Saddlebacks were once widespread throughout New Zealand's mainland and island forests. Their decline began in the mid 19th century, caused by forest clearance and introduced predators such as ship rats, feral cats and stoats. By this century, both species were close to extinction. They are entirely dark brown with smaller wattles. The imprint of the saddle forms by the end of the second moult.
Saddlebacks are very vocal birds.
The males have a repertoire of melodious calls that they use during mating and in territorial disputes. The male has larger wattles than the female. In the early 1960s, disaster struck the southern species. The result was an ecological nightmare for many endemic species and caused the extinction of the Stewart Island snipe, Stead's bush wren, and the greater short-tailed bat. Early in 1964, the N Z Wildlife Service successfully transferred some North Island saddlebacks from Hen Island, Hauraki Gulf to nearby Whatapuke Island, possibly the first time the translocation of a species had been successfully carried out.