Takahē
flightless bird from New Zealand
The South Island takahē (Porphyrio hochstetteri) is a flightless swamphen indigenous to New Zealand and the largest living member of the rail family. It is often known by the abbreviated name takahē, which it shares with the recently (14th century) extinct North Island takahē. The two takahē species are also known as notornis.
Takahē were hunted extensively by both early European settlers and Māori, and takahē bones have been found in middens in the South Island. Fossil remains have also been found across the South Island. They were not named and described by Europeans until 1847, and then only from fossil bones. In 1850 a living bird was captured, and three more collected in the 19th century. After another bird was captured in 1898, and no more were to be found, the species was presumed extinct. Fifty years later, however, after a carefully planned search, South Island takahē were dramatically rediscovered in November 1948 by Geoffrey Orbell in an isolated valley in the South Island's Murchison Mountains. The species is now managed by the New Zealand Department of Conservation, whose Takahē Recovery Programme maintains populations on several offshore islands as well as Takahē Valley.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Takahē” as flightless bird from New Zealand. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as flightless bird from New Zealand. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q212302. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1847, 1850, 1898 and 1948.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.
- Current terminology
- Classification context
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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.
Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Takahē” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.