kōtuku
1. (noun) white heron, Egretta alba, great egret, Ardea alba modesta - a rare white bird that has an obvious kink in its long neck and returns each year to Okarito on the West Coast to nest. All white plumage, bill yellow, legs and feet black. In alternate plumage it has delicate filoplumes on the neck and back, black bill and skin of the face bluish-green, and lower legs pinkish.
(Te Pihinga Textbook (Ed. 2): 69;)
Kua tae mai ēnei kōtuku rerenga tahi, kua takahi ō rāua waewae i ngā marae maha o Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu (TTT 1/4/1927). / These rare visitors have travelled to the many marae of the North and South Islands.
2. (noun) white heron feather.
Kātahi te tamāhine ka tahuri ki te tātai i a ia, nā ka heru i a ia, nā ka rākei i a ia ki ōna kaitaka, ka tia hoki i tōna māhunga ki te raukura - ko ngā raukura he huia, he kōtuku, he toroa, ka oti (NM 1928:198). / Then the daughter set about adorning herself, placing a comb in her hair, dressing herself in fine kaitaka cloaks, and placing feather plumes in her hair - feather plumes of huia, white heron and albatross feathers, and then she was finished.
kōtuku ngutupapa
1. (noun) royal spoonbill, Platalea regia - a large white bird with a long, black, spoon-shaped bill and black legs which feeds on tidal mudflats by sweeping its bill from side to side.
Synonyms: kōtuku-ngutupapa
waewae kōtuku
1. (noun) carrier tangle, parasol fern, Gleichenia microphylla - fronds erect to about 100 cm high or scrambling to about 200 cm. Stipes red-brown. Found on swampy or poor clay soils and around thermal areas in open scrubland.
See also waewae kākā
Synonyms: waewae matuku, waewae kākā
piki kōtuku
1. (noun) darling, treasure, symbol of prestige and uniqueness.
Ka naomia mai e aku tuākana rangatira e Te Hati rāua ko Te Ngārara Houkāmau, e tō mātau pāpā hoki, e Hōri Mahue 'hei piki kōtuku ki ō rātau māhunga, hei māpihi maurea ki ō rātau taringa' (TTT 1/5/1926:401). / My senior chiefs, Te Hati and Te Ngārara Houkāmau, and our uncle, George Mahue, grabbed her 'as a plume for their heads and as a treasure for their ears'.
kōtuku-ngutupapa
1. (noun) royal spoonbill, Platalea regia - a large white bird with a long, black, spoon-shaped bill and black legs which feeds on tidal mudflats by sweeping its bill from side to side.
Synonyms: kōtuku ngutupapa
kōtuku rerenga tahi
1. rare visitor, white heron of single flight - used figuratively of rare and important visitors.
Kua tae mai ēnei kōtuku rerenga tahi, kua takahi ō rāua waewae i ngā marae maha o Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu (TTT 1/4/1927). / These rare visitors have travelled to the many marae of the North and South Islands.
Synonyms: waetapu, waewae tapu
