Super-Dad Marohi has just hatched his ninth chick in four years out on the Tutukaka Coast!
After 74 nights of nesting, the emergence of Marohi’s newest chick has thrilled the hard working Tutukaka Landcare group. Their 10,000 ha predator control network and excellent dog owners means the local kiwi are again nesting successfully and safely.
Tutukaka Landcare Coordinator Mike Camm said:
“The perfect dad as always! We have been keeping watch remotely via radio telemetry as Marohi carried out 74 nights of sole-incubation duty. His data shows that he hatched his chick about 12 days ago.”
“When deemed safe to do so, Northland Regional Council’s kiwi expert Pete Graham joined us to check the chick and install a tiny transponder.
This may well be the only human encounter this chick ever has, but if for some reason we ever come across the chick in the future, the transponder chip will let us know who it is and where it came from.”
Marohi seems to prefer a DIY pampas-pine needle haystack to nest in, rather than your traditional earth-burrow, and this years nesting burrow was no different!
Mike added: “Before this last rain cycle Marohi was still using the same nest but his transmitter data showed his nightly activity had increased from 2 to about 7 hours, so he appears to have completed his nesting duty and to be out foraging through the night again. This time around, there is no sign of a second chick.”
Marohi is one of four kiwi monitored on the Tutukaka Coast that are part of Kiwi Coast’s ‘Follow a Kiwi’ sponsorship program. This is open to everyone who wants to chip in to help kiwi, learn about what kiwi get up to in the wild and keep up to date with their adventures every month.
Marohi wears a transmitter on his leg that allows his movements to be monitored remotely. The info transmitted also lets us know his nightly hours of activity, if he is nesting, and when he has hatched his chick. Every six months Marohi is captured, given a health check and the transmitter changed before the batteries run out. There’s usually time to grab a quick photo before he’s returned to his burrow of the day.
Northland brown kiwi don’t stay together in whanau groups. In a couple of weeks, Marohi and his chick will wander off on their separate ways. After a few weeks of foraging and getting back into condition, Mr and Mrs Marohi may well just decide to attempt a second nest of the season – we’ll keep you posted!
Kia kaha little kiwi! Roam free and enjoy many adventures on the Kiwi Coast!
