@visit_zealandia: You’ve heard about fat bear week, but we raise you chonky kererū week! 😤 Kererū/New Zealand wood pigeons are the chonk MASTERS of the ngahere/forest in Aotearoa New Zealand. According to physics, a bumblebee shouldn’t be able to fly with how large it’s body is, I think you know where I’m going with this... Why are kererū so round? 🟢 🌼 Big appetite for big fruit: Kererū swallow massive native berries and seeds whole (like karaka, tawa, and miro) giving them plenty of fuel to reach peak borb status. 🌳 Ecological heavyweights: Speaking of large fruit and seeds, they are the only native mainland bird equipped with the right beak for the job of eating these, so they get ALL the snacks. This means their size is an evolutionary requirement to keep native forests in Aotearoa alive. ☁️ Max fluff: While they are definitely eating their way through the ngahere, much of their rotund shape is a bit of an illusion created by think, loose feathers designed to keep them nice and toasty, insulating them and helping them float gently (if you can call it that) down onto branches. 🥂 Seasonal gorging: Kererū love to gorge on seasonal fruit and tasty young leaves, sometimes these ferment in their tummies on hot days and leave them delightfully heavy, tipsy, and just a little clumsy. Who will the peoples pigeon be? Vote for the chonkiest pigeon in the comments below! Chonk capturers: Guido Seevens, Scott Langdale, Jamie Sands, Iroha Hayashi, Brendon Doran and Zac Painter.

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Wednesday 30 September 2026 04:03:56 GMT