Live Kiwi encounters

Here is my little kiwi chick- sorry he is a bit blurry but he was being hand fed and everyone was moving and anxious at the time!

After my inital kiwi encounter at Willow bank in Christchurch, I headed for Wellington and a night tour at Zealandia Wild Life refugee. Tom, my Italian driver, was running the van which took us high up the Wellington Hills. It was 9 pm and only a handful of participants for our nightime adventure. Having been prepared and quizzed by the tour leader for kiwi call recognition , we headed off into the sub tropical forest with tiny red light flashlights, though told to only use the light if absolutely necessary.  

First rule for kiwi searching is total silence.  They are very skitterish so the less noise the better. We walked for about 30 minutes before one of the leaders went off on their own and found a wee bird for us. 8 adults ran through the dark- trying to be totally silent- until we arrived at the identified spot where a gorgeous female kiwi was tramping around, beak rapidly going in and out of the dirt looking for worms, grubs and insects.  We had about 5 mintues watching her before she headed back to her burrow.

Though we were required to be silent, kiwi are incredibly noisy and energetic birds. When eating they stomp through the undergrowth and snort dirt out of their nostrils . They are the only birds that have their nostrils at the end of their beak rather than the top so they need to clear these as the hunt in the soil.

We then headed over to a feeding station and after sitting silently for about 15 minutes as male came strolling by and fed for about 5 minutes. 

Finally, we walked out to a bridge over a reservoir to view the amazing star display where the milky way was gleaming away. Saw the southern cross very clearly as well. As we crossed the bridge, there was another male clawing around in the dirt and as the ground was elevated, he was at more or less eye level for us to see. Amazing !

Throughout the forest we saw Kaka birds, shags, Morepork owls and glow worms everywhere!

It was a 3 hour visit that was completely amazing and seeing the kiwi in the wild was just fabulous. 

Today I drove up to Napier and stopped on my way at another wild life sanctuary. Here, they are incubating and hand rearing kiwi chicks. The little fellow above is about 2 weeks old. There were adults in some viewing areas as well which are being prepared for release into the wild. 

These birds are very busy when they feel safe. They hop back and forth and dig in the soil like little sewing needles bobbing up and down into the dirt. They will raise their beak in the air to sniff out food or predators before diving back into the soil. They are totally endearing and remind you of their ancient lineage .

Paradise Duck 

Kaka parrot- Similar to Kea but smaller

Long tailed eels- endangered in NZ