Ecology: Phil's photo: kiwi

Photo / Phil Brown

Phil's image this week shows a North Island Brown kiwi chick only 18 hours old.

"When kiwi come out of the egg, they look like a miniature adult - fully feathered and ready to go," says Brown. "The chick stays with the adults for a few days and then they are on their own. When the kiwi chick is born, part of the yolk is in the chick stomach as a yolk sack and the chick can live off this for up to fifteen days."

Brown says that chicks struggle to survive for the first six months of life and that stoats are responsible for killing up to 95 per cent of all young kiwi.

"Once the chick gets over 1000 grams it can fend off the stoats. The kiwi population is thought to be declining by six and a half per cent per year. With all the young kiwi being kill off by predictors, if we are not careful, we will end up with a population of old non-breeding birds."

Maungatautari breeds kiwi chicks and ensure that they are not released onto the main mountain until they weight at least 1.2 kgs in weight. Kiwi are also released to other restoration projects such as in the Tongariro, Taranaki and Whanganui area, so far more than 30 have been translocated.

For more information on Maungatautari Ecological Island visit their website or their facebook page.

To see more of Phil's work check out his website.