Kiwi birds - notes from Cindy

I (Cindy) have been volunteering at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve in Christchurch every Monday, and because of my work with eagles, I was assigned to help with the kiwi (yeay!).   I thought I would share what I have been doing and some things I’ve learned about kiwi.

The kiwi is the national bird of New Zealand.  There are several species of kiwi and they all are endemic to New Zealand, meaning they are found exclusively in New Zealand.  All kiwi are nocturnal, except those found on Stewart Island, the small island off the bottom of the south island.

Willowbank has 12 resident kiwi (6 in a nocturnal house and 6 in outdoor areas).  Sometimes when the kiwi have to be weighed or have health checks, the public is lucky enough to be shown a kiwi in the daylight.

Nocturnal house entrance

Many kiwi are killed in the wild in their first 3 months by dogs, cats, stoats and possums.  Willowbank serves as a temporary home for young kiwi who are removed from their nests.  The young kiwi are raised until they are large enough to fend for themselves against predators.  At that point they are returned to the wild.  The young kiwi are housed in indoor pens at first and then placed in outdoor pens. 

Indoor box pens

An adult kiwi weighs about 3-7 pounds, with the female larger than the male.  The female lays 1 egg and the male sits on the egg which hatches in 70-80 days.  A kiwi has one of the largest egg-to-body weight ratios in relation to the size of the bird.  When the egg hatches, the chick already has feathers and it's eyes are open.  It survives on the egg yolk for about 5 days.

Kiwi eggs next to a U.S. dollar for size comparison

Kiwi have some unusual features.  Their feathers are downy in appearance, they have small eyes (and poor vision), they do not have a tail, they have whiskers at the base of their bill, and nostrils at the end of their long bill. They have a strong sense of smell and poke their bills into the ground when they smell worms, grubs and insects.  They also eat fruits.  Kiwi have small wings but cannot fly.  

Note the nostril at the end of the bill, right by the handler's fingertip

The kiwi at Willowbank are named:  Whenua, Shauny, Lala, Frickleton, Pehl, Tinkey, Matangl, Elvis, Mere, Kenza, Matt and Mohua.  They are fed a diet developed by Massey University.  The diet consists of a mix of lean beef, ox heart, wheat germ, fruit, vegetables, dry pet food, oil and vitamins.  I helped weigh out the food for each bird and place the food dishes into the nocturnal house.  I also collect the dishes from the previous day, weigh the leftover food and record the amount each animal has eaten.  Leftover food is fed to the weka, a chicken sized New Zealand bird.  The kiwi are also given mealworms on logs to give them some enrichment time and I gave them their mealworms last week.  I also help remove and scrub the wooden burrows, clean up poo, wash dishes and use a magnet to find metal pieces in the dirt.  Kiwi will eat metal bits which then need to be surgically removed from their stomachs.

Mealworms and wood I placed in the nocturnal house

It’s been fun having kiwi babies arrive.  They are small enough to be held in one hand - slightly larger than a softball. More will be coming in the next month, but unfortunately I won't be there to see them.