Kiwi Birds

Hello again. It is 12 noon on Saturday March 24 and we are sitting in the Auckland Airport waiting for our flight to Hawaii at 11:55pm tonite; only about 12 hrs or so. It will give us a chance to catch up on our blogging.

We left Rotorua on March 20 and headed south to Taupo. Before we left town we stopped at Rainbow Springs, a multifunction theme park but we were interested in only one attraction.

Naomi really wanted to see a live Kiwi bird and Rainbow Springs is one of the places where they hatchout Kiwi eggs for eventual release back into the wild.

Rainbow Springs just outside of Rotorua

The Kiwi hatchery has released over 1100 chicks since it started in the 70's and has released 118 this year so far. They are having about a 65% survival rate so far. The hens only lay one egg at a time but that one egg is 20% of her body size. The human equivalent is giving birth to a 38 lb baby!.....Yes.....ouch shouts Naomi!

Before the Europeans arrived there were millions of Kiwis in NZ with 5 sub species of Kiwis. Rainbow hatchery had only the large Brown Kiwis on site. I believe the estimated numbers of Kiwis nation wide is less than 100,000 so there is a great effort to try and save these iconic birds.

Before the arrival and introduction of predators by the Europeans, the Kiwis only threats were 2 raptors (native hawks). Although the nocturnal Kiwi cannot fly they have very sturdy legs and claws and would roll over onto their backs and fight off their attackers.

They are nocturnal and hide in their burrow during the day and come out at night to search for insects. Their nostrils are down near the tip of their beaks and they shove their long beaks into insect holes etc.  It was really cool to watch them in their nocturnal habitat as they hunted for their food.

Their decimation started with dogs and cats brought into the country and this threat continues today. Apparently one female family German Sheppard killed over 500 birds before they figured out what she was doing and was stopped (not sure how?).

The next threat occurred after they introduced rabbits (not sure what for) and they soon had a rabbit epidemic. So, they next brought in a member of the weasel family called Stoats and they became very effective Kiwi killers. They have an incredibly fast metabolic rate and will kill more than they can eat.

So at present, they have a rabbit and Stoat problem with a declining Kiwi bird population.  New Zealand Conservation is working hard with various partners to protect the islands from any further problems of this nature which is why NZ is concerned about travellers bringing in unwanted flora and fauna.  Don't be surprised if they ask you to clean your shoes on arrival at the airport, you will know why.

This picture and ones following are of a stuffed kiwi - no pictures are allowed to be taken in their nocturnal habitat. 

Here is an example of one of the other subspecies of Kiwi

The Kiwi hatchery was a secure site and only guided tours allowed. Unfortunately our group included a large number of "foreign" tourists who would not listen to our guide's clear instructions. Many times she asked that we all stay quiet and take no pictures in the facility but she was ignored by many. The birds are nocturnal and react to unusual noise and light by hiding.

A few of us ended up waiting for the large group to exit and we had a great talk with our guide and were able to watch the birds foraging in their darkened enclosures.....it was very interesting.

After the Kiwi encounter we took a little walk around the park and came across this fellow who said hello to us...and that's all he said

And again these next few shots are for my fishing buddies.

And of course Bob made his way to this fish pond....

And found fish!

At first I was not sure what species....look at his nose, kinda unusual...

I asked one of staff what species they were and she said they were, to no surprise, Rainbow trout. When I asked why the odd shape of their noses she took me another fish pond where I could clearly see they were Rainbow trout...and the urge to fish was very strong...almost overwhelming...!

What a perfect spot to sit and fish!

This huge rock is an example of what the Maori would use to carve for weapons and utensils.  It was at the exit with a sign for all to touch...very smooth, almost soft to touch.

And here is Naomi's own Kiwi that she bought. Almost life size.  We had them ship it home or we would have had a weight problem on our next flights.  Yes, another package coming to you son, prepaid of course.

So glad we got to see the Kiwi birds up close and even a three day old baby...a visit to New Zealand would not be complete without including the National bird!!

This finishes up our stay in Rotorua and we then headed down to Tuapo. On the way we stopped at the Waimangu Volcanic Valley and had an incredible 3.6 km walk in the caldera of a still active volcano.

Goodbye for now