Kaka; the Hero of the Forest Long ago in year 1there was a land called Aotearoa and on that land lived Tane the god of the forest along with thousands of native birds including the bell bird, kiwi, pukeko, fantail, tui, kea and the kaka. Tane had noticed that something as wrong with kaka when all the other birds were picking on him although he didn’t take much notice. Kaka was a shy, lonely, small, dull, and flightless and friends less bird who lived on the ground. Kaka was on his morning walk to find some food when he herd a rumble at first he thought it was his stomach but when the clouds started getting darker and the rumbling went on for at least an hour, then the rain started to fall he knew a storm was on the way so he started to walk back home to his burrow when he heard the cry of Fantail he knew this was his chance to show the other birds that he wasn’t worthless, he started to run, he was getting closer and closer to the cry then finally he saw her. A mother Fantail and her chicks were high up in a beech tree, he stood under neath the nest waiting for it to fall, then finally it fell and he was there to catch. The mother Fantail flew down in a hurry when she found out that Kaka had caught her babies. She sighed with relief as she ran with Kaka to the nearest hill. The next morning Kaka found himself sheltering behind a large rock with Fantail and her chicks, although Fantail was still asleep he knew he had to set out on his morning walk to find food. When Fantail woke up Kaka was no where to be seen, she wanted to reward Kaka but knew she couldn’t leave her chicks. She asked Tane to give Kaka her beautiful green cloak as a reward for him for saving her chicks, Tane agreed and went back to thinking about how to save the forest. As Kaka was collecting his grubs he started to feel dizzy, he fell into a deep sleep. He woke up hours later to find his dull brown feathers had been exchanged with a beautiful green cloak he wondered where it came from but he carried on collecting his grubs. That afternoon Tane called all the birds’ in for a meeting, he was on a mission to rebuild his beautiful forest, but he needed the birds to help if it was ever going to work. Tane asked if any of the birds would save the forest. None of the birds answered Tane so he asked again, this time Kaka shyly whispered “ I’ll do it”. All the birds started to laugh at Kaka, one bird said “you’d never be able to do that!” Tane yelled “SLIENCE! Kaka although you are small I shall give you the power to fly, you shall have a hooked beak, the most beautiful wings and will be known as the bravest bird in the forest. You shall no longer be the smallest and shyest bird but the most honored and respected bird in the whole of Aotearoa.” Kaka suddenly started to grow his beautiful wings. His feathers under his wing were now red, his beak started to curve, he got a brushed tongue so he could now eat the sweet
honeydew and his body got larger and he felt proud to be the bird he now was. All the other birds looked at each other in amazement at how beautiful kaka now is. He was now the most beautiful and elegant bird in the forest. Kaka flew up to the tree tops and looked down at all the other birds and asked Tane what his first duty should be. Tane replied “Eat the berries off the last remaining beech trees, and plant their seeds all over Aotearoa�. Straight away Kaka set out to work. As months went by the forest started to slowly rebuild its self. Kaka was feeling quite pleased with his work when he noticed smoke pouring out of the tree tops all over Aotearoa. He quickly flew of to find the whole of Aotearoa up in flames. Kaka flew to Tane and told him what was going on. Tane asked Rangi the god of the sky to rain on the forest. Shortly after his request, the sky turned dark grey, big droplets of water started to fall heavily on the forest. Kaka breathed a sigh of relief as the flames died down and then went out. Although the flames were gone so were all the trees that had taken him so long to plant. Kaka knew he had a lot of work ahead of him. The next day Kaka got straight to work, clearing the forest of all the burnt trees. Though some of the trees in the forest still remain black from the terrible fire, there trees are now known as beech trees. Kaka managed to rebuild the forest and he still continues to do this to this day. He is known throughout Aotearoa as the hero of the forest and will forever have that title. By Ella & Montana