Paddy + Sheryl Bourke

Paddy and Sheryl Bourke are Auckland based, part-time, self-taught ceramic artists. Paddy teaches ceramics to school children. And enjoys creating New Zealand native birds such as Tuis and Fantails.

The fantail is one of New Zealand’s best known birds, with its distinctive fanned tail and loud song, and particularly because it often approaches within a metre or two of people. Its wide distribution and habitat preferences, including frequenting well-treed urban parks and gardens, means that most people encounter fantails occasionally. They can be quite confiding, continuing to nest build or visit their nestlings with food when people watch quietly. There are two colour forms or ‘morphs’ of fantail, with the more common pied morph occurring throughout its range, and the black morph comprising up to 5% of the South Island population, and occasionally occurring in the North Island.