Habitat
Rocky slopes, including talus, open scree, glacial moraine and rocky outcrops, usually vegetated with alpine and subalpine low shrublands. From abot 920 - 2,900 m, mostly 1,200 - 2,400 m. It nests among loose rock or debris, on bluffs or rocky ledges, always close to vegetation.
Population
Estimated population is 2,500 - 9,999 (2010) and decreasing.
Status EN
Predation by introduced mammals, House Mouse Mus musculus and Stoat Mustela erminea are the main threats.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Food
Insectivorous. Will occasionally take fruits and seeds from alpine vegetation.
New Zealand Rockwren (Xenicus gilviventris) [XC516109]
by id from Fiordland National Park, Southland District, Southland, New Zealand (call)
New Zealand Rockwren (Xenicus gilviventris) [XC516106]
by Nicholas Allen from SW of Harris Saddle, New Zealand (call)
Subspecies
Plumage appears to vary clinally, males becoming brighter from north to south. Supposedly smaller, more greenish birds in southern (Fiordland) described as subspecies rineyi, but now considered only a bright morph.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet