3. (noun) topknot.
See also ruru
4. (noun) crest (of a bird).
Tapaina ai te hoiho mō tana tangi, te pokotiwha mō tōna koukou kōwhai me ōna tukemata tāhei, ko te kororā mō tana tangi (Te Ara 2012). / The yellow-eyed penguin was named for its call, the Fiordland crested penguin for its yellow crest and eyebrow stripes and the blue penguin for its call.
ruru
1. (noun) morepork, owl, Ninox novaeseelandiae - a native owl common throughout Aotearoa/New Zealand in wooded areas including suburbs, roosting by day and active at night.
(Te Māhuri Textbook (Ed. 2): 152;)
Pērā hoki me Māui-pōtiki i tango rā i te āhua o te kāhu, o te kāeaea, o te ruru, o te kea, o te pekapeka, o te kiore, o te kererū, o te noke hoki; kātahi anō ka mate i a Hine-nui-te-pō i roto i tōna whare i Pōtaka-rongorongo. (JPS 1922:48). / It was thus that Māui-pōtiki took on the form of the harrier hawk, the New Zealand falcon, the morepork, the kea, the bat, the rat, the pigeon, and the worm; until he was finally killed by Hine-nui-te-pō in her house at Pōtaka-rongorongo.
whēkau
1. (noun) laughing owl, Sceloglaux albifacies - a large, extinct, endemic owl with yellowish-brown plumage heavily streaked with brown. Face white around dark reddish-brown eyes.
Synonyms: kakaha
