Huia by John Gould

Limited Edition Print

Print size in mm: 670 x 510
Numbered limited edition of 1000 prints published by Avon Fine Prints (we now have only 2 prints of this edition left!) Sold Out

The Huia, with its distinctive blue-black plumage, orange wattles and white tipped tail-feathers is one of New Zealand's most famous extinct birds. Confined to remnants of native forest it was mainly found in the Ruahine, Tararua and Rimutaka ranges - although sightings in the colonial era were reported in other areas from Nelson to South Auckland. A unique feature of the Huia was the difference between male and female beak shapes. The male, with his short chisel like beak, would chip away the wood of decayed trees allowing the female to dig out insects with her much longer curved beak. For Maori the Huia was tapu (sacred) - only the most distinguished chiefs could wear its feathers. One iwi revered the Huia so much that it adoped the bird's name - Ngati Huia and a single Huia feather sold at auction in 2010 for a world record $NZ8000. The last reported sighting of a Huia was in 1907.

The orginal painting that this splendid print by John Gould is taken from would have been made from a pair of Huia collected in the wild.

This limited edition print of Huia features in these collections at New Zealand's specialist art print gallery:

John Gould Prints
NZ Bird Prints