Proud Puteketeke: How an Underbird Became a Wonderbird

What happens when a puteketeke egg turns up in a duck’s nest? Find out in this entertaining picture book about Aotearoa New Zealand’s Bird of the Century!

This funny and fabulously New Zealand-flavoured tale of a puking Ugly Duckling who is, in fact, a grebe includes facts about what makes the puteketeke so special and precious, as well as the real-life tale of how it came back from the brink of extinction to find international fame as the Bird of the Century!

Every day Mama Duck proudly counts her clutch of six eggs – ‘Tahi, rua, toru, wha, rimu, ono’. But one day, there’s a big surprise – ‘WHITU?’

Out of the seventh egg hatches a very strange little duckling, who has zebra stripes, a red tuft on his head, and an extraordinary habit of eating his feathers and puking up stinky balls of fish bones. The other ducklings think he’s ridiculous.

Fed up with being laughed at, the little underbird decides to strike out on his own, but there are dangerous predators about. And will he ever find a friend who’ll accept him in spite of all his quirks?

Format: Paperback
Pages: 32
Imprint: Picture Puffin
Publication date: 02/07/2024
Illustrator: Colston, Fifi