These wee guys took to the fruit and suet I put out for them today with greedy gusto. Their name in Te Reo means ‘stranger’ or ‘new arrival’. I guess because they only arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand in 1832 – around the time that Pakeha (white people) started to arrive and settle in the country.
Other names for these little mossy green scamps, include wax-eyes, silvereyes and sometimes white eye. Comical wee rascals, they certainly live by the adage ‘birds of a feather flock together,’ flitting and foraging together, hardly ever alone.
11th Letter In 
I enjoyed seeing this distinctive bird when we visited NZ a few years back, but didn’t know they were such new arrivals. We only knew them as silvereyes, so I’m grateful to you for sharing and explaining their Te Reo name.
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Pleased to hear that. They are a delightful distraction for us on these winter days.
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