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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🪶 Ngahere Neighbourhood: piriwai (spiny gilled mayfly)
Tiny, ancient, and found only in Aotearoa — the spiny gilled mayfly (Coloburiscus humeralis) spends up to four years underwater before living just a few days as an adult.
Piriwai can only survive in clean, fast-flowing streams. Its larvae cling to river rocks, filtering food from the water with tiny hair-like gills. They are an important sign of healthy freshwater ecosystems, so much so that this species gets a rating of 8-9 on the sensitivity/stream health rating. All native stream macroinvertebrates are ranked in terms of their sensitivity and used as a bioindicator of stream health.
The Sanctuary stream is a reference site for stream health and represents a `pure`, unadulterated site and thus is highly diverse in sensitive stream invertebrates.
📸 Photo: Taken by Henry Hart here at the Sanctuary
#NgahereNeighbourhood #BrookSanctuary #AotearoaNature #FreshwaterLife #NelsonTasman #Conservation #Piriwai
Feb 17
Their Raucous Call Returns: Kākā Set to Reclaim the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary. 🦜
This March, we’re scheduled to welcome two male and one female kākā fledglings from the Dunedin Botanic Garden kākā breeding programme. There’s also the potential for a further four birds to arrive in May.
Kākā are unique to Aotearoa and are nationally vulnerable, with populations heavily impacted by introduced predators. Releasing them into a pest-free sanctuary with ideal habitat (old growth beech forest) gives them the best chance to thrive.
This release will build on years of species translocations as part of the Sanctuary’s ambitious ecosystem restoration efforts, including:
🏠 Kākāriki karaka in 2021
🏠 Powelliphanta hochstetteri consobrina (giant snails) in 2021
🏠 Tuatara in November 2024 and May 2025
🏠 Kiwi in May 2025
Over the coming weeks, our team will be busy planning and preparing for this important translocation. We’ll share more details on timing and what to expect closer to the date.
Thank you to our community of donors, volunteers, business supporters, and Sanctuary Members for continuing to back the Sanctuary — your support is vital to every species return. We can’t wait to celebrate this next milestone with you.
#BrookWaimāramaSanctuary #Kākā #ConservationNZ #NelsonNZ #PredatorFree #NativeWildlife #Biodiversity
Feb 10
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
