Hakawai

Hakawai, also known as Hōkioi in the North Island, occupies a significant place in New Zealand Māori mythology as an enigmatic bird more often heard than seen. Modern scientific understanding now connects this legendary creature with the nocturnal aerial displays performed by Coenocorypha snipe.

In Māori tradition, the Hakawai held sacred status as one of eleven tapu birds belonging to Raka-maomao, a wind deity. This mystical bird was believed to dwell in the celestial realm, descending to earth only under cover of darkness. Described as a formidable aerial predator, the Hakawai (as Hōkioi) was characterized to Sir George Grey, Governor of New Zealand, by a Ngāti Apa chief as an impressive creature: "Its colour was red and black and white. It was a bird of (black) feathers, tinged with yellow and green; it had a bunch of red feathers on the top of its head. It was a large bird, as large as the moa."

The sound of the Hakawai carried ominous significance in Māori culture, traditionally interpreted as a harbinger of warfare. New Zealand ornithologists have debated whether this mythological bird might represent an actual species—either extinct, like Haast's eagle (Hieraaetus moorei), or still living—that inspired the legend.

While Hakawai references appeared in Māori mythology throughout New Zealand, firsthand experiences of its distinctive sounds following European settlement were primarily reported from the Muttonbird Islands—small, seasonally inhabited islands near Foveaux Strait and Stewart Island in southern New Zealand. There, during the annual muttonbirding season (mid-March to late May), people described the Hakawai's sound as a two-part phenomenon: first, a vocal call resembling hakwai, hakwai, hakwai, followed by a non-vocal rushing roar suggesting rapid aerial movement. These sounds were typically heard on calm, moonlit nights and seemed to originate from great heights above.