Cook's 1772 Voyage | Pòhe or poe bird

Georg Forster, who was also a naturalist on Cook’s second voyage to New Zealand, drew a picture of the tūī. He labelled it the pòhe or poe bird. This is the first name we know of that the early Europeans used.

We don’t know exactly why it was known as the pòhe bird. Captain Cook suggested that the white throat tufts were called “poies”. Māori wore ear pendants (poe) with tūī as feather ornaments. Reinholt Forster argued, however, that European sailors, not Māori, used this name.