piopio
1. (noun) North Island piopio, Turnagra tanagra, South Island piopio, Turnagra capensis - an endemic plump olive-brown forest bird of distinctive subspecies which are probably extinct.
Nāu, nā te Pākehā te kurī me te ngeru nāna i huna ngā kai o te motu nei, te weka, te kiwi, te kākāpō, te piopio, me te tini o ngā manu o te motu nei (TWMNT 23/4/1873:45). / It was you, the Pākehā that introduced the dog and the cat which destroyed the food of this country, the weka, kiwi, kākāpō, the piopio and the many endemic birds.
Synonyms: koropio, korohea, tiutiu, tiutiukata
2. (noun) banded dotterel, Charadrius bicinctus - a squat bird with a large head and robust bill distinguished from the New Zealand dotterel (tūturiwhatu) by two bands on the lower neck and breast. Endemic, found on beaches, river mouths and estuaries.
See also pohowera
Synonyms: pohowera, tūturiwhatu
3. (noun) tūrutu, New Zealand blueberry, Dianella nigra - loose tussock forming evergreen perennial herb, forming dense to open, diffuse clumps; rhizomes horizontally 150 mm (or more) long, strong and well developed. Leaves 250-800 x 12-18 mm, uniformly green to dark green, upright to strongly curved and distinctly drooping, more or less flat. Green or white flowers November - December and berries from grey-white and dull to strongly violet-blue and glossy.
