Otangarei resident convinced she heard kiwi call before young bird killed on Kamo Rd

This young kiwi was found dead on Kamo Rd, in Kensington, on April 11, after apparently being hit by a car, but where the bird came from has baffled experts.

Otangarei resident Verna Andrews knows a kiwi when she hears one.

Aged 90-next-month, she heard one a couple of weeks ago, shrieking in the unmistakable raucous tone she remembers hearing around her rural home while she was growing up.

"I instantly thought it was one when I heard it. I haven't forgotten that sound, ever, but then I did think for a moment I must be going mad in my old age because there can't be any kiwi around here," she said.

"Then when I read in the Advocate that a kiwi had been run over on Kamo Rd, I knew I'd heard a kiwi, and I would say that was the same one I heard."

She hasn't heard a kiwi call since.

Andrews grew up near Hukerenui when people were breaking in farmland and where bushmen still earned a living. The family often heard kiwi calling from surrounding bush at night. In adult years, Andrews again often heard the sound when she visited her brother at Purerua Peninsula, Bay of Islands.

Department of Conservation spokeswoman Abi Monteith said it is likely no one will ever know how the juvenile kiwi came to run over and killed on Kamo Rd in the evening of April 11.

"It is an unusual case. Kiwi can travel up to 6km in a night and there may be a number of urban populations in Whangarei, at the back of Parihaka, for example, that we don't know about.

"This kiwi was a juvenile and kiwi don't call until they reach four years, so it's hard to know where populations, especially juveniles, are located."

DoC took samples from the un-microchipped bird but DNA analysis was unlikely to cast light on where it was from; only rule out it being a previously released bird.

Bevan Cramp, the ranger for Pukenui Western Hills Forest Trust which released 12 birds in the rugged hills a month ago, said the growing kiwi population in the district meant motorists and pet owners needed to be vigilant.

Kiwi can wander long distances looking for a mate and a borough to call their own, and the recent release had a quirky - fortunately not tragic - sequel.

A Ngahere Dr couple were astonished and delighted a week or so after the Pukenui release when a kiwi wandered into their house and nosed around until a ranger could collect it and return it deep into the bush.

"We're doing all we can to keep these birds safe but it really falls on the community as a whole as to whether or not the translocation succeeds," Cramp said.

"If the community stays vigilant, there's no reason kiwi can't do well in the Pukenui. Being responsible pet owners and driving more carefully is a small price to pay to have these amazing birds on our doorstep."

It's the role of the local roading manager, Whangarei District Council, to grant permission for "kiwi crossing" signs at spots recommended by DoC, such as existing ones at Glenbervie and Whangarei Heads.

It is likely signs will be put up at Maunu near the Pukenui Western Hills, but none are planned for Kamo Rd, at this stage.