Ten more kiwis boost Northland's wild kiwi population

A large crowd turned up to see 10 kiwi released at Pataua North recently.

Northland's wild kiwi population has been swelled further with the release of 10 birds into restored native forest at Pataua North.

Joel Tomlinson meets Harapa the kiwi ahead of its release at Pataua North.

Pataua North Landcare has bolstered the kiwi numbers in the area with the release of 10 birds into the community's 800-hectare pest-controlled area.

A crowd of about 150 people turned up for the release with many getting the chance to see the kiwi close up before they were freed .

Carl Dowd gets up close with a kiwi at Pataua North.

"Hautoa" (meaning brave or courageous) was one of the four kiwi shown briefly to the crowd before the kiwi were released into pre-prepared burrows within the restored native forest at Pataua North.

Dr John Craig, co-ordinator of the Pataua North Landcare Group, worked closely with iwi and the Department of Conservation to ensure the translocation went smoothly.

''We released these new birds in places where existing kiwi have set up territories in the hope that they will pair up and begin breeding. Our aim is to re-establish a thriving kiwi population at Pataua North for generations to come," Craig said.

The 10 new kiwi joined 13 Northland brown kiwi previously released by Pataua North Landcare during May and October in 2017.

A large crowd turned up to see 10 kiwi released at Pataua North recently.

The kiwi released at Pataua have all grown up on the predator-free kiwi creches of either Motuora Island in the Hauraki Gulf or Matakohe-Limestone Island in Whangarei Harbour. Once the kiwi are over 1kg in weight, they are ready to graduate from their creche - and need to be caught, given a health check, and fitted with identifying microchips.

Rolf Fuchs, from the Whangarei office of the Department of Conservation, led the kiwi-catching crew on Motuora Island the night before the release.

"We worked from 6pm to 2am to find five males and five female kiwi on Motuora. It was a long night, but we worked well as a team and it was great to catch 10 healthy kiwi for Pataua North and help them boost their kiwi population further," Fuchs said.

In line with the Pataua North Landcare Kiwi Translocation Plan, 40 kiwi will be released into the area to establish a founding population with strong genetic diversity.

In addition to the microchips, each of the male kiwi were also fitted with small radio transmitters to help monitor the growing kiwi population. Since it is the sole job of Northland brown kiwi "dads" to incubate any eggs for 60 to 70 nights, monitoring the activity of male kiwi yields the vital information about formation of pairs, nesting attempts and breeding success.

"With the local landowner's good dog control, and ongoing predator control supported by the Northland Regional Council and Kiwi Coast, these kiwi should live for 50 to 60 years.
We hope they will find mates, breed and have many chicks that will repopulate neighbouring community-led, pest-controlled areas at Owhiwa, Taheke and Mt Tiger," Kiwi Coast co-ordinator Ngaire Tyson said.

The release follows the release of 12 kiwi into the Pukenui Western Hills Forest in early April. One of the birds went on a walkabout for several kilometres after being released and ended up in the lounge of a house in Maunu, before it was picked up by a ranger and taken back to the forest.

As well, a young kiwi was found dead on Kamo Rd in the evening of April 11. That bird did not come from the forest and experts are at a loss to explain where the young bird, which did not have a microchip or leg band, came from.

The sound of kiwi is expected to be heard more often in Whangarei in coming years as the released kiwi breed and expand their territories.