Wildlife in Aotearoa by Gavin Bishop, Puffin (Penguin Random House, 2019)
Poetry Box’s last challenge of the year has seen a record number of poem arrivals and it has taken me days to read them all and write back which is why I am posting today and not November 30th.
To get such a swag of heart warming poetry inspired by Gavin’s book and the birds, animals and fish of our country is AMAZING. Wow! I have loved the fascinating facts and the way you used your ears and eyes.
I loved the way you have been inventive and thoughtful. I loved the way your words danced and sung. I loved the way messages about caring for our planet were important. So many different ways to write a wildlife poem. So much poetry joy!
I have added macrons on Māori words so let me know if I missed one please.
I am very sad I couldn’t pick all your poems but I have tried to get a range of subjects and styles and locations.
I know you are all passionate writers and remember that is what matters – when I don’t get picked (it happens!!) I just remind myself how happy writing makes me. And I write another poem. Or book!
Watch out for my summer challenge! Do follow my blog so you can do things next year with me! And yes – I will do a wrap post in a few weeks maybe with a secret summer challenge or three.
I put names in a hat as I read all your poems as this is a challenge not a competition and I pulled out these: I am sending Ava (Russley School, Christchurch) Gavin Bishop’s Wildlife in Aoteaoa thanks to Penguin Random House. I am sending Groovy Fish to Maddison (Churton Park School, Wellington), Niamh (Westemere School, Auckland), Mia D (Selwyn House).
PS I will have a copy of Groovy Fish for someone who emails me and tells me which poem they like here and why! Open to any age – even adults! paulajoygreen@gmail.com
The wildlife poems
Morepork
A morepork hoots while I’m in bed
I look out the window and I see its soft feathers
It’s sitting on a branch in my garden saying “morepork morepork”
It looks around and stares at me without blinking.
Ivy M age: 6 Y2 Ilam Primary School, Christchurch
Kiwi
Kiwi have nostrils on the tip of their beaks.
Kiwi are nocturnal.
Kiwi’s beaks make noises that squeak.
Kiwi eat wētā and worms.
The worms wriggle and squirm.
Kiwi feathers are as soft as a feather floating in the sky.
Sophie C Age 6 Westmere School
Tūī Fly
Tūī fly
in the sky.
They hunt for food
way up high.
They dive down on to trees
and suck the nectar… yummy!
Sofia C Age 6 Westmere School
Haast Eagle
Claws curled
Claws jagged
Claws are samurai swords
Beak big
Beak large
Beak pointy as a shard of glass
It is ready to fight
Wings grand
Wings mighty
Wings wide as a vast desert
Hunt
Hunt
Hunt
Soaring through the sky, searching for moa…
By Hunter L Aged 9 LS5 Westmere School
Kiwi
Kiwi only come out at night.
They have short wings,
and are not good at flight.
Kiwi eat wētāa
wētā are crunchy.
They eat them on Tuesday night,
and wētāaare munchy.
Kiwi put their beaks in the ground to get bugs.
Their feathers are soft as silk.
Rory D Age 5 Westmere School
The dance of a Tui
A tūī’s dance is like a powerful blizzard.
Its wings flap up and down like the ocean waves.
My tūī’s beak rattles,
remembering her previous journeys to Akaroa.
Her feathers tell stories to warn her friends of oncoming climate change.
Eileen C, age 9, Ilam School
Pīwakawaka
On the Heaphy track
little pīwakawaka flutters
in the air and snatches
the sandflies before they bite me.
“Peep, peep, peep, peep,”
she sings and opens her throat
and fan and dances
with great joy.
She hoovers up spiders
and grub that dare come near
her cup nest lined with hairs
and covered in soft webs.
When the wind rises
above the strong kauri,
pīwakawaka returns to her nest
and two of her eggs,
to sleep and warm them.
Tom N Age 11 Year 6 Hoon Hay School/Te Kura Koaka
Fantail
Funny fantail wiggling its tail
Acrobatically flying through the trees
Nosy little creatures
Twittering chattering squeaking
Always putting a smile on people’s faces
In the shade of a pōhutukawa tree
Lovely little fantail!!!
D’Artagnan R Age 10 LS7 Westmere School
A Tuatara
I am a tuatara
I live in a rocky burrow on an island
I am 1 of 100,000 and more are dying
I smell mushy murky mud
I hear birds singing and trees rustling
I feel sharp rocks underneath my scaly feet
I taste raw crunchy wētā in my mouth
I see forest wherever I go
I walk around seeking for bird eggs or something to eat
I love being a tuatara
And I love being me.
Joe M Age 9 LS8 Westmere School
Special penguin
Little blue penguins
Have wings but can not fly.
Dog are predators.
The world’s smallest
Penguins nest in burrows or
holes
1kgs standing over 30cm.
I’m as blue as a sapphire
As tall as a chair.
Living in Antarctica where it’s freezing
Cold and just perfect for ice-skating.
Olivia C Y4 Fendalton school
Tuatara
Beware
I am the Tuatara
The Tuatara with three eyes
The Tuatara who lives in a self constructed burrow
Beware
I am the Kererū
The Kererū that weighs 650g
The Kererū with a white chest
Beware
I am the Albatross
The Albatross with the largest wingspan of any bird
The Albatross that can travel 10,000 miles in a single journey
Maddison A Age: 11 Year: 6 Churton Park School
Chatham Island Robin
Tiny button eyes
Ebony black feathers
Spindly twig legs
The Chatham Island robin
Scouring the forest
For wētā and worms
Always on the run
From malicious cats and rats
Racing across
The forest floor
There’s barely any of us left
Only 234
In summer
I care for my young
Hiding them away
From stoats and other scum
A violent squeal
Is what I call
When danger comes
My eggs are speckled
Beige and brown
Like a chicken’s
But smaller
At night I retire
To my nest
I tuck my tiny beak in my feathers
And rest
The Chatham Island robin
Cheers!
Sophie B age 10, Y6, Churton Park School
Our old friends
Did you happen to know
We have a dinosaur of our own.
It’s called a tuatara,
And they don’t like to be in the mara.*
These guys fan out their spikes,
And rats these guys don’t like,
They’re 200 million years old,
Which explains why they look like mould.
They also have wrinkles,
They don’t look like sprinkles.
Our friends have more than two eyes,
They just love to eat all blowflies
Our tuatara has been alive,
for quite some million years time,
So if you see our old friend,
Some time with him you should spend!
* Māori name for garden
Mahinaarangi W Age: 10 Richmond Road School
Poi eee!!
Tuft of a white fluffy poi… (EEE)
Unique as a little elephant
Indestructible
Sounds like a Squawking duck, and a Squeaking owl.
Paora S age 11 Richmond Road School
Noisy Kiwi
Crac crac crac
Kiwi stomping here
Pipi pip pip
Kiwi picking here
Grr grr grr
Kiwi bitter here
So noisy and cute
Yet forests seem mute…
Name: Alex E Age: 7 Y2 Ilam School
Beautiful Ruru
Looking up at the beautiful Moon
I hear the sound of a ruru
Its beautiful massive yellow eyes
Silently staring into mine
I gaze – wondering what to say
Come my friend, come out to play
Ilah age 8 Year 4 Maoribank School
Kiwi bird – deep in a forest
Long lost in the forest in a place warm as heaven
I hear your sound – “Ki- wi ki – wi ”
Your whiskers so helpful
Your feathers but no wings
But again, I hear you deep in the forest
So I sing to you
Oh kiwi so brown you run but don’t fly
But you’re still a special bird on my mind
Kiwi bye bye
Lost deep in the forest
My mum says “It’s time to go”
I will see you again
Now found in the forest
Kylesha M 8 years old Year 3 Maoribank School
Kakapo tries to fit in
Chubby little bird what a cutie he can be
He’s cousins with a Kaka who’s really quite neat.
His sharp claws can make him fit in with Kea
Who might tease him about his weight and sneer.
His song is too simple for a group of popular Tui
His fashion’s a bit trashin and his feathers are gooey.
A Kiwi’s nose is grand compared to his short stubby one
Yellow eyed penguins? Nah yellow eyes I have none.
There’s a Fantail, Kakapo says with hope
He’s chubby like me…. his tail is too cool, I bet he’ll just say nope.
Kakapo feels sad inside, his eyes well up with tears
Even the blue billed duck is not weird enough to be one of my peers.
He looks up and Takahe says don’t cry your exactly like me
You see.
I won’t tease you about your weight cause your belly’s just like mine
Your voice is average, it really is in line.
Your nose is the same as mine and who wants a big nose
Yellow eyes, who wants those.
Brown are the best, right
A big tail, hmm you would blow away like a kite.
So please be my friend and don’t decline.
Alexander F, age 10, Ilam School, Christchurch
The Special Penguin
I am a Little Blue Penguin,
the smallest one of all
I live for about 6 years,
Scientifically called Eudyptula minor.
I come out in the cover of darkness,
hide inside my burrows in the day.
I eat fish, squid or krill it is the best.
My feathers are as soft as velvet
I tweet a happy song.
Swimming round the ocean,
Now the day has gone.
Leona K age 9 Selwyn House
Ruru
Yellow eyes so big and bold
Peering through the old hollow tree.
He turns his head round 270 degrees
And flies down and digs his talons
into a termite nest.
Sensitive eyes to the sun pointy beak
Who knows where he is in Punakaiki
Georgia 8 Selwyn House School
Little Blue Penguin
My little blue flippers
flap away in the water.
My white streamlined stomach
Rumbles and moans.
My dark grey beak
Chomps away
on any food I find.
I swim away from the sharks
towards the plankton.
I am the Little Blue Penguin
Shivering in a cave in Akaroa.
Anneliese S age 11, Selwyn House School
A bat is what your looking at…
Flap
flitter
in the night.
A bird
an insect
not at all.
A bat is what your looking at.
It scoops an insect.
Gobble, gobble.
Yum, yum, yum!
A bat is what your looking at.
This one isn’t normal though…
a native New Zealand bat,
as little as a mouse, bat,
As squeaky as a rubber duck, bat…
a long-tailed bat.
Quite rare they are,
fluffy on their head,
and boy their wings can spread.
Ella M LS6 Westmere School age 10
Longfin Eels
Slither sliding like a sea snake,
Live in rivers, inland lakes,
Hunt at night in the dark,
Eating drinking like a shark,
Feed on fish and water snails,
Have sharp teeth like a killer whale,
They don’t look like an eagle
but they use noses like a beagle,
They are here and they are there,
Longfin eels are quite rare
They are never really seen
They do have eyes but they can’t see
I love eels and you should to,
They are sweet and you are too.
Jemma L Westmere School Y6 age 10
Big Brown
He feels as soft
As a pillow.
And he’s beautiful as
Bright flowers.
He walks like a
Waddling penguin.
And squawks like an
Old squeaky tractor.
He is as brown
As milk chocolate.
As he lies in his
Cosy burrow he nibbles
On earthworms.
The big kiwi
Is very rare
We need to look after
him with care.
Olive W, LS6, Age: 10, Westmere School
Life as a Kea
My beautiful orange feathers flash up and down
As I fly up and down the West Coast.
My olive green feathers,
wave in the wind.
When I hop around the frosty floor,
I munch on berries
And an audience crowds around me.
I am a fan of car window wipers.
At the end of the day
I fly back to the ski field
and huddle in the freezing snow.
Mia age 11 Selwyn House School
Giant kōkopu
Declining in numbers
20 years living
300-400mm long
Speedy predators
Close to extinction.
Kōura
Camouflaged in the lake bed
Moulting leaving behind the previous covering
Hunted by large trout and shags
Hunted by us for a crayfish snack.
Gemma H Age 11 year 6 Churton Park School
Saddleback
The saddle burnt on it’s back
Noisy and active
Foraging for food
In the NZ forest
Aidan C, aged 11 Year 6 Churton Park School
Wildlife
Be amazed by
The flightless, nocturnal Kākāpō
That makes ‘Boom! Boom! Boom!’ noises at night.
Be amazed by
The giant, vicious Haast’s Eagle
That hunts for Moa with a bird’s eye view.
By Emily Y Age:11 Year 6 Churton Park School
Manukura
Watch out for
The only white kiwi
Known to the world
Manukura is her name
Digging her nose
Into the dirt
To find
Something to eat
They saw her as a tohu
A sign, a gift to the world
So they named her Manukura
A brave strong leader
Madison R Churton Park School age 11
Be amazed by
The slimy Archey’s frog
Growing up to four centimeters long
Jumping from tree to tree
camouflaging from its predators
James age: 10, year: 6, Churton Park School
Upokororo
Dead in reality
But alive in our hearts
It haunts the waters
Where it once laid
The fin that transfers from red to blue
Mesmerizes us all
Where did it go in the 1930s?
The mystery is a secret we shall never know
from now on and into the future
We will never know the mystery of the grayling fish
Jack M Age 11 Year 6 Churton Park School
The fantail
I’m in a myth
I’m small and magnificent bird
I flit around in the forests
And make a `cheet cheet’ sound.
I eat fruit flies and berries
I’m black, white, brown and orange and small.
So that’s what I am!
Catherine S Year:4 Age:8 Fendalton School
Fairy Tern
Fairy tern
Trying to survive with
Only 40 left living
They hover over fish
And eat
to keep
Their species alive
Sounding like squawking penguins
Fairy tern
Now I want to tell you
How to save the
Fairy tern…
So next time you see a fairy tern
Be aware of what I’m about to tell you.
Stay away from nesting grounds
And keep predators away, hey!
Miro P Age 9 LS8 Westmere School
Kārearea
Kārearea
The only native raptor in New Zealand
Feathers black as an eclipse
Flying through the sky
Talons as sharp as blades
It’s a meat eater
carnivore
It’s beak is like a knife
Predator of the sky
By Elliot P Age 7 LS5 Westmere School
Kingfisher
King fisher
Smart fisher
Chirping at you, fisher
Meat fisher
Treat fisher
Eating all the insects, fisher
Blue fisher
White fisher
Royal to New Zealand, fisher
Special fisher
Cheeky fisher
Luckily not endangered, fisher
Forest fisher
Flying fisher
Diving for food, fisher
Diurnal fisher
Pretty fisher
Flying like a bullet, fisher
Although I’m not endangered…
please protect me fisher!
Niamh Cotton 9 Westmere School
NEW ZEALAND FAIRY TERN
small, white, grey and black
feathers flutter wildly
twisting over the ocean
looking for a fishy prey
feet and beak shine
like newly minted coins
as they dive towards
the shimmering ocean
their ovoid eggs lie waiting
like hidden treasure
in a sandy dip
by the shore
Ava M, 11 yrs Russley School
THE BRIGHTEST NIGHT
I ruffled my feathers
in the rough stormy weather
dim-lit sky withered
evening smells slithered
puddle water glimmered
as last light shimmered
Benson L, 10yr Russley School
PĪWAKAWAKA
My fluttery tail and swishy wings help me fly
I can snatch little bugs straight out of the bright, blue sky
My brother is charcoal and I am chocolate
and when people whistle, I will come right away
My nest isn’t made of hay,
I am pīwakawaka, every single day
Eabha D, Russley School
PARTY IN THE SHED
There’s a party in the shed!
There’s a party in the shed!
The humans will be sleeping
the fantail will be tweeting
the cicada will never stop screeching.
There’s a party in the shed!
There’s a party in the shed!
The kea is coming
the kaka is coming
even the kiwi will make its way.
There’s a party in the shed!
There’s a party in the shed!
The little blue’s bringing the fish
the Kererū is bringing berries
even the bellbird is bringing the worms.
As the sun rises
we know we must leave
for now the world is waking.
Eliza S, age 10, Russley School
NZ Forest
The fantail glides around, circling the trees. My footsteps crackle against the golden leaves and old twigs. The fantail is distracted by every step I take. He lands, ruffling his feathers against a nearby tree. He picks himself up and flies against the light breeze. I snap a twig off a kowhai and put it out to the left of me. He cautiously flies down and lands on the twig. I take a closer look and scan the details. He has fluffy ombre feathers like Rapunzel’s long thick hair and three toes on each side of his petite feet. I whistle a short rhythm and a whole war party of fantails float around me like miniature ships on the light blue sea.
by Kimberly C, 13yrs Russley School
Kiwi’s Features
long beak scavenging for grubs
tiny wings to tuck his beak in
when he goes to sleep
fast legs bolting from predators
a kiwi’s shrill call
like my brother’s shriek
Liam B age 9, Year 4, Russley School
Fantail
Pīwakawaka, pīwakawaka
Flitter, flutter
Spider webs
For baby’s beds
Build the nest
Have no rest
Lay the eggs
The baby begs
Off she flies
in the sky
Leo Age 8 Westmere School
Hoiho
Hoiho eats fish and squid
It lives in the South Island
It has waterproof feathers and they
shine as brighter sky
Its eyes are neon yellow like the galaxy
It waddles away from predators like a baby
Its feathers are black, yellow and white
It has small feet
The parents hunt for food
and they all feast
on fish and squid
By Diana K Age 7 Westmere School
Hāpuku
Hāpuku Hāpuku
Giant grey hāpuku
on the ocean floor
feeding on crabs
Up comes a hāpuku
running for its dad!
Stretched puku
my puku
Humungous brown hāpuku
100 kilogram hāpuku
boosting through the water
coming at the speed
of light it turns midnight.
Speeding as fast as a bullet
Could be coming round
corners a hāpuku bumps in to me
Huge puku
Humungous hammerhead puku
Hāpuku Hāpuku
By Billy LS5 Age 8 Westmere School
Powelliphanta Snails
Suck slurpy worms
Like spaghetti,
In the dark
They slither
along the
forest floor
looking for
famishing
food.
They’re nocturnal
You know
they need damp to grow.
The powelliphanta snail
has been found!
By Martha B Age 8 Westmere school
THE kōkako
I am a kōkako.
I am native to New Zealand.
I eat yummy leaves and fruit.
I have strong long legs like a stainless steel door.
The thing that makes me special is that all of my kind have rounded wings like a banana.
I sound like a screeching thing and if it is a word in English I am a scruncher.
I am endangered with an only 1300 left on the North Island.
When I fly in the air I feel free and alive.
When you are looking for me I am very hard to find.
I am a kõkako.
Julian S Age 10 LS8 Westmere School
Kaimanawa Horses
Kaimanawa horses
gallop in
the night, shining
in the moonlight. Black or
white, brown or grey,
they are always
kind. I ride on them when no one is
looking, and in the morning they vanish.
Sophie O, aged 7, Ilam School, Christchurch
The Kākāpō
The world’s only ground parrot
Comes out when the lights go out
In green feathered camouflage
Booming through the undergrowth
Calling for a mate
But not really ready to mate
Until the Rimu flowers
When facing fear
Is it fight or flight?
No, it’s freeze
Pretend to be a bush
Or moss on a tree stump
Once called the worlds ugliest
This cheeky native of NZ
Is really one of the cutest
With the longest lifespan
Yet only the smallest chance of living
Our critically endangered taonga
Precious psittacines
That scuffle and hide
They climb, they dance, they BOOM!
Some say that kākāpō can’t fly
But I know that’s a lie
Ambassador Sirocco flies like you or I…
On an AIR NZ 747!
Daniel Y6 Adventure school Wellington
