Native birds word search
A tūī in the flax, a fantail following you down the track and a kea eyeing up your car. Twenty native birds of Aotearoa, from the garden to the alpine tops.
- Bellbird
- Fantail
- Godwit
- Kākāpō
- Kea
- Kererū
- Kingfisher
- Kiwi
- Kōkako
- Kōtuku
- Morepork
- Pūkeko
- Rifleman
- Robin
- Saddleback
- Shag
- Silvereye
- Takahē
- Tūī
- Weka
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
Name
| I | K | O | K | A | K | O | H | O | N | K | E | A | T |
| L | E | I | L | E | Y | M | K | A | K | A | P | O | O |
| B | T | I | N | A | H | E | O | C | O | V | P | G | I |
| O | U | R | H | G | K | T | H | R | Y | F | A | X | W |
| T | S | I | O | U | F | E | T | E | E | H | K | E | S |
| K | I | F | P | B | G | I | A | T | S | P | O | T | S |
| I | L | L | O | T | I | G | S | I | I | T | O | T | T |
| W | V | E | A | V | F | N | T | H | T | T | N | R | S |
| I | E | M | W | S | A | D | D | L | E | B | A | C | K |
| A | R | A | E | I | N | D | N | K | E | R | E | R | U |
| H | E | N | K | B | T | K | T | U | F | H | C | R | D |
| A | Y | T | A | K | A | H | E | G | O | D | W | I | T |
| B | E | L | L | B | I | R | D | P | P | O | K | B | S |
| O | L | E | V | H | L | A | K | O | T | U | K | U | A |
Find these words
- Bellbird
- Fantail
- Godwit
- Kākāpō
- Kea
- Kererū
- Kingfisher
- Kiwi
- Kōkako
- Kōtuku
- Morepork
- Pūkeko
- Rifleman
- Robin
- Saddleback
- Shag
- Silvereye
- Takahē
- Tūī
- Weka
Done? Keep playing in the appA new puzzle every day and 2,500+ levels per language. Free at wordswithmia.com
Keep playing in the appwordswithmia.com
Get the app
Scan for the answer key
Native birds
Give it a try: drag a line across the letters.
All words found!
About this word search
Many of New Zealand's birds evolved with no land mammals around, which is why several of them cannot fly. The kiwi and the kākāpō are the famous ones, but the tūī singing in the flax, the fantail following walkers along the track and the kererū crashing through the trees are just as much part of daily life. The godwit flies all the way from Alaska each spring, one of the longest non-stop flights of any bird.
The grid is fourteen by fourteen and the words run across, down and diagonally, never backwards. Saddleback and kingfisher are the longest at ten letters. Tūī and kea are the shortest at three letters, and tūī appears as TUI without macrons. The K is a good letter to follow, because kiwi, kea, kererū, pūkeko, weka, takahē, kākāpō, kōkako, kōtuku and kingfisher all contain it.
After the puzzle, try to match each bird with where you would find it: in the garden, in the bush, by the water or up in the mountains. It is a great warm-up for the Garden Bird Survey or a walk with binoculars.
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.
More word searches
All 93 themesIs your theme missing? Type your own words into the word search maker. You get a grid with the answer key straight away, in the size you want.
Make your own word search
A new word search every day?
Words with Mia is a calm word search app in 25+ languages, with a daily puzzle and 2,500+ levels per language. Free to download.
