Tītipounamu
Rifleman
Acanthisitta chloris
Their Story
The Rifleman, or Tītipounamu, is New Zealand’s smallest bird, measuring about 8 centimeters in length and weighing only 6-7 grams. Known for its small size, moss-green plumage in males, and brown in females, and constant, quick movements up tree trunks to find insects. As an ancient endemic species, they belong to the New Zealand wren family and have very high-pitched calls, sometimes in ultrasonic frequencies.
Conservation Status
Endemic
The Rifleman is endemic to New Zealand, meaning it is found nowhere else in the world.
Population
Riflemen are locally common in Nelson and in Marlborough and relatively widespread through the west of the South Island but in lower numbers in the east of the South Island. They occur at high densities throughout the eastern and southern ranges of the North Island.
Voice
A short, simple, high frequency zip, pip or chuck. Riflemen utter almost constant contact calls while foraging. Calls are produced at a high frequency often inaudible to people.
Food
Riflemen are almost exclusively insectivorous, feeding on a large variety of small invertebrates, particularly beetles, flies, spiders, and moth species (both adults and caterpillars). They occasionally consume small fruit and the contents of beech seeds.
Tītipounamu are tiny, round-bodied birds with short tails and fine, slender bills. Males are bright green above and pale below, while females are browner with a greyer tone. Both have slightly upturned bills adapted to picking insects from bark and crevices. Their high-pitched calls often reveal their presence before they are seen.
These energetic foragers move quickly along trunks and branches, often circling up and down tree trunks. They feed on small insects and spiders, gleaned from crevices in bark, moss, and lichen. Pairs and small family groups are common, maintaining contact through soft calls as they search the forest for food.
Breeding typically occurs from August to February. Pairs are monogamous and may reuse the same nesting sites across years. Nests are small, domed structures built in tree cavities, crevices, or old holes created by insects or decay. The clutch usually contains two to five eggs. Both parents feed the chicks, which fledge after about 20 days. Tītipounamu can produce two broods in a single season, with the young of the first brood helping to rear the second.
Endemic to New Zealand, tītipounamu are found throughout forested regions of both main islands, although more common in upland and subalpine areas. They prefer mature forest with mossy trunks and abundant insect life. Within the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary, they are most often encountered in the upper half of the valley, though year on year they are being seen further down.
Tītipounamu are classified as Not Threatened; however, they are far less common than they once were. They are vulnerable to introduced predators such as rats, stoats, and cats, which prey on eggs and chicks. This is because, like many endemic birds, their nesting and naturally unafraid demeanor put them at risk. Forest clearance certainly played a part in early declines. Their persistence in the Brook Sanctuary before fence construction was likely due to altitude as they remained only on the upper ridgeline, where pest numbers were naturally lower. Now that the Sanctuary is mammalian-pest-free, this species is spreading, and it won’t be long until this species is encountered at the Beech Glade Classroom.
Tītipounamu are one of the Sanctuary’s most charming native residents — a species that never needed reintroduction. Their slow but steady recovery represents a conservation success story, reflecting the Sanctuary’s growing biodiversity and protection of Aotearoa’s most ancient avian lineages.
🪶 Tītipounamu belong to an early diverging family of passerines— the New Zealand wrens — which split from all other songbirds over 80 million years ago.
Our other residents
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Win prizes for your best summer photo at the Sanctuary 📸🏆☀️
This season, we want to see the Sanctuary through your lens — the bright light through the canopy, the textures of the forest floor, and the tiny details that make summer feel alive.
Enter our Summer Photography Competition (part of our Sanctuary Seasons series) and you could win:
🏆 Instant camera (Junior Photography winner)
🌙 Family ticket to a guided night tour
📰 Feature in our newsletter + social media
🖼️ Printed display at the Visitor Centre
📅 Entries close 28 February - Submit your entries via our website: Link in bio
Photo credit: Helen Power - Entry from the spring photography competition
#BrookWaimāramaSanctuary #SanctuarySeasons #Ngahere #NaturePhotography #NZWildlife #NelsonTasman #VisitNelson #NZHikes #EcoTourismNZ #ConservationStorytelling
Feb 4
Looking for a unique and memorable date night? 🌙🌲
This February, we’re introducing Date Me Darling — private, curated date nights inside the Sanctuary at dusk.
Three styled locations. One couple at a time. You’ll have a styled spot along the main loop track, locally sourced food and drinks, a few games to share, and time to slow down together as the forest shifts into evening.
Beech Glade: for when you want the world to fall away — deeply hidden, totally private, just you and the hush of the forest.
River: crystal clear water, canopy above, flickering lights — the kind of setup you usually only see on Instagram.
Meadow: open sky, long grass, and the forest standing quietly at the edges like it knows not to interrupt.
Bookings are open now (limited spaces in February only so don’t miss out!): Link in bio
#DateMeDarling #NelsonNZ #NelsonTasman #ThingsToDoNelson #DateNightIdeas #NatureLovers #SupportLocalNZ #ConservationNZ #BrookWaimāramaSanctuary
Feb 3
Two cute to be true?
Brook Waimārama Sanctuary and @savethekiwinz teams have been busy over the past few days tracking and recapturing kiwi to remove their transmitters. Thanks to a huge team effort, all ten males were recaptured within just three days.
Some nest burrows held a surprise or two — in several cases a female was present, and a couple even contained chicks. One burrow amazed us all, with not one but two adorable chicks 😍
All chicks are fully independent at this stage of the season, and after quick health checks and transmitter removal, all adult kiwi were safely returned to their burrows.
This special footage was captured by kiwi handler Tamsin from Save the Kiwi, who led the transmitter removal mahi.
We estimate the 20 females and 21 males released in May last year have already produced around 10–15 kiwi pukupuku (little spotted kiwi) chicks in their very first breeding season — a strong sign the habitat is just right.
With transmitters now removed from all ten males, the kiwi are completely free, with no further handling needed. Annual kiwi call counts by staff and volunteers will help track the growing population across our 690 ha, ring-fenced, pest-free sanctuary.
Credit: Video courtesy of Tamsin Ward-Smith, Save the Kiwi
Thanks to our partnership with @terunangaotoa Ngati Toa and Save the Kiwi
#kiwipukupuku #littlespottedkiwi #brookwaimaramasanctuary #nelson #thetopofthesouth #conservation #biodiversity #nativebirds #natureloversnz #newzealandwildlife #pestfree #ringfencedsanctuary #conservationinaction
Jan 29
🎻 45 min string quartet concert at Brook Waimārama Sanctuary
Come and hear a dynamic young string quartet perform a 45 min concert at Brook Waimārama Sanctuary. We welcome everyone to come along, and bring anyone you think might be curious to hear some classical music in a relaxed environment.
The @antipodes.quartet is part of the Fellowship Ensemble Programme, a joint venture between the @adamchambermusicfestival, @newzealandstringquartet and @chambermusicnz, as a career-development experience offered to four of this country’s most promising young string players.
The Antipodes Quartet are Eden Annesley (violin), Mana Waiariki (violin), Tal Amoore (viola) and Lavinnia Rae (cello).
On this occasion, Brook Waimārama Sanctuary are welcoming everyone at local prices: Adult $15, Child $9; Family $35 (on the door)
Find out more: (Link in bio)
#BrookWaimāramaSanctuary #NelsonNZ #Whakatū #WhatsonNelson #NelsonTasman #LiveMusicNZ #ChamberMusicNZ #StringQuartet #ClassicalMusicNZ #AdamChamberMusicFestival #NewZealandStringQuartet #ChamberMusicNewZealand #FamilyFriendly #NatureAndCulture #SupportLocalArts
Jan 27
2026 Bug of the year is here!
The lesser known cousin to bird of the year has come around(wait till they hear about fish or fungus of the year). This showdown aims to highlight the critters that go underappreciated compared to celebrity species like kākāpō. We would like to highlight the strange and wonderful species that occur within the Sanctuary, with the hopes to earn your vote!
Kahuwai | Black Tunnelweb Spider
Porrhothele antipodiana
I have a mixed history with this incredible spider. One hairy individual decided that my jersey pocket was a great place to set up shop. It received a rude awakening upon the home invasion of my unaware hand. Its brilliant fangs pierced and invenomated my finger, and despite the swelling and the shock and the pain… I couldn’t help but feel bad for evicting the guy. Its hobbit-like hole dwelling nature led the spider to my soft, warm pocket. Ironically, but not surprisingly, this species was the inspiration for Peter Jackson’s ‘Shelob’ in the Lord of the Rings films.
Kahuwai, the black tunnelweb spider, forms dense sheets of silk surrounding their tunnels. These sheets are monitored by the spider, who detects vibrations of a passer by. Wētā, land hoppers and any other unlucky invertebrate. The kahuwai swiftly grabs its prey and drags it into the depths. This spider however is also the victim of the endemic golden hunter wasp, who paralyses the spider before dragging it into the wasp’s nest (talk about shoes on the other foot!) and laying an egg beside it. The spider then becomes baby formula.
Despite the bite, this amazing spider has my vote! Check out the New Zealand Bug Of the Year 2026 website! Voting closes on the 16th of February!
Photo: @henry._.hart (in the second image of Shelob`s lair you can see a giant pill millipede has fallen victim...)
#BrookWaimāramaSanctuary #BugOfTheYear
Jan 25
2026 Bug of the year is here!
The lesser known cousin to bird of the year has come around(wait till they hear about fish or fungus of the year). This showdown aims to highlight the critters that go underappreciated compared to celebrity species like kākāpō. We would like to highlight the strange and wonderful species that occur within the Sanctuary, with the hopes to earn your vote!
This candidate is the beautifully disguised Rō, the Two-Spined Stick Insect. Micrachus hystriculeus is endemic to central Aotearoa, most common from Nelson, through Marlborough and Wellington. Stick insects display a classic example of crypsis. That is, their behaviour and physiology work in tandem to remain completely undetected and unharmed. They feed on leaves high in the canopy of trees like kānuka. At night you can often spot them, usually with the small males riding on the backs of the much larger females.
All modern New Zealand stick insects are the relatives of two colonisation events from New Caledonia around 30 million years ago. They radiated into nine separate genera and dispersed into coastal, lowland and subalpine ecosystems throughout the motu. This species, alongside at least five other stick insect species, live out their slow and sticky lives within the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary.
Will you vote for Micrachus hystriculeus? Check out the New Zealand Bug Of the Year 2026 website! Voting closes on the 16th of February!
Stay tuned for our last candidate…
Photo: Saryu Mae - @invertebratist
#BrookWaimāramaSanctuary #BugOfTheYear
Jan 24
