Meet Our Kiwi

Kiwi Coast follows the lives and adventures of wild Northland kiwi. We are currently following Marohi, Mango, Kotahi and Aranui on the Tutukaka Coast, and Agent 07 on the west coast.

The Tutukaka kiwi were released after reaching 1kg in weight and graduating from Whangarei's predator free kiwi creche - Matakohe-Limestone Island. At 1kg  they are strong enough to fight off one of their key predators - stoats.

Released on the Tutukaka Coast by Tutukaka Landcare, they now face the challenges of staking out a territory, finding a mate, and adjusting to life on the mainland.

Each of the kiwi followed has a transmitter on his leg so we can track it from a distance using telemetry monitoring equipment. The transmitter sends out data that lets us know where the kiwi is located and things like how long he is active each night. We can use this information to tell if one of our young males attempts to nest. Northland brown kiwi dad's are the sole incubators of the eggs - Mum's done enough work laying the largest egg per body size of any bird in the world! However, it's tough work. The dad's have to sit on the egg/s for almost 3 months!

All kiwi released in Northland are also fitted with transponders. These are tiny microchips, each with it's own unique ID code, that can be "read" by an electronic device to identify the  bird at anytime in the future.

For example in the unfortunate event of a road casualty, we can determine if its a kiwi born in the wild or one that has been released, and if so where it was released and how far it has traveled during its lifetime.  This is important information to help us figure out if kiwi are breeding and dispersing successfully in the wild. If one of our boys finds his true love, we may get the chance to figure out who she is by reading her transponder...

You can become a kiwi sponsor and follow the lives and adventures of wild Northland kiwi, by signing up to the Kiwi Coast 'Follow a Kiwi' Program.

Where will they wander next...? Who will be first to find a mate? Or who seems content, enjoying a bachelor lifestyle on his private Tutukaka beach ...? As a Follow the Kiwi Sponsor you will receive news, updates, photos and event invites FIRST!