand Worth?

When I was a very little child the current issue (1898) of pictorial postage stamps had the huia as the image on the 3d stamp. I lived in Wellington and into the 1930s there were still reported (perhaps imagined) sightings of the almost certainly extinct bird in the Rimutaka range north of the city. The huia tail feathers were a prized possession for Māori rangatira.

So far as the Methodist Church of New Zealand is concerned two people are worth recalling. Walter Lawry Buller was the son of James Buller, one of the early missionaries. He was born in the Hokianga region in 1838, and after his education in Auckland moved to Wellington with his family in 1855. Because of his mission station background, he was employed as an interpreter in the Magistrate’s Court in the capital city. As the network of magistracies in Māori districts expanded, he moved up the ranks - serving in the Manawatu and in Whanganui. He was deeply involved in adjudicating in matters relating to land sales. From his schooldays he had had an interest in natural history, and when just 19 became a fellow of the Linnean Society in London. He was a leader in Wellington's scientific circles, especially in the subject of ornithology.

In his mid-30s he had put together the material for a comprehensive treatise on this subject. He got official approval and financial support for the publication of his book in London, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar. In 1873 he published his A History of the Birds of New Zealand. His career was one of continuing success. Though he failed in his quest to enter the New Zealand Parliament, he was knighted for his services, and even became a Fellow of the Royal Society in London. On retirement, he settled in the Horowhenua region, but found life there not so much to his liking. He returned to London where he died. His standing in matters relating to land and conservation is a mixed one – he was sceptical about the survival of the Māori people and of their land, though he supported some of the first moves to establish sanctuaries. A first edition of his magnum opus is now a treasure and his achievements are many.

At a different level we honour Bernard Henry Norris Teague. Born in Feilding in 1903, he died at Wairoa aged 79. He had a calling to ministry, and after some years in the Post Office, finally as a postman in back country Taranaki, became a Home Missionary, serving in Kaitaia, Uruti, Murchison, Cromwell and Wairoa over a period of 13 years from 1924.

Bernard Teague was a man used to hard work. After leaving the ministry he was engaged in the construction of the Napier/Wairoa rail link. He married and settled in Wairoa where he established a nursery and plant shop. He became a borough councillor and maintained his links with the church as a local preacher.

But it was the outdoors that had captured his imagination. For many years he contributed articles to the NZ Railways Magazine under the pseudonym of Will Wandafar. He wrote particularly about his own region - the Northern Hawkes Bay - and his articles were published in various NZ newspapers. His ‘wanderings’ evoked his creative abilities as a naturalist. He was referred to as a ‘mountaineer and poet’, and he turned his curiosity into practical service as an honorary ranger in the Urewera National Park and as a local historian for Wairoa. His daughter, Bronwyn Elsmore, has published a selection of his writings under the title Will Wandafar (Nagare Press, 2003). He was also an early member of the NZ Forest and Bird Society. He is a fine example of practical service, coupled with a remarkable gift for sharing his experiences and his vision. Birds make us raise our heads – that is no bad thing.

The New Zealand Bird of the Century competition attracted a record number of votes this year after the intervention of an American comedian John Oliver gained worldwide attention. On Wednesday 15 November the Forest and Bird Society announced the pūteketeke was the bird of the century.