Surprise kiwi chick rescued in 'foul' Hawke's Bay storm

The chick was rushed to safety, warmed and dried in front of a fire before transfer. Photo / Supplied

Conservationists got more than they bargained for when a member of a kiwi egg-collection team found a newly-hatched chick in a nest, instead of an egg.

A Forest Lifeforce Restoration Trust spokesperson said the team made the surprise discovery while working in an inland Hawke's Bay forest in a "foul night with strong wind and driving rain".

The chick was cold, wet and "very still" in the empty burrow. It was gathered up, warmed and transferred to the care unit at The National Kiwi Hatchery in Rotorua.

The chick was named Regal as it was rescued in the early hours of the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Holiday at the end of September.

"There are no external features to determine if kiwi chicks are male or female so DNA feather testing is undertaken. As this can take some time chicks are frequently given gender neutral names."

Regal was discovered as part of the regular Operation Nest Egg work undertaken each year on the Forest Lifeforce Restoration Trust's property in the Maungataniwha Native Forest.

The chick was dried and warmed before transfer. Photo Supplied

Operation Nest Egg is a national programme where kiwi eggs are removed from their burrows and incubated, hatched and reared in safety while they are most vulnerable.

They are then returned to where the eggs were lifted from when they're large enough to fend for themselves in the wild.

The trust's resident "kiwi whisperer" Barry Crene said it was unusual for an egg to have hatched before a team arrived to recover it.

"Most of the birds we recover eggs from are fitted with transmitters so we can tell when they're not on their nests; that's when we swoop in to collect their eggs," he said.

"We retrieve eggs before they hatch so that predators don't get a chance to nab the newly-hatched chicks."

The team took Regal straight back to camp, stoked up the fire and put the chick in a container next to the hearth to dry out.

"By morning its feathers were nice and fluffy and the chick was bright eyed and quite perky.

"When we got it to The National Kiwi Hatchery hospital, staff put antiseptic cream on its navel to prevent infection and put it in a special brooder under a heat plate. It weighed in at 250 grams."

Regal has since been transferred to a kiwi creche where it will stay until it is large enough to live in the wild. It will be released back into the forest at Maungataniwha from where it was rescued.