May 31, 2026
It was a Wednesday afternoon in May and as this Rejigit writer was exiting a library, a fine specimen of a bird swooped down like a missile out of the blue onto the pavement. There were three of us who were fortunate enough to be exactly on the scene. It was recognised as being a New Zealand Falcon (Kārearea).
In order to check more closely on its well-being albeit from a very layman point of view, one of the three onlookers was game enough to pick Fernando the Falcon up and after an initial flurry of feathers it settled comfortably on his arm. It became more obvious it was extraordinarily tame, to the extent it allowed for its beautiful plumage to be gently stroked. It seemed unbanded, uninjured, bright-eyed and in very fine form. After a minute or two showing itself off and without so much as a “see ya later”, it took off.
This writer was standing less than two meters away taking photos of what could otherwise have been an unbelievable encounter and alarmingly it rose up as if to make a landing on my head. Fortunately there was only a light touch and go during which the vicious looking talons made gentle contact with the top of my head and it flew on. It might otherwise have been a matter of “Scalped by a Falcon”.
The New Zealand Falcon (Kārearea) Falco novaeseelandiae is the country's only endemic bird of prey. It can dive at speeds exceeding 200kph to seize prey in mid-air and it is highly territorial.
The species is deemed to be threatened and is highly protected. Its image features on the New Zealand twenty dollar note.
Falcons were first noticed by Europeans during Captain Cook’s voyages to New Zealand. A Falcon caught in 1773 by the crew of Cook’s ship Resolution was described as being “really delicious roasted.” Bloody heathens!
It is a single species of Raptor found in three ecological variants: Bush Falcon, the smallest and darkest from the North Island and north-west South Island; Eastern Falcon the largest and lightest from eastern and central South Island; Southern Falcon, intermediate in size and colour from Fiordland, Stewart Island and Auckland Island. Body length is known to be 36-48cm and wingspan 66-91cm. Their diet includes a range of live animals and birds but includes insects, mammals and lizards.
The New Zealand Falcon is recognised internationally as one of the bravest and most aggressive of the Falcon species. Males and females are known to hunt cooperatively in pairs.
There are thirty eights species of Falcon world wide. Peregrine Falcons have been timed at 322 kph during hunting flights elsewhere in the world.