‘Scrapping’ kiwis delight tourists
While on a Stewart Island bush walk one of the last things you’d expect to see is a couple of kiwi rolling out of the bush to have a ‘‘scrap’’.
But that was what Auckland visitors Sandra Burgess, her husband Bryce experienced.
The couple were on a five-day tramp on the Rakiura Track, Stewart Island, last week with friends.
They decided to head to Bungaree Hut for a night.
‘‘On the last day we were quietly walking to Lee Bay and on the way a kiwi ran out in front of me on the path,’’ Sandra said.
‘‘I actually screamed because it gave me fright as I was not expecting it. It ran up the path and into the undergrowth and had a scrap with another kiwi.’’
The two kiwi ran off, but the couple stood quietly waiting.
It wasn’t long until a female Rakiura tokoeka reappeared, walking around the couple before ducking off into a nearby bush.
‘‘Other than that, the only other time I have seen a kiwi is in a nocturnal kiwi house at a zoo.
‘‘We feel extremely lucky and privileged to have seen these rather large kiwis,’’ Sandra said.
The kiwi was a Rakiura tokoeka, also known as a Southern brown kiwi, Emma Feenstra, of Massey University, said.
‘‘They are threatened nationally, vulnerable and previous research has suggested they are in decline.’’
Feenstra’s work was the first to directly monitor the survival of chicks and would help understand how the population is faring.
Tokoeka were also in Haast and Fiordland, but the Rakiura birds were a separate sub-species, Feenstra said.
‘‘Little research has been done on these tokoeka but what we do know shows some differences from all other kiwi in New Zealand – they are active during the day for one, and they also have nest helpers that help incubate – previous years offspring that stay in the natal nest.’’
She did not know the age of the kiwi, but based on its look said it would likely be an adult female, because of the length of the bird’s bill.
It was common for trampers to come across the birds, especially in summer because of dry weather, Feenstra said. ‘‘The people of Half Moon Bay are also known to have kiwi in their backyards,’’ she said.
Feenstra recommended people who came across kiwi stood still and watched.
‘‘Never pick a kiwi up even if they come very close to you, they are actually very fragile and easily hurt unless you know what you’re doing.’’
‘‘I actually screamed because it gave me fright as I was not expecting it.’’ Sandra Burgess