Many kiwi populations live in very remote and hard to access areas, and they are very good at hiding.
Some kiwi researchers spend much of their time tramping New Zealand's wild places, monitoring known kiwi populations and looking for signs of new populations.
But New Zealand is a big place, and our researchers are relatively few in number. There are three ways you can help:
First Thing – Find Your Kiwi
To help save kiwi, first we have to know where they are. Only then do we get to ask how many there are of each variety, find out what threats they face, and do something about it.
For those of us without a kiwi dog’s amazingly sensitive nose, one of the easiest ways to locate a kiwi is to listen for its distinctive call - creeeeee, creeeeeee, ….
Kiwi also leave calling cards – beak probe holes in the ground, large grey and white smelly droppings, feathers snared in hookgrass and, if the terrain is soft, footprints.
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Kiwi Reporting Card
You can help us monitor kiwi by reporting any sightings or evidence of kiwi in your area. Kiwi Reporting Cards are filled in by dozens of people who spend time in the hills – particularly trampers, hunters and farmers. The information these provide helps fill in the jigsaw puzzle of kiwi distribution.
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Kiwi Call Scheme
If you ever venture into the hills, you can help with the "Kiwi Call Scheme". This scheme collects information from members of the public who can distinguish kiwi calls from those of weka, morepork, and possums and are prepared to carry out timed counts.
Over the years the Kiwi Call Count Scheme has provided a great baseline of information about where kiwi live and how many there are.
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Kiwi Call Monitoring
The formal programme is called Kiwi Call Monitoring. This is run by the Department of Conservation. Staff and volunteers visit specific sites at specific times, usually between May and July, before the kiwi breeding season. Sites are usually visited on a five-yearly cycle, but annually in Northland and in the five kiwi sanctuaries. The Kiwi Call Monitoring programme has very strict guidelines about how to monitor and record kiwi calls. If you are interested in helping with Kiwi Call Monitoring, contact your local Department of Conservation office.
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What to Listen For
Kiwi call at night. The best time to listen for them is on a dark, moonless night up to two hours after dark, just as they are stirring from their burrows. Birds call to make contact with their partner or family, and to mark their territory.
The call of the male kiwi is a repetitive high-pitched whistle – 8 - 25 notes. The call of the female kiwi is a repetitive coarse rasping note – 10 - 20 notes. You can listen here to the kiwi’s call.
A thing to remember is that weka, morepork and possum calls (believe it or not) are often confused with kiwi calls.
More information on how to
listen for kiwi is provided here.
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What to Look For
Kiwi footprints are about the size of a domestic hen’s prints. They show up in soft ground – like snow, sand and mud.
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Probe holes made by the kiwi's beak usually occur in groups and look like a screwdriver has been pushed into the ground, rotated and pulled out again. Probe holes are about 10 cm deep. |
If you would like to report kiwi sign, fill in this form and give it to your local Department of Conservation office.
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