CreatureData

Stitchbird

Notiomystis cincta (Du Bus de Gisignies, 1839)

VUVulnerablesongbirds

The stitchbird (Notiomystis cincta) is a species in the family Notiomystidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 88.6 g to 98 g. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable.

Stitchbird (Notiomystis cincta)
Photo: Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the stitchbird

Weight
88.6 g – 98 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Omnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
4src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
1 countrysrc for Countries on record

Where does the stitchbird live?

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

The stitchbird is listed for 1 country.

Australia
  • Listed
  • Not listed
small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same countries as a list

  1. Australia

Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.

What is the stitchbird?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The stitchbird or hihi (Notiomystis cincta) is a honeyeater-like bird endemic to the North Island and adjacent offshore islands of New Zealand. Its evolutionary relationships have long puzzled ornithologists, but it is now classed as the only member of its own family, the Notiomystidae. It is rare, being extirpated everywhere except Little Barrier Island, but has been reintroduced to two other island sanctuaries and four locations on the North Island mainland. Current population estimations for mature individuals in the wild are 2,500–3,400.

In addition to hihi, the stitchbird is also known by a number of other Māori names, including: tihi, ihi, tihe, kotihe, tiora, tiheora, tioro, kotihe-wera (male only), hihi-paka (male only), hihi-matakiore (female only), mata-kiore (female only), tihe-kiore (female only).

From the Wikipedia article “Stitchbird” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stitchbird&oldid=1384060155), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the stitchbird endangered?

The stitchbird is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species.

How is the stitchbird classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyNotiomystidae
  6. genusNotiomystis
  7. SpeciesNotiomystis cincta (Du Bus de Gisignies, 1839)

Synonyms Meliphaga cincta, Pogonornis cincta

Other names and names in other languages (28)
  • إسطيشArabic
  • medosavka hvízdaváCzech
  • melysor Seland NewyddWelsh
  • SkæghonningæderDanish
  • StichvogelGerman
  • Gelbband-HonigfresserGerman
  • novzelanda notiomistoEsperanto
  • HihiSpanish
  • uudenseelanninmesikkoFinnish
  • Méliphage hihiFrench
  • Hihi de Nouvelle-ZélandeFrench
  • öves maorimadárHungarian
  • Uccello chirurgoItalian
  • シロツノミツスイJapanese
  • 히히새Korean
  • siuvėjasLithuanian
  • GeelbandhoningzuigerDutch
  • stitsjfuglNorwegian
  • miodnikPolish
  • hihiPortuguese
  • costureiraPortuguese
  • ХихиRussian
  • Новозеландский медососRussian
  • hihi bútľavinovýSlovak
  • Šarena hihiSerbian
  • гигіUkrainian
  • 须吸蜜鸟Chinese
  • 縫合吸蜜鳥Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the stitchbird

Other species in the same order Passeriformes.

CompareStitchbird vs House sparrowStitchbird vs Common ravenStitchbird vs Eurasian magpieStitchbird vs Common blackbird

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the stitchbird?

An adult stitchbird weighs 88.6 g – 98 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the stitchbird live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the stitchbird for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

Is the stitchbird endangered?

The stitchbird is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

What kind of animal is the stitchbird?

The stitchbird (Notiomystis cincta) belongs to the family Notiomystidae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Stitchbird (Notiomystis cincta). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/stitchbird

MLA

“Stitchbird (Notiomystis cincta).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/stitchbird.

BibTeX
@misc{stitchbird_2026,
  title = {Stitchbird (Notiomystis cincta)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/stitchbird},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}