TT was a male kiwi that was in the first batch of four kiwi released in the area by the Whangarei Heads Landcare Forum to supplement the local population here.

TT had been previously transferred to the Limestone Island kiwi crèche by a DOC Ranger. In July 2004 he was again transferred, this time to the Whangarei Heads and released on the Odys’ farm at the northern end of Mt Manaia.

He was 1,650 grams in size and had a radio transmitter fitted to his leg so we could track his movements and survival.

TT spent a month or so checking out the northern end of Mt Manaia before disappearing off our radar.

Todd (our local kiwi tracker extraordinaire) tried using the radio aerial and receiver to follow TT’s transmitter.

Todd getting maximum radio reception

We looked all over and around Manaia – nothing.

Luckily Pete Graham of DOC was going up in a search plane using radio tracking to look for DOC transmittered  kiwi lost on Bream Head- he tuned into TT’s frequency and found him all the way over at Harambee Road (Northern Kauri Mt) 6 km away form his last reading!

TT then settled down in the Harambee road area spending time in weeds on the Taiharuru Road verge, in pampas at a quarry for a while, in rank kikuya grass and rushes in paddocks. In fact he went every where except the native bush!

Tracking TT (and other released kiwi) taught us WHLF folks a lot about our kiwi.   TT showed us that not only do kiwi cover quite big distances at times, but also that they can live in all sorts of habitat.  Kiwi’s are quite happy in pampas and gorse, pine plantations and on farm land.

So you can expect to find kiwi anywhere in the Whangarei Heads area – keep an eye (and an ear out). Let us know if you see kiwi in your backyard.

After we (the Whangarei Heads Landcare Forum) had been trapping stoats at the Whangarei Heads for a couple of years we radio tracked some kiwi chicks to see if they were surviving or not .  Without trapping, scientific research had shown that over 90% of kiwi chicks were killed by stoats.  If the chicks were surviving to a weight of 1,000 grams then it would be a good indication that our predator trapping programme was working. Once 1,000 grams in size a kiwi can fight off most stoats.

In October 2004 “Jackie” hatched in “Oscar’s” nest on the McLeod Bay side of the Nook peninsula.  Using a radio receiver we were able to track Jackie’s radio transmitter on her leg and find her for regular “Plunket”checks.

 Here’s a sample of Jackie’s “Plunket” checks until she reached the magical 1,000 grams:

It is worth noting that none of the seven young kiwi chicks we monitored got “stoated” – so that is good indication for our trapping programme.

As for Jackie, she kept on growing and also started wandering all over the Nook.

So after 5 years our girl Jackie had grown up. Kiwi hold the distinction of being the world’s slowest growing bird – but on the up side they are usually very long lived once mature – over 50 years on average if dogs are controlled in the area.

Jackie has now settled down in the Nook at Tahunatapu Road and in 2009 Todd found her in a burrow with a mate at Philip and Jeanette Kings’ property.  Her mate was duly named  “Spratt” – as in Jack Spratt.

Jackie and Spratt have had two nests over the 2009/2010 nesting season. Unfortunately, like a lot of first time breeders those eggs have failed but the couple are still practicing and can look forward to 50 years together to added to the healthy Nook kiwi population.