Hearing Kiwi in the Whangarei Heads

One of Backyard kiwi’s aims was to bring back the shrill call of the kiwi throughout the Whangarei Heads. With the astounding success of our recovering kiwi populations Whangarei Heads kiwi can now be heard all over the peninsula.

The best time to hear kiwi is during the kiwi mating season in autumn and early winter.

You will have the best chance of hearing them when the moon is not full, and there isn’t too much wind. The male kiwi has a loud and piercing upward slurred note that is repeated up to 20 times. Often, a female will interrupt his call with her lower, rasping cry, also repeated up to 20 times.

Click on the links above to hear their calls.

Once you know what a kiwi sounds like, it is difficult to confuse them with other calls – but sometimes, a morepork will try its best to sound like a kiwi. Click on the link to hear the morepork’s call. (You can hear the morepork’s kiwi impression about 30 seconds in to the clip).

If you are lucky, you can also hear a kiwi stomp and snuffle their way around the bush or undergrowth as they sniff around for insects.

Have you heard a kiwi at Whangarei Heads? If you have, then you need a bumper sticker – and see how many you can spot driving around the Heads! Bumper stickers are available at Parua Bay Gas, W.H.A.T. Autos and The Deck Café in McLeod Bay