Feeds mostly on insects, including wasps and wasp larvae, ants, and grasshoppers, and also on tree lizards, birds, and bird eggs (Coates 1985, Beehler et al. 1986). Sometimes seen soaring low over the canopy when hunting; hunts during the daylight and also at dusk (Coates op cit.). When hunting within the forest, it moves from perch to perch, perching near trunks and peering about, searching for prey (Coates op cit.). At Mt. Albert, Edward, Bell (1971) usually saw this species hawking insects low over the forest, but on one occasion, he observed a bird flying out into grassland, seizing a prey item, and returning to the forest. Thomas Gilliard also saw one flying low (ca. 1 m) harrier-style over an agricultural plot on a steep slope (Mayr and Gilliard 1954).