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Kōrero: Tuatara

Shearwater and tuatara

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Shearwater and tuatara

Tuatara often share burrows with seabirds, such as this Buller’s shearwater on the Poor Knights Islands. Tuatara are carnivorous, and sometimes eat seabird chicks. Active at night, tuatara mostly feed on wētā and other insects, lizards and worms. They spend much of the day in their burrows, but will come out to sunbathe – sunlight is essential for growth, and provides extra energy for females when producing eggs.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Department of Conservation

Reference: 10036778

by Rod Morris

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Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Charles Daugherty rāua ko Susan Keall, Tuatara – Life history, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/14978/shearwater-and-tuatara (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Charles Daugherty rāua ko Susan Keall, i tāngia i te 1 March 2009.