Mama Duck is busy counting her eggs when she realises she has an extra. It doesn’t look like her eggs and she wonders where it came from? 
She keeps it with her others until they begin to hatch. She watches them one by one, and counts six healthy yellow duck chicks. The extra egg lay still, until… it too begins to crack. Mama and her chicks watch another chick emerge. But it’s not yellow and looks nothing like a duck!
This strange chick is striped with big feet and red feathers on its face. Papa duck isn’t kind, but Mama accepts this odd baby bird.
As the chicks grow, it’s soon obvious that feathers and feet aren’t the only difference between them. The striped chick has strange behaviours too, bringing taunts from the ducklings.
“Chucky Ducky!”
“Chunder Wonder!”
One day while on the water, the chick gets separated from its adopted family. Will it find its way home, or will it find something even better? Birds just like him aren’t far away…
With every sale supporting essential Pūteketeke conservation, The Proud Pūteketeke is a welcome addition to New Zealand bookshelves. Many had never heard of this distinctive NZ Native bird before becoming Aotearoa New Zealand’s Bird of the Century.
British comedian John Oliver got behind the Pūteketeke and shared its plight and strange behaviours on his show. Millions of people around the world saw this bird for the first time and donations poured in, also nearly crashing the NZ Forest & Bird site. Many didn’t like the Brit’s ‘interference’, but the bid for Bird of the Century was won by the Pūteketeke by a landslide.
This book is not only a story about an ugly ‘duckling’, its also the perfect way for NZ children to get to know this now-world-famous bird of Aotearoa New Zealand for themselves.
Fifi Colston’s lush illustrations cleverly catch the bird’s feelings through its journey to discover his true identity.
The Pūteketeke is a clever bird, building floating nests and also protecting itself against any sharp bones from its main diet of fish. Puking is a key theme in the book bringing humour and fascinating facts about this distinctive bird. There is more information in the back of the book, and an invitation to read the book again on a search and find mission.
I for one am pleased this pretty, puky, and punk-looking bird is now paddling its way away from extinction.
Author – Peter Millett
Illustrator – Fifi Colston
Picture Book
Find more books by Peter Millett here
Find more books illustrated / written by Fifi Colston here
(2024, Penguin Books NZ, Native Bird, John Oliver, Forest & Bird, Aotearoa New Zealand, Identity, Family, Fitting In, Self Esteem, Kindness, Change, Floating Nests)