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The Brown Kiwi population is estimated at 25,000 birds. While mainland populations are declining at a rate of 4 - 5 per cent each year, where active predator or breeding management is being carried out their numbers are stable or increasing. |
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Where Brown Kiwi Live
Brown Kiwi are found in the upper two-thirds of the North Island in four distinct populations:
· Northland – 8000 birds
· Coromandel – 1000 birds
· Eastern North Island (covering Hawkes Bay, East Cape and the Bay of Plenty to Rotorua) - 8000 birds
· Western North Island (covering King Country, Taranaki, Tongariro and Wanganui) – 8000 birds.
Preferred Habitat
While the birds appear to prefer lowland and coastal indigenous forest (their population density is highest in these areas), huge changes to New Zealand’s original forest cover mean the kiwi have to be adaptable. Today they live in many different types of vegetation, including exotic forests and rough farmland.
In Hawkes Bay, Brown Kiwi prefer mature indigenous forest to mature scrubland and, when this is not available, can be found in forest remnants divided by areas of farmland.
In Northland, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty and inland Taranaki, these kiwi live in exotic pine forests. This is interesting because pine forests do not have much undergrowth, and the soil is rather acidic – quite different from the environment within native forest.
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By comparison, there are few kiwi in exotic forests on the Volcanic Plateau and in Hawkes Bay – probably because few young birds are produced to colonise them.
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