Is it a bird?
The Kiwi bird’s tendencies and adaptations are so odd that they have no bird-like characteristics. Kiwis are nocturnal but their eyesight is very poor compared to other nocturnal birds. They sleep in burrows during the day and use their excellent sense of smell and touch to navigate in the dark. They have strong legs, nostrils at the tip of their beaks and two layers of fur – an outer layer that acts like a raincoat to keep out the rain and a soft down layer like a sleeping bag to keep warm. Kiwis have many types of wings – but you just have to look very hard to find them – they are tiny wings and cannot lift the large bird’s body off the ground, no matter how hard they try! Some Kiwi species also have a little-known, non-bird-like trait: they ‘mark their territory’ with smelly droppings in the same way that cats or dogs do. With all of their weird and wonderful tendencies, kiwis are certainly a special bird that we can all be proud to have helped protect for generations to come.
Kiwi at Auckland Zoo
You may be wondering whether you’ll actually see any kiwis at Auckland Zoo, as these distinctive birds are nocturnal and we welcome visitors to the Zoo during the day. Our purpose-built nighttime habitat, Te Pō, is designed to transition day to night, allowing kiwis to be completely nocturnal during the day and retreat to their burrows at night. This gives you the chance to see kiwis during the day.
Can you see in the dark? Kiwis move in the dark using their excellent sense of smell and touch, while we humans try to see in the dark with our eyes. To get the best experience, take your time in Te Pō (Night) and give your eyes time to adjust to the darkness.
Beak sticks to larvae To find food, kiwis will tap their beaks on the ground, probe the soil and sniff loudly. They have nostrils at the tip of their long beaks and can smell earthworms up to 3cm underground. Once the kiwi has located the snack, it will dig its beak deep into the ground. Kiwis can use their beaks as a lever, moving back and forth to widen the hole. Kiwi eats earthworms, insects and their larvae, berries and other fallen fruits.
Zoo Story – Kiwi Season
Kiwi breeding season is well underway!
In the wild
Origin: New Zealand (endemic).
The North Island brown kiwi is found in four distinct areas of the North Island: Northland, Coromandel, east (Bay of Plenty, East Coast, Hawke’s Bay) and west (King Country, Taranaki, Whanganui).
Habitat: North Island brown kiwis appear to prefer lowland and coastal primary forest – their population densities are highest in these areas. However, they are also found in sub-alpine areas – at the Castle in Tongariro National Park and near bush at Mount Taranaki. Major changes to New Zealand’s original forest cover mean they have had to adapt.
Today, North Island brown kiwis live in a variety of habitats, including exotic forest plantations and rugged farmland. Although this may seem surprising, plants growing under Pinus radiata trees often support native species, which means the soil provides an abundant supply of invertebrates for kiwi to eat.
Conservation status: IUCN: New Zealand Vulnerable Threat Classification System (NZTCS): North Island brown kiwi classification has moved from Endangered, Declining to Not Threatened , this very interesting. The North Island brown kiwi has benefited from conservation management and Auckland Zoo has played a role in this recovery programme.
How we are helping
Auckland Zoo is proud to partner with the Department of Kiwi Conservation and Rescue to support a kiwi recovery program called Operation Nest Egg (ONE). This program involves taking kiwi eggs from the wild and then incubating and incubating them. at the Zoo. Once they have matured enough to regain their hatching weight, the birds are then ‘fled’ – released into kiwi aviaries on the predator-free island. They stay until they are old enough to defend themselves against introduced mammalian predators before being returned to their native forests.
Why do we do it?
New Zealand’s national symbol is known to be under threat and in need of help. New Zealand, the land of birds, had no terrestrial predatory mammals before humans introduced them. This is currently the main threat to kiwi survival – killing chicks and adult birds. Stoats are the number one enemy of kiwi chicks and are the main reason why 95% of kiwi chicks hatched in the wild die before reaching breeding age. At Auckland Zoo, our eggs hatched and released 410 kiwis into the wild (and counting!).
Nest egg campaign
Check out our Kiwi Zoo Stories trilogy – recounting the journey of a kiwi during Operation Nest Egg, from hatching, to hatching.
How can you help?
Be a responsible pet owner. If you visit an area where kiwis live, make sure you take your dog for a walk. Kiwis are very smelly and dogs are very curious and can easily sniff them out. Any dog, large, small or well-trained, is a potential kiwi killer and can injure or kill an adult kiwi in a matter of seconds. But it’s easy to prevent this – just keep your dog on a lead.
We believe in protecting New Zealand’s native wildlife and we know you do too. Please donate here to help us help our national bird. $100 covers the cost of a pre-release veterinary examination for an endangered kiwi.
