Hands—er, Wings—up!

This is the tiny little rifleman (Acanthisitta chloris), also known as the titipounamu, chloris wren, military wren, and New Zealand wren. It is from…

New Zealand. *Gasp!*

Though called wrens, riflemen are actually not related to either common wrens (Troglodytidae) nor the fairywrens (Maluridae).

New Zealand’s smallest endemic bird, the rifleman is a tiny creature, growing to a “measly” 3.14 (not π!) inches (8 cm). It lives all over the place (yay!) in New Zealand (nuuuh, better plan a move there) and they eat yummy things like ice cream like worms.

They live in lush, lowland forests full of podocarps (Podocarpaceae), a type of Northern Hemisphere conifers, comprised of 156 species and 19 genera! Yay!

The &.