non NZ birds mistakenly shown as NZ birds....

General birdwatching discussion, help with bird identification, and all other things relating to wild birds and birding in NZ that don't fit in one of the other forums.
Peter R
Posts: 20
Joined: Sun May 15, 2016 1:33 pm

Re: non NZ birds mistakenly shown as NZ birds....

Postby Peter R » Wed Feb 05, 2020 3:44 pm

Just up in Auckland for a few days and they have some interesting Gulls in their car parks parking cars
Herring Gull Auckland (2).jpg
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Herring Gull Auckland.jpg
Herring Gull Auckland.jpg (262.38 KiB) Viewed 3687 times
SomesBirder
Posts: 1401
Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2012 4:02 pm

Re: non NZ birds mistakenly shown as NZ birds....

Postby SomesBirder » Mon Feb 10, 2020 2:57 pm

I visited Te Papa today. The tea towel from the older post isn't there any more, but the 'wrong kingfisher' problem was still there in a different form!
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Davidthomas
Posts: 1310
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 10:05 am

Re: non NZ birds mistakenly shown as NZ birds....

Postby Davidthomas » Mon Feb 10, 2020 6:00 pm

I was in The Warehouse in Sylvia Park yesterday when I noticed this advertising TVs... it seems people really cannot get their heads around identifying the New Zealand Kingfisher :lol:
6882EDBC-88AF-406D-B77A-2C784C7AAC2C.jpeg
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andrewcrossland
Posts: 2132
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:29 pm
Location: Christchurch

Re: non NZ birds mistakenly shown as NZ birds....

Postby andrewcrossland » Fri Mar 20, 2020 8:40 pm

And, yet again, another kingfisher..................... This time at the Warehouse!

kingfisher.JPG
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Ian McLean
Posts: 203
Joined: Sat May 11, 2013 2:29 pm

Re: non NZ birds mistakenly shown as NZ birds....

Postby Ian McLean » Mon Mar 23, 2020 9:38 am

Hello Somesbirder
In regard to the "'wrong kingfisher' problem", have you already contacted Living Light Candles to advise them of their error ?
Just checking before I send them an email.
Regards
Ian McLean
SomesBirder
Posts: 1401
Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2012 4:02 pm

Re: non NZ birds mistakenly shown as NZ birds....

Postby SomesBirder » Mon Mar 23, 2020 10:35 am

Ian McLean wrote:Hello Somesbirder
In regard to the "'wrong kingfisher' problem", have you already contacted Living Light Candles to advise them of their error ?
Just checking before I send them an email.
Regards
Ian McLean

Hi Ian,

No; I have not contacted Living Light Candles about this.
Perhaps you should let them know that they ought to be more aware of the identity of the birds that are featured in their products; on the artist's website, I see that the artist has also made two paintings of exotic falcons and one painting of what appears to be a cocoi heron, and he gives no indication of whether or not he is aware that they are not New Zealand birds.

-Somes
andrewcrossland
Posts: 2132
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:29 pm
Location: Christchurch

Re: non NZ birds mistakenly shown as NZ birds....

Postby andrewcrossland » Wed Mar 25, 2020 10:57 pm

Hi folks,

I've just been reading back through these posts and much of the use of the wrong bird has either to do with unknowledgeable people doing something like a google search and simply getting the wrong species, or artists who are clearly painting from images not from real life. But the example that CMKM Stephens pointed out back in his post of 25 Jan reaches a whole new level of crazy!......

https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/n ... tare-mural

I mean, really?! That's a "Kotare"?.

I mean from the sizeable group of people involved with this project and who worked together to put these two mural birds up on the wall so their community could build some greater affiliation with nature, was there not one of them who even knew what a kotare actually looks like? Maybe that's a pretty revealing indictment on something in this country that ain't quite working - a sense of affiliation with our indigenous wildlife without actually having any familiarity with it??.......

Here are the 2 kingfishers in the mural in case you missed them: They are absolutely awesome paintings, simply gorgeous, but they're of a species of bird that lives thousands of miles away on another continent!

kingfisher 1.JPG
kingfisher 1.JPG (49.86 KiB) Viewed 3314 times


Kingfisher 2.JPG
Kingfisher 2.JPG (70.69 KiB) Viewed 3314 times



And check out the design on the matching jackets!
Someone in Wellington needs to sensitively and quietly have a friendly chat with these guys - maybe just substitute the word kingfisher for kotare and paint an actual kotare on a nearby wall?
Jan
Posts: 1871
Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2009 10:43 am
Location: Christchurch

Re: non NZ birds mistakenly shown as NZ birds....

Postby Jan » Thu Mar 26, 2020 11:16 am

I don't think non-birders properly look at a Kingfisher/Kotare at all. They may see one briefly perched somewhere but they don't register its feather patterns and exact appearance. So when they get an image of a Kingfisher from somewhere that they want to copy, they just assume any old kingfisher looks the same. Maybe if we had some of the fabulous Asian kingfishers here, this might not happen, but.....
Finn Davey
Posts: 234
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2020 9:38 am
Contact:

Re: non NZ birds mistakenly shown as NZ birds....

Postby Finn Davey » Thu Mar 26, 2020 12:23 pm

Here's another Common Kingfisher instead of a Kotare. A poster filled with geometric styled NZ birds.

https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/61220876168068346/
https://felt.co.nz/listing/213416/A2-Ne ... tional-art
Clinton9
Posts: 1008
Joined: Sat Aug 07, 2010 10:22 pm

Re: non NZ birds mistakenly shown as NZ birds....

Postby Clinton9 » Thu Mar 26, 2020 12:52 pm

These people are poorly educated people with no knowledge about our native birds.

Our NZ kingfishers are beautiful and colourful, with blue, dark green, golden plumages, and larger than Eurasian kingfishers.




andrewcrossland wrote:Hi folks,

I've just been reading back through these posts and much of the use of the wrong bird has either to do with unknowledgeable people doing something like a google search and simply getting the wrong species, or artists who are clearly painting from images not from real life. But the example that CMKM Stephens pointed out back in his post of 25 Jan reaches a whole new level of crazy!......

https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/n ... tare-mural

I mean, really?! That's a "Kotare"?.

I mean from the sizeable group of people involved with this project and who worked together to put these two mural birds up on the wall so their community could build some greater affiliation with nature, was there not one of them who even knew what a kotare actually looks like? Maybe that's a pretty revealing indictment on something in this country that ain't quite working - a sense of affiliation with our indigenous wildlife without actually having any familiarity with it??.......

Here are the 2 kingfishers in the mural in case you missed them: They are absolutely awesome paintings, simply gorgeous, but they're of a species of bird that lives thousands of miles away on another continent!

kingfisher 1.JPG

Kingfisher 2.JPG


And check out the design on the matching jackets!
Someone in Wellington needs to sensitively and quietly have a friendly chat with these guys - maybe just substitute the word kingfisher for kotare and paint an actual kotare on a nearby wall?

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