Maori name for the NZ Robin

[Visiting Viking]

New user here, feel free to shush me out if the topic isn't relevant for the forum.

I recently came across a NZHerald comment written by Stacy Morrison (see link below) where she writes about Mãori feminism. Not a core topic for this forum I assume, but there's also a bird mentioned in the comment which is why I've come here:

"A friend, the artist Rebecca Te Borg, asked me for a statement for her artwork for the suffrage celebrations.

We came up with "Maimoatia te karanga a te mokorā": "Respect the call of the female robin".

The mokorā/female robin has a soft call, it's not famous or renowned like the tūī. But its distinct voice is to be respected. Listen out for the voice that is often not heard."

So i really like the message of respecting voices that are often not heard, I work in primary health care and can see every day how such voices can be ignored or silenced. However, when I tried to find out more about the 'mokorã' I couldn't find much information online and the maori name for the robin seemed to be toutouwai. The only thing I found was a newpaper article from 1938 (see link 2) where Mokora (f) was one of many maori names for the robin.

I'm from Norway and I'm used to different birds having (many) local names and variations. What I'm curious about is if the name Mokora for the female robin is something that bird enthusiasts in New Zealander, both Maori and Pakeha, would know and recognize. Is it common knowledge or a local variant? Is the word used in everyday speech (for those who encounter female robins on a regular basis...)? And does Mokora refer to the female of all NZ Robin sub-species or just one?


Link 1:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/stacey-morrison-mana-wahine-embedded-in-maori-world-view/DSHCAVXQ6PCFMSAIZLICX3K2VE/

Link 2:[url]
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/perio ... 80801.2.13[/url]

[simon.fordham]

This is the 'go to' link for all words Maori:
https://www.maoridictionary.co.nz

Specific to your question is:
https://www.maoridictionary.co.nz/search?idiom=&phrase=&proverb=&loan=&histLoanWords=&keywords=mokora

Whilst we often hear about 'the' Maori name for such and such a bird, most species have numerous names due to regional variations and, in some cases, sex-specific names.

[Visiting Viking]

Thank you Simon, that was very helpful.

[Michael Szabo]

The New Zealand Birds Online website gives Maori names for each species with a Maori name:
https://www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz/

The latest Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand (5th edition, published 2022) includes an appendix with all known Maori and English bird species names: https://www.birdsnz.org.nz/society-publ ... and-birds/