Environment – Kiwi beyond borders

The kiwi bird’s Latin name, Apteryx, means without wings. But, in fact, they have little vestigial evolutionary wing remnants that you can’t see. They also don’t have a breast keel or pointed breastbone to attach big wings for flight to, so they are doomed by evolution to stay on land.

But is it fair to say they’re doomed if they can’t fly? Isn’t it the very essence of a bird to soar on the wind? Well, tell that to the kiwi. In many ways, they are outstanding in their field. Just visit Tawharanui, Motuora Island, Tiritiri Matangi, Hauturu/Little Barrier Island (as I did recently), or some other blessed places across New Zealand, to see kiwi still existing wild and free.

No, they don’t fly, but they lay the biggest egg-to-weight of any bird, at up to 25 per cent of their body mass. The kiwi egg is six times bigger than the eggs of other birds of similar size. The male incubates the egg and their burrows are usually lined with an untidy nest of soft leaves, grass and moss and, once inside, the kiwi will cover the hole with a little collection of leaves and sticks as camouflage and to keep the warmth in. They can have up to 50 burrows across their range.

Kiwi sleep standing up and can’t tuck that long beak under their tiny wings. They are also the only bird with nostrils at the end of their beak. It’s hard to beat that if you live on worms, slaters, millipedes and centipedes, slugs, snails, spiders, seeds, berries and plant matter. No wonder kiwi thrived before people arrived with their dogs, pigs, fire, guns, traps, chainsaws and bulldozers. In a safe and intact forest or open ecosystem, they had a smorgasbord of insects to choose from with no need to ever go hungry.

Yet, going hungry, they now are. Kiwi population recovery in places such as Tawharanui and Motuora have been very successful. In the absence of predatory threats, kiwi thrive, but can then suffer from limited food and water. Wider restoration projects have real potential for hosting spill-over kiwi and people across the motu are being motivated by that prospect.

Catchment scale, community-based wildlife corridor restoration across Rodney and Northland (and beyond) and kiwi-safe dog care (on a leash) will mean kiwi can roam across farmland and forest safely.

Already the Northland Kiwi Coast project sees a real celebration of kiwi in communities, with both human and birds flourishing.

We can dream that one day the kiwi escaping from Tawharanui on the east coast and Mataia Restoration Project on the west will join up, supplemented by restoration and reintroduction along the Forest Bridge corridor. From Coatesville to Muriwai, across the Kaipara and through Mt Tamahunga, Mangawhai, Whangarei and beyond, we can imagine predator control, dog management, forest restoration – a kiwi haven. Community focus can make kiwi soar!