American yachtie Vandy Shrader with the newly-hatched kiwi she helped out of its egg at the Whangārei Native Bird Recovery Centre. Photos / Supplied
American yachtie Vandy Shrader with the newly-hatched kiwi she helped out of its egg at the Whangārei Native Bird Recovery Centre. Photos / Supplied
By Mike Dinsdale
It's not everyday you get involved in helping another country's national icon survive.
But that's exactly what American yachtie Vandy Shrader got to do on Friday when she helped a tiny kiwi chick hatch from its egg at the Whangārei Native Bird Recovery Centre.
Shrader, from nearSan Francisco, has been stuck in the country for the past year after Covid-19 put paid to plans to leave for Fiji.
She has been coming to New Zealand for the past four years after falling in love with the country, sailing here from Fiji then returning there. But, while being here on her yacht Scoots at the Town Basin she decided to do some volunteering to keep busy and to put something back into the ''great community'' that was hosting her.
''[Bird Recovery Centre head] Robert [Webb] came down to the Town Basin last June to pick up a bird, so I asked if he wanted some help and he let me come along to help out.''
As a keen bird watcher, Shrader didn't have much experience at bird handling - she's a trained biologist - but she never imaged she'd get to help out a kiwi struggling to get out of its egg. And it's an experience that will stay with her forever.
''Wow. Just wow,'' she said when asked how it felt to see the kiwi hatch.
''To be involved in something to help New Zealand's national bird was amazing.''
A close up of the newly-hatched kiwi at the Whangārei Native Bird Recovery Centre.
Shrader said she felt honoured and privileged to have seen, and helped, the kiwi hatch, something most New Zealanders won't have done.
''I just wanted to come along and help out and I never expected anything like this. It took about 15-20 minutes to hatch. First we saw the beak pop out and bits of the shell started breaking off. Then a foot flopped out.''
However, Webb said, the chick - which he has named Vandy in honour of the visiting yachtie - got stuck in the shell as the membrane was drying out and the pair had to help it out.
''It's fantastic to be able to help your iconic bird survive and I'm just feeling proud to have been here to play my part,'' she said.
''But I kept it under the lights and a bit later it started to gain weight and about January 29 I saw a slight movement inside, so I knew then it would probably hatch so it was just a case of watching waiting,'' he said.
The kiwi chick will stay at the bird recovery centre until it is about three weeks old then will be released into bush near where it was found.
Webb said three weeks was about when kiwi chicks would be kicked out of the nest in the wild and they were more than able to fend for themselves - as long as there were no predators nearby - from that age.
''They are like many Kiwis in that they go on their big OE very early.''
The kiwi chick got stuck in its egg as the membrane dried up so had to be helped out.
Webb said anybody who finds a kiwi should contact the Conservation Department or the team at the Whangārei Native Bird Recovery Centre as soon as possible.
KIWI SURVIVAL FACTS:
■ An average of 27 kiwi are killed by predators every week. That's a population decline of around 1400 kiwi every year (or 2 per cent). At that rate, kiwi may disappear from the mainland in our lifetime. Just 100 years ago, kiwi numbered in the millions.
■ A single roaming dog can wipe out an entire kiwi population in a matter of days.
■ Approximately 20 per cent of the kiwi population is under management.
■ In areas under where predators are controlled, 50-60 per cent of chicks survive. When areas are not under management 95 per cent of kiwi die before reaching breeding age.
■ Only 20 per cent survival rate of kiwi chicks is needed for the population to increase.
