What animals live in the forest canopy?

How it works

With plenty of sunlight, the canopy grows the most leaves, flowers and fruit, like a giant restaurant hanging in the air. Leaf-munching caterpillars, nectar-sipping birds and fruit-eating monkeys gather here, and they in turn attract the birds and snakes that hunt them.

The canopy also has plants that live on other plants, called epiphytes, such as orchids and some ferns. Instead of rooting in soil, they grow on branches and live on rain, mist and bits of fallen leaves. They give frogs and insects little homes high above the ground.

Living up high takes special skills. Monkeys have nimble hands and feet, and some have tails that can grip branches. Sloths hang from branches with long hooked claws, and many birds have feet that lock tightly onto twigs. Other animals fly or glide from tree to tree.

Where to see it in New Zealand

New Zealand's canopy belongs to the birds. The kererū (New Zealand pigeon) swallows big fruit and spreads the seeds, helping to plant the forest, while tūī, korimako (bellbirds) and kākā feed up high too. Bats are New Zealand's only native land mammals, and some roost in hollow trees.

Try it together

With an adult, sit quietly under a big tree in a park or patch of bush for ten minutes. Look and listen for birds and insects in the canopy. You can also hold an open umbrella upside down under a low branch, tap the branch gently and see what tiny creatures drop in, then let them go.