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A juvenile kiwi that found its way from rural Tawharanui to urban Omaha was rescued by a kind-hearted resident who found it wandering along a path on May 12.
Laura Laurenson thought she’d spotted a weka at first, as she walked her two dogs along the path between houses and the beach at the southern end of the settlement.
“I thought ‘that’s unusual’, but then it moved and I thought ‘no, that’s a kiwi!’” she said. “I’d never seen one in the wild, but I knew it shouldn’t be on the path in Omaha and I knew it shouldn’t be out in the day, so I thought I’d gently scoop it up, keep it safe and call DOC, as chances were, it wasn’t very well.”
Laura carried the bird home and popped it into a travel cot to keep it secure until DOC staff from Warkworth were able to attend and assess the young kiwi later that afternoon.
“They said it was a juvenile, probably born in December or January, and they thought it had left the nest reasonably recently and just wandered too far. It was probably quite tired and hungry.”
Laura said the whole experience was quite surreal, though with an ecologist father, she had grown up in a home that was often full of rescued birds and animals.
“It was amazing that it was a kiwi, but if it was a sparrow, I still would have taken it home,” she said. “But of all the things you could have found at the beach – a penguin, even – I never would have guessed I’d see a kiwi.
“It was an amazing day; a special something that I’ll never forget.”
Kiwi have started to spread beyond the confines of Tawharanui’s predator proof fence in recent years, though this is thought to be the furthest that one has been spotted beyond the park boundary.
DOC operations manager Rebecca Rush said the Warkworth rangers found that the Omaha bird was in poor body condition and had a relatively recent bill tip injury, so it was transported to Auckland Zoo vet hospital for tests and treatment.
“If the kiwi can be bought back to a condition suitable for release into the wild, DOC will work closely with kaitiaki from Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust and Auckland Council to return the bird back to Tāwharanui Regional Park, where we believe the bird originated from,” she said.
Auckland Zoo communications manager Jane Healy said last week that vets were continuing care for the kiwi and the injury to its beak needed time to heal.
If anyone finds a kiwi during the day, injured or in poor condition, they should immediately call 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468).
“Any sightings of kiwi outside of fenced sanctuaries on Auckland’s mainland can also be reported to 0800 DOC HOT,” Ms Rush said. “If the public come across a kiwi, in any condition, it’s important to give it space and keep dogs well away.”
