---
title: "South Island Takahē"
description: "Porphyrio hochstetteri — Birds. The South Island takahē (Porphyrio hochstetteri) is a flightless swamphen indigenous to New Zealand and the largest living member of the rail family."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/south-island-takahe
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# South Island Takahē

> Porphyrio hochstetteri — Birds. The South Island takahē (Porphyrio hochstetteri) is a flightless swamphen indigenous to New Zealand and the largest living member of the rail family.

- Scientific name: *Porphyrio hochstetteri*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Lakes & rivers)
- iNaturalist observations: 2509
- Wikidata: [Q212302](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q212302)
- iNaturalist taxon: [424597](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/424597)

## Names

- en: South Island Takahē
- de: Südinseltakahe
- es: Calamón Takahe
- fr: Takahé du Sud
- nl: Takahe (Zuidereiland)
- pt: Takahe
- pl: Takahe południowy

## Countries with the most observations

NZ (1068)

## Summary

The South Island takahē (Porphyrio hochstetteri) is a flightless swamphen indigenous to New Zealand and the largest living member of the rail family. It is often known by the abbreviated name takahē, which it shares with the recently (14th century) extinct North Island takahē. The two takahē species are also known as notornis.
Takahē were hunted extensively by both early European settlers and Māori, and takahē bones have been found in middens in the South Island. Fossil remains have also been found across the South Island. They were not named and described by Europeans until 1847, and then only from fossil bones.…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takah%C4%93

## Photo

![South Island Takahē](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/south-island-takahe/medium.jpg)

Photo: Wouter Koch · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/16012852

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/south-island-takahe?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).