kōtare
1. (noun) sacred kingfisher, kingfisher, Halcyon sancta - a native species with mainly electric blue plumage, often seen perched on power lines, or on branches and rocks near water.
Ka mea atu a Mahuru ki a Teoteo, "He aha te manu pai hei tohu mā tāua." Ka kī mai a Teoteo, "He kōtare (HKW 1/4/1899:3)." / Mahuru (September) said to Teoteo (little shag), "What's a good bird as a symbol for us." Teoteo said, "A kingfisher."
Synonyms: kōtarepopo, kōtaretare
2. (noun) bludger, scrounger, cadger - a person who lives on the generosity of one's friends.
He kōtare koe (W 1971:148). / You are a kingfisher. (A whakataukī likening someone to a kingfisher that sits on a tree or power line looking for prey just as a bludger does watching others eat hoping to get a share.)
Synonyms: kōtaretare, kaimātai, kaipaoke, parakūkā
3. (noun) stage in the fence of a pā.
E whakahua ana ngā kaimataara i ngā whakaaraara i runga i ngā kōtare o te pā (W 1971:148). / The watchmen recite the watch songs on the stages of the pā.
