Wattling Away from Extinction

on October 4, 2023

Hey, kids, welcome back to our series on the mysteries of created kinds. Last week, we got to meet the wattle eyes, a group of birds with colorful feathers around their eyes. This week, we get to meet more birds, and these live in just one country.

North Island Saddleback on branch eating cicada

North Island Saddleback

This week’s kind is found only in New Zealand and is highly endangered. Learn more about the Callaeidae—New Zealand wattlebird kind—as Professor Barry Mins studies kinds that may have been on the Ark.

  1. This week’s kind is the ________.
  2. This kind is highly ________.
  3. This small group of ________ was pushed almost to extinction.
  4. Members of this kind are sexually ________, meaning it is easy to tell males from females.
  5. Because they eat multiple types of food, they are classified as ________.
  6. This week’s kind is also known as the New Zealand ________ kind.
  7. These colorful songbirds are starting to rebound in ________.
  8. These colorful songbirds still require ________ to recover.



  • Callaeidae
  • Endangered
  • Songbird
  • Dimorphic
  • Omnivores
  • Wattlebird
  • NewZealand
  • Conservation
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