In the North Island, specimens of the smaller subspecies N. a. rufifacies were allegedly collected from the forest districts of Mount Taranaki (1856) and the Wairarapa (1868); the unclear history of the latter and the eventual disappearance of both led to suspicions that the bird may not have occurred in the North Island at all. This theory has been refuted, however, after ample subfossil bones of the species were found in the North Island. Sight records exist from Porirua and Te Karaka; according to Māori tradition, the species last occurred in Te Urewera.