November Update on Monitored Kiwi

All monitored kiwi in the Whangarei Heads are alive…click here to see updated map of kiwi locations.

Jackie’s Boy is still at the Nook. He gave up nesting after 34 days. We hope his mate (Jackie) is not a problem breeder – her previous nests with previous mate also failed last season.

King is nesting at Kauri Mountain. His final hatch is due on 17th December, so stay tuned.

Whitu at Reotahi is still exhibiting very low activity 56 days after hatch. Poor guy has gone straight from one nest to another.

Lambert at Taurikura Ridge has also started his second nest for the season. He already hatched two chicks, he chicks have been named “ Sandy ” by Audrey of Ocean Flowers and “Alan” in honour of Alan Pike.

Waka – young male released at Taurikura Ridge back in September is also showing nesting behaviour!!! He is only 15 months old – we thought Lambert was quick off the mark when he started at 2 years old.

Daniel found in gut at Kauri Mt.after being missing last month.

Recently released “Jen” has moved from Mt Manaia to Kauri Mt and settled in there

Also recently released “Steph” moved towards to Kauri Mt but carried right on past – she was only fitted with a old transmitter on a temporary band for checking after release and the tx has now dropped off in a paddock by the Taiharuru estuary. (both these birds were adults and the older birds tend to go walk about after release far more than our usual sub adult aged birds).

Violet due tx change but deep in pampas and elusive

Sleepy due BMs but always in hollow Puriri.

“Released” kiwi prints are going fast….Please contact us if you would like to order one…and support a great cause.

What some of the WHLF monitored kiwi have been up to in October:

Kiwi Release – Eighty locals were in attendance for the release of “Steph,” “Jen,” and “Marcus” at Mark and Claire Pearson’s place at Northern Manaia . It was great to see the locals turn up, including some new faces, to see kiwi released in their backyard. And thanks to Mark and Claire for their hosting of the event.

Marcus – was named by Ben and Jo Barr (Limestone Is Rangers) in honour of Marcus Lush who was filming the TV program “North” at Limestone when they recaptured the kiwi for the release. We released him without a transmitter.

Steph – is a large female who has quickly moved from the release site at Manaia towards Kauri Mt

Jen – is actually a boy and he has also moved towards Kauri Mt and is current hanging out at the end of Kerr road.

Lambert -(Our “Dad of the Year” last year) – Todd visited the pampas bush that has been home to him and his eggs for over 100 days at Taurikura Ridge, and confirmed that he has hatched 2 chicks from his first nest of this season – they have now been DNA sampled and ID chipped. Lambert’s chick timer transmitter data had shown his hatching inactivity, then a slow rise in activity until 17 days after hatching signaling that he was about to leave the chicks. Lambert is now sporting a new CT tx (Chick Timer transmitter). The chicks have been named “ Sandy ” by Audrey of Ocean Flowers and “Alan” in honour of Alan Pike.

Whitu at Reotahi – Also confirmed 2 chicks hatched, again nesting in a pampas bush. These two have been named “Marsden” and “Atarangi” by Dianna Manning and Graeme Cleaver.

King – King’s transmitter signal finally turned up again after 4 months off radar at Kauri Mountain , probably on one of the coastal cliffs there. He is now nesting and his hatch is due around 17 December.

Jackie’s Boy at Nook – This is the new wild male we found last month – he is now nesting in a hollow Puriri only a few meters from the back door of a house at the Nook. His nest is due to hatch around 11 December.

All others accounted for except Daniel who is now hiding somewhere at Kauri Mountain .

What some of the WHLF monitored kiwi have been up to in September:

New kiwi named Jackie’s Boy – You may remember that an adult male kiwi called “Spratt” was killed by a dog at the Nook a couple of months ago. Todd was checking Spratt’s female mate “Jackie” earlier this month and found her cuddled up in a pampas bush with a new mate who the landowners has named “Jackie’s Boy”. It is always exciting to find new wild kiwi at the Heads because it is a good indication that our stoat trapping is protecting the kiwi chicks.

Whitu – wins the prize for hatching the first chick for the monitored kiwi at the Heads this year. His transmitter indicates that his chick hatched on 23 September. His nest is on the face of Mt Aubrey above the Reotahi carpark and we will leave him in alone for a week or so – his activity is still only around 2 hours per night according to the transmitter so he may well be on a second egg.

Lambert – last year’s “dad of the year” has hatched his first chick of the season on 24 September (piped by 1 day by Whitu) at Taurikura Ridge.

Xmas – was briefly nesting for 12 days in the horse paddock at McLeods but gave up on the nest. To hatch a kiwi egg needs to be incubated by the dad for around 75 days but DoC studies show that only 50% of kiwi eggs naturally make it through to hatch. The good news for Xmas is that there is plenty of time for him to have another go at nesting this spring and if we get summer rain many of the Kiwi can have two nests in a season.

Darwin – although Darwin is a mature male he hasn’t nested since being released in 2006 and seems to prefer bachelor life in the pampas at the end of Lamb road.

Waka – is a juvenile kiwi from our BNZONC programme. He was hatched in Purua 12 months ago and we transferred him to Limestone Is. Jo and Ben Barr (the Limestone Is rangers) found him in one of their Petrel nests and he had grown to 1300g – big enough to come back to the mainland. He was released on 18 September at Taurikura Ridge (see release story). Waka has settled into the pine forest on the eastern side of Taurikura Ridge. Welcome to the Heads Waka.

Violet has moved up the eastern side of Mt Aubrey by Bay View road.

King is still being elusive somewhere on the Kauri Mountain coastline and hopefully he and his transmitter signal will turn up again soon .

Map of Monitored Kiwi

Another Kiwi Killed by Dog

“Sprat” – Wild-hatched Kiwi

Unfortunately, when checking Sprat’s monthly location for July, the signal from his transmitter was a “mortality signal” – meaning either he was dead or he had dropped his transmitter. When located, all that was left of Sprat was a pile of bones and a few feathers. The bones showed evidence of a dog kill (broken ribs and a puncture wound to the skull). The data from the transmitter gave his date of death as around the 24 June 2010. We have been checking with locals at the Nook for any sightings of uncontrolled dogs around that (or any other) time. Sprat was a wild hatched kiwi who had become “Jackie’s” partner last season and we had put a transmitter on him to monitor nesting (the dad’s sit on the eggs). Unfortunately 50 years of potential breeding by Sprat has been lost.

Here’s the July update for monitored kiwi in the Whangarei Heads, as reported by Todd Hamilton, WHLF kiwi ranger:

Dallas is in the pines north of the Whangarei Heads School and is coming up on 2 years old so had his transmitter upgraded to a “Chick Timer” transmitter to check for any nesting.

Darwin is hanging around the wetlands by Lamb Road and is also sporting a new transmitter. He is in excellent condition and weighting 2425g.

Daniel – is settled in the bush on the north side of Kauri Mt Road .

Xmas is still hanging around the edge of the recently logged horse paddock at Mcleod Bay

Violet is still in the pampas by Bay View road.

Lambert is once again showing himself to be a good breeder and is nesting on the west side of Taurikura Ridgewith chicks due in early October..

Whitu – is also nesting on the face of Mt Aubry above the Reotahi carpark and if successful should produce a chick or chicks around the end of September.

Dog Killed Kiwi Chick
Unfortunately a kiwi chick was killed by a dog in the Bream Head reserve recently. Someone was either illegally walking their dog there or the dog had wandered there the previous night. The 900g chick was found on the walking track on the way to the gun emplacement by locals out for a Sunday morning walk. This chick was a wild hatched chick that was getting close to stoat proof size. DoC have taken saliva samples from the body to DNA test to help identify the dog.
Here’s the May update for monitored kiwi in the Whangarei Heads, as reported by Todd Hamilton, WHLF kiwi ranger:

– Dallas is in a paddock of pampas just west of the Whangarei Heads School

– Jackie and Sprat are hanging out together at the Nook – hopefully getting ready to nest.

– Darwin has moved back to his favourite haunt in a pampas patch at the end of Lamb Road.

– Sleepy – had to catch Sleepy twice this month, once to upgrade his transmitter to a chick timer and then again a week later because the mercury switch in the new transmitter was faulty giving a mortality signal (if the tx does not move for 24 hours it trips a mortality signal). He was 2200g in weight.

– Xmas is still hanging around the edge of the recently logged horse paddock at Mcleod Bay.

– Violet is in the pampas by Bay View road- she had her 6 monthly check and was 2560g in weight and her bill was 132.9mm (she was 2440g and 126.6mm six months ago so she is still growing at coming up to 3 years old).

– Lambert is still playing hard to get in the gorse at the top of Taurikura Ridge.

– King – haven’t managed to get a signal from King this month, this is not uncommon for him as he often tucks himself down on the flax covered coastal cliffs at Kauri Mt.
It is the kiwi breeding season at present so the birds are calling each other regularly in the evening so it is good time to listen for kiwi in your backyard.

Here’s the April update for monitored kiwi in the Whangarei Heads, as reported by Todd Hamilton, WHLF kiwi ranger:

– Dallas is just west of the Whangarei Heads School

– Jackie has returned from her stint on the Parua Bay side of the Nook and is back with mate Sprat on the western end of the Nook

– Darwin is still in the wetland by Lamb Road looking for some soft ground and any potential mates.

– Sleepy has moved from the Kiteone Road side of Oxborrows’ farm to the Nook road side.

– Xmas is hanging around the edge of the recently logged horse paddock at Mcleod Bay.

– Violet has moved from the upper slopes of Mt Aubry down to the pampas by Bay View road

– Lambert is due his 6 monthly tx band check but is playing hard to get in the gorse at the top of Taurikura Ridge.

– King had his 6 monthly check – he was 1960g, his bill was 100.4 and he is in reasonable condition.

– With the bit of rain we have had the adult kiwi should be starting to feed up well for the imminent breeding season – the birds should be calling each other regularly now in the evening so it is good time to listen for kiwi in your backyard.

Click here for the map of monitored kiwi.

Here’s the March update for monitored kiwi in the Whangarei Heads, as reported by Todd Hamilton:

– All monitored kiwi alive

– Xmas: was nesting near where logging of WDC pines took place in McLeod Bay, but stopped nesting and moved away from logging area. On a side note, the logging crew have been very good- I have monitored birds regularly and kept them updated but geeze logging makes a lot of noise.

– Violet: has moved away from logging area near the Club and settled onto Mt Aubry

– JR: has also moved away from an area of earthworks

– According to our “chick timers” there are no other nesters – all timers are indicating high activity (10 hours)- ie: they are moving, not nesting!

– Performed biometrics update for Dallas and Sleepy

– Performed a transmitter change for Sleepy (finally)

Click here for the map of monitored kiwi.