Eileen Mayo
England / Australia / Aotearoa New Zealand, b.1906, d.1994
Kiwi Pukupuku / Little Spotted Kiwi
- 1976
- Gouache and coloured pencil
- Purchased, 2005
- 94 x 120mm
- 2005/003
Location: Touring Gallery B
Tags: animals, birds (animals), brown (color), egg, families
Kiwi pukupuku (little spotted kiwi) were thought extinct on the mainland for nearly fifty years until a breeding population was found in remote South Westland in 2025. Most surviving kiwi pukupuku descend from a tiny population transferred to Kāpiti Island in 1912. Now numbering around 2,000 birds, they survive mainly on predator-free islands and fenced sanctuaries, with additional populations established at protected mainland sites. The species remains highly vulnerable to introduced predators, especially stoats, at all stages of life. In 2025, chicks from the West Coast population were transferred to Willowbank Wildlife Reserve in Ōtautahi Christchurch for safe rearing, as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen and expand wild populations.
(Bird Land: Te Kāhui Manu 15 August 2026 – 8 February 2027)
Exhibition History
Ape To Zip: Adventures in Alphabet Art, 13 May 2005 – 8 October 2006
In the exhibition Ape to Zip (13 May 2005 - 8 October 2006), this work was one of five used for the letter K and was displayed with the following label:
These paintings were made for a set of Gregg's Jelly cards, ‘Rare and Endangered Birds of New Zealand'. 35 cards were collected in an album, encouraging young New Zealanders to appreciate our precious bird life.
How many of these birds' names did you already know? Two of them also live on $1 and $2 coins!
Related
Notes
Eileen Mayo
It's 107 years since this multi-talented artist, described by art historian Kenneth Clark as 'outstandingly good', was born in Norwich, England.