The activity of catching mutton birds for food or sale.
commercial muttonbirding persists today because of financial need
Example sentencesExamples
Beware if you're mutton birding—but of course, you have to have a permit to do that.
Meat was supplemented at mutton-birding time and goats were kept by some families in addition to their quota of sheep and cattle.
Pitt Island is large enough to be farmed and there are a number of small islands, some of which are mutton birding islands, and some home to endangered bird species.
In the South Island there are arrangements for a particular customary right on the Crown's Titi Islands, the mutton birding islands, that is a long established customary right.
This was a reference to the importance of mutton-birding to their traditional way of life, especially on the islands off the Tasmanian coast.
Maori on the muttonbirding islands used to drape the cool tuatara on their stomachs to help them cool down.
The insider story on muttonbirding, film footage of 1950s–70s rural Southland life, a potentially knee-deep walk retracing the footsteps of pioneers, and a celebration of boot-making feature among the activities for the first Southland Heritage Month
Changes in the process of muttonbirding reflect those in muttonbirders themselves.
Eight people drowned when the Easy Rider was hit by a rogue wave and sank during a muttonbirding trip to the Titi Islands.
The school year on Flinders Island was scheduled around the muttonbirding season so that the children could go with their families to the offshore birding islands.