South Island Kokako

Open encyclopedia reference

The South Island kōkako (Callaeas cinereus) is a forest bird endemic to the South Island and Stewart Island of New Zealand. Unlike its close relative, the North Island kōkako (C. wilsoni), it has largely orange wattles, with only a small patch of blue at the base, and was also known as the orange-wattled crow (though it was not a corvid). The last accepted sighting in 2007 was the first considered genuine since 1967, although there have been several other unauthenticated reports – (and see note about search campaign below). In 2012 the Department of Conservation revised its criteria for species extinction to be consistent with international standards, meaning that "there is no reasonable doubt that the last individual has died", and only after "exhaustive surveys" of its known range have failed. After this change, the possible sighting of the bird near Reefton in 2007 was accepted. That decision was not unanimous: the panel chair didn't believe it, and doesn't believe that the bird still exists despite his name being associated with its 'rediscovery'.

Wikipedia contributors, South Island kōkako; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:17:42.809637+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Callaeas cinereus (J. F. Gmelin, 1788)

Name authority

(J. F. Gmelin, 1788)

Common name

South Island Kokako

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Callaeidae

Genus

Callaeas

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. genusCallaeas J. R. Forster, 1788
12. speciesCallaeas cinereus (J. F. Gmelin, 1788)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Callaeas. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 5 records assigned to Callaeidae.

Names & synonyms

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

Documented distribution

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

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=729197 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

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:PKWS. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.