Hard native birds word search
Pīwakawaka, ruru, kārearea and whio: twenty-eight native birds, many under their Māori names, in an eighteen by eighteen grid. Words go in all eight directions, for birders and anyone who has done the bird count.
- Dotterel
- Godwit
- Grey warbler
- Hihi
- Kākāpō
- Kākāriki
- Kārearea
- Kea
- Kererū
- Kingfisher
- Kiwi
- Kōkako
- Korimako
- Kōtuku
- Paradise duck
- Pāteke
- Pīwakawaka
- Pūkeko
- Rifleman
- Rock wren
- Ruru
- Silvereye
- Takahē
- Tīeke
- Tomtit
- Tūī
- Weka
- Whio
This is the same puzzle as on the printable sheet. Every word you find turns green and is crossed off the list.
Make your own versionNative birds, extra hard
Name
| T | P | A | S | I | E | C | C | T | C | N | E | R | W | K | C | O | R |
| E | T | I | N | U | R | B | I | E | T | A | K | A | H | E | T | T | X |
| M | L | I | W | U | F | O | T | O | W | E | C | L | U | R | I | H | L |
| L | E | N | R | A | S | E | M | E | Y | N | H | T | F | L | T | P | M |
| D | P | U | K | E | K | O | K | E | H | R | I | F | L | E | M | A | N |
| I | L | A | H | N | T | A | R | K | O | R | I | M | A | K | O | E | T |
| K | N | E | D | R | P | E | W | Y | I | W | F | U | E | N | T | O | G |
| I | H | U | I | E | V | L | P | A | T | E | K | E | K | L | G | E | K |
| R | T | W | E | L | O | L | N | O | K | D | B | L | E | X | V | U | E |
| A | I | I | I | B | K | T | A | E | R | A | E | R | A | K | B | O | D |
| K | E | S | M | R | A | S | F | T | N | R | E | K | I | L | L | A | K |
| A | T | O | P | A | K | A | K | S | N | T | I | W | D | O | G | F | U |
| K | L | R | G | W | O | E | T | L | T | N | W | H | I | O | N | N | R |
| E | H | U | O | Y | K | H | I | O | I | K | O | V | I | N | R | N | E |
| K | C | U | D | E | S | I | D | A | R | A | P | C | N | H | H | N | R |
| E | A | N | K | R | E | H | S | I | F | G | N | I | K | E | L | E | E |
| I | M | M | H | G | K | O | O | B | U | T | U | K | U | T | O | K | K |
| T | P | E | F | N | B | M | A | M | C | T | M | T | F | S | F | M | S |
Find these words
- Dotterel
- Godwit
- Grey warbler
- Hihi
- Kākāpō
- Kākāriki
- Kārearea
- Kea
- Kererū
- Kingfisher
- Kiwi
- Kōkako
- Korimako
- Kōtuku
- Paradise duck
- Pāteke
- Pīwakawaka
- Pūkeko
- Rifleman
- Rock wren
- Ruru
- Silvereye
- Takahē
- Tīeke
- Tomtit
- Tūī
- Weka
- Whio
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Native birds, extra hard
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About this word search
This list uses many of the Māori names that are now common in New Zealand English. Pīwakawaka is the fantail, ruru the morepork, korimako the bellbird and tīeke the saddleback. The whio, or blue duck, lives in fast mountain rivers and appears on the ten dollar note, and the kōtuku, the white heron, breeds in New Zealand at just one site, near Whataroa on the West Coast.
The grid is eighteen by eighteen and the words run in all eight directions, backwards included. Paradise duck is the longest at twelve letters, followed by grey warbler at eleven and pīwakawaka and kingfisher at ten. Tūī and kea are three letters, and ruru, hihi, whio, kiwi and weka just four. Macrons are dropped, so kākāriki becomes KAKARIKI and pāteke becomes PATEKE. Two-word names like rock wren run together without a space.
Use this sheet as a checklist for a season of birdwatching. Every bird you see or hear for real gets a tick, and the person with the most ticks by the end of summer wins.
Ways to use this word search
In the classroom
Print it as a task for early finishers, or to open a lesson on this topic. With the QR code on the sheet, students check their own answers.
At home and on the go
Pack a few printed sheets for the car, the ferry or the bach. A pen is all you need, no screen required.
Play together
Print the sheet twice and race each other. Whoever finds all the words first wins. Or play it online and see who is fastest.
Try it in Italian too
The same theme also exists in Italian, each with its own word list in that language. Handy if you are learning a language: you already know the topic, now just the words.
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