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NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Huia

Heteralocha acutirostris (Gould, 1837)

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Original caption: Huia (male and female) Heteralocha acutirostris (three-fifths natural size)An illustration of a pair of Huia, a bird which went extinct in 1907 (approx). The bird in the background with the long curved beak is an adult female and the bird in the foreground is an adult male. This image was published in Buller, Walter Lawry (1888) "Huia (Heteralocha acutirostris): male and female" in A History of the Birds of New Zealand, Volume 1 (2nd ed.), London: Self-published, pp. Plate II Retrieved on 7 September 2010.

Original caption: Huia (male and female) Heteralocha acutirostris (three-fifths natural size)An illustration of a pair of Huia, a bird which went extinct in 1907 (approx). The bird in the background with the long curved beak is an adult female and the bird in the foreground is an adult male. This image was published in Buller, Walter Lawry (1888) "Huia (Heteralocha acutirostris): male and female" in A History of the Birds of New Zealand, Volume 1 (2nd ed.), London: Self-published, pp. Plate II Retrieved on 7 September 2010.

J. G. Keulemans · Public domain · Image source

Provider-generated thumbnail requested at 320 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.

Open encyclopedia reference

The huia ( HOO-yə, -⁠ee-ə; Māori: [ˈhʉia]; Heteralocha acutirostris) is an extinct species of New Zealand wattlebird, endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. The last confirmed sighting of a huia was in 1907, although there was another credible sighting in 1924. It was already a rare bird before the arrival of Europeans, confined to the Ruahine, Tararua, Rimutaka and Kaimanawa mountain ranges in the south-east of the North Island. It was remarkable for its pronounced sexual dimorphism in bill shape; the female's beak was long, thin and arched downward, while the male's was short and stout, like that of a crow. Males were 45 cm (18 in) long, while females were larger at 48 cm (19 in). The sexes were otherwise similar, with orange wattles and deep metallic, bluish-black plumage with a greenish iridescence on the upper surface, especially about the head. The tail feathers were unique among New Zealand birds in having a broad white band across the tips.

Wikipedia contributors, Huia; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T01:19:51.290660+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Heteralocha acutirostris (Gould, 1837)
Name authority
(Gould, 1837)
Common name
Huia
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Aves
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Callaeidae
Genus
Heteralocha
Extinction status
Recorded extinct

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. megaclassTetrapoda
  8. classAves
  9. orderPasseriformes
  10. familyCallaeidae Sundevall, 1836
  11. genusHeteralocha Cabanis, 1851
  12. speciesHeteralocha acutirostris (Gould, 1837)

Close classified relatives

No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.

Browse 5 records assigned to Callaeidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Recorded nameSource status
Neomorpha acutirostris Gould, 1837 Gould, 1837synonym

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Australia

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

  1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=560421 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3L75W. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.