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New Resource!
Call Count Monitoring Training Package for Community Groups. Email savethekiwitrust@bnz.co.nz to request a Call Count Monitoring Training Package. It contains a guidebook, powerpoint presentation, CD of calls (kiwi and other animals sometimes confused with kiwi) and beautiful color Certificates of Completion to distribute to volunteers who have completed the training. It has been created by Wendy Sporle, National Mentor for Advocacy and is for use by an experienced person who is willing to train others who will be part of the Informal Programme.
For any questions about call count monitoring please contact Wendy.
Formal DOC Programme - Kiwi Call Monitoring
The formal programme is called Kiwi Call Monitoring. This is run by the Department of Conservation as part of Bank of New Zealand Save the Kiwi.
Staff and volunteers visit specific sites at specific times – usually on a five-yearly cycle, but annually in Northland and in the five Biodiversity Strategy kiwi sanctuaries. If you are interested in helping with Kiwi Call Monitoring, contact your local Department of Conservation office.
By monitoring one population over a number of years, researchers can chart what is happening to the numbers and distribution of kiwi within it. When the population is being managed, the call count results should show the benefits.
Informal Programme - Kiwi Call Scheme
The informal programme is the Kiwi Call Scheme. This scheme is open to anyone who visits the back-country and who can distinguish kiwi calls from those of weka, morepork, and possums. It is best to listen for an hour (or more), beginning from about an hour after sunset. However, records from shorter listening periods, or those during the wee hours of the morning are also happily received.
In the Kiwi Call Scheme, any timed counts where no kiwi are heard (negative records) provide information just as valuable as those where kiwi are heard.
The Kiwi Call Scheme allows kiwi distribution to be determined, and the call rates allow researchers to work out a coarse index of the birds’ abundance.
From 1991 to June 2002, more than 4,000 cards were added to the database.
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Monitor Your Own Kiwi Population
If you are lucky enough to live near a kiwi population, the best way to monitor its health from year to year is to listen for their calls at night.
If you are a keen, read on. An important point to note is that consistency and constancy are needed. The most reliable results are obtained if you complete kiwi counts each year, at the same time of year, and at the same site.
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Choosing a Site
In choosing a good site you are looking for a location with good listening coverage over a wide area of kiwi habitat. Examples of good sites are:
· A hilltop overlooking 50-plus hectares of shrubland or bushland. Even better if it is connected to other shrubland/bushland areas
· A broad valley that looks up onto extensive kiwi habitat. A valley has the advantage of being more sheltered from the wind
It may pay to carry out some initial checks at night before deciding which is the most important site with the greatest number of birds. Listening for kiwi means sitting quietly in the dark for a couple of hours, so it is best to choose a monitoring spot where you are likely to hear the calls of several birds.
Once you have chosen your site, use the same place each year.
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Best Time of Year
The best time to listen is over a month-long period, between May and July, but it can be done at any time of year.
Whichever month you chose, you should stick with it in all following years.
Schools, iwi and community groups may prefer to listen shortly after Daylight Saving ends in March, when the evenings are not too cold and darkness falls quite early.
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How to Listen
Before you go out in the field, listen to tapes of male and female kiwi calls and other night time animals (weka, possums, morepork) so that you are familiar with how they sound. Remember that morepork do not just call “More-Pork,” but have a variety of “screee” calls that can get confused with kiwi.
Aim to be ready and in position half an hour before dark. This will give you a chance to get familiar with the terrain and make sure you are ready when darkness falls.
You need to set time aside on four clear (not cloudy or raining or windy) nights in whichever month you choose. And it needs to be during the dark phase of the moon. That means beginning your counts at least three nights after full moon, and finishing them five nights after the new moon.
Listen for the same length of time on each night – two hours is usual.
Fill in a Kiwi Call Scheme Card for each hour on each the four nights. You can get these from your local Department of Conservation office or you can download and print them off here.
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What to Record
It pays to fill out the first sections of the form before dark. Every time you hear a kiwi calling, record its sex, the compass direction and its estimated distance from you.
When you have completed your monitoring, fill details into the Kiwi Call Scheme Template and send to the National Coordinator of the Kiwi Call Scheme SRU.
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Listening Checklist
1. Use the same listening site each year
2. Listen during the same month each year
3. Listen for two hours after dark on four separate nights
4. Listen during the dark phase of the moon
5. Avoid windy nights as these will affect your ability to hear kiwi
6. Use a separate Kiwi Call Scheme Card for each hour of each night
7. Don’t forget to dress warmly, take a torch, raincoat, and something to sit on
8. Make sure you let people know where you are going, and make sure you let them know you have returned safely. Work out an emergency plan so they know what to do if you do not return home at the expected time
9. And remember, you may not hear a kiwi, and you will have to sit still and be silent in the dark for a couple of hours
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