The bellbird forms a significant component of the famed New Zealand dawn chorus of birdsong, which was much noted by early European settlers.

Exceptional singing abilities were already observed by Captain James Cook, who described its song as "like small bells most exquisitely tuned".

The bellbird is regarded as taonga (cultural or spiritual treasure) by the Māori, who traditionally valued it for both its meat and its melodious singing abilities.

In the past, mislabelling specimens was quite common[13] and Sparrman made exactly the same mistake with two other New Zealand birds, the rifleman and piopio.

[15] Parts of Carlson's collection ended up in the Swedish Museum of Natural History and the type specimen was there as of 1857, but it was not found there in a 1926 study.

[20] The English common name "bellbird" originates from the imaginative similarity of one of its notes to the distant ringing of a bell.

[24] The hihi or stitchbird (Notiomystis cincta), another New Zealand endemic bird, was originally considered to be a honeyeater also, but it is now believed to constitute its own monotypic family Notiomystidae.

The underwing is mainly grey with a dark olive leading edge, pale-yellow secondary coverts, and a brown tint to the remiges.

obscura has slightly darker plumage than the nominate male, and its sheen on the upper body parts is violet.

Northland can get occasional winter female visitors from nearby offshore islands, and small pocket populations exist in some places north of Auckland like Tāwharanui Peninsula and Shakespear Regional Park.

It is found from lowland areas at sea level up to about 1200 metres, including subalpine regions above the tree line.

Seasonal migrations were recorded between bush in the winter and summer coastal forest, or between river beds and urban areas.

[53] Main natural predators of bellbirds are the swamp harrier (Circus approximans)[47] and the New Zealand falcon (Falco novaeseelandiae).

[47] Male courtship behaviour includes hovering or slowly ascending with his body in a vertical position, producing a whirring sound with his wings.

[47] The female constructs a cup-shaped nest from twigs, moss and fibres,[56][47] lining it with fine grasses, wool and feathers.

[60][62][24] Similar to nectar, fruit can be obtained from numerous species of trees and shrubs, such as karamū (Coprosma lucida, C. robusta), makomako (Aristotelia serrata), rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum), kahikatea (Dacrycarpus dacrydioides), flax, red matipo or rōhutu (Neomyrtus pedunculata).

[52] Bellbirds play an important part in pollinating numerous native plants such as mistletoe (e.g. Peraxilla tetrapetala), fuchsia, and kōwhai.

[7][40] Walter Buller, the prominent New Zealand ornithologist of the 19th century, in his landmark book A History of the Birds of New Zealand (1873), quoted Hokianga resident Frederick Maning, who said:[69] I remember the time, not very long ago, when the Maori lads would come out of the woods with hundreds of Korimakos hung around them in strings; now one scarcely ever hears the bird: formerly they swarmed in the northern woods by thousands; now they are well nigh extinct.The decline started in the north of the country and moved south.

[6] J. G. Myers suggested that the decline could have been caused by a disease such as avian malaria, which was introduced from Europe together with some non-native bird species.

"[71] Buller mentioned that some Māori from Northland believed that the decline was caused by an introduced honey bee that drove away the bellbirds from their flowers.

[69] However, in 1894 he cast doubts on this hypothesis after visiting Motutaiko Island in Lake Taupō, infamous for its rat infestation, yet discovered a thriving bellbird population there.

[78] Despite the bellbirds' widespread presence on the New Zealand mainland, their populations remain low due to the impact of mammalian predators like rats and stoats.

[83] According to IUCN and a 2010 study, the overall bellbird population is suspected to be in decline as a result of predation by introduced mammals and ongoing habitat destruction.

[84] Known increases of bellbirds in some areas like Christchurch Port Hills,[44] Lake Rotoiti,[74] Craigieburns,[85] Kapiti Island or Tiritiri Matangi are related to the control of invasive mammalian species.

[88] New Zealand missionary Richard Taylor wrote in 1855 that in the Taupō region during a child's naming ceremony, a bellbird was cooked in a small, specially dedicated oven.

Shortly after cooking, this "sweetest singing bird of New Zealand" was ritually eaten by a chief priest (tino ariki) to ensure that "the child might have a sweet voice, and become an admired orator".

During direct hunting, a fowler would hide in a shelter made from vegetation such as fern fronds or nīkau palm leaves.

The fowler would then set up a low-lying horizontal perch snare above the shelter and attract bellbirds by imitating their calls, using a leaf held between the lips.

The trap's design allowed the trapper to close the loop when a bird landed on the end of the tuke, catching its feet.

Another cooking method involved wrapping the bellbirds in large puka or rangiora leaves and placing them in a shallow hole, about 15 cm deep.