With a ratio of 5:1 sheep to humans, Aotearoa is well known for its abundance of these woolly mammals. A more interesting, but less known fact is that Rakiura has a ratio of 30:1 kiwis to humans. If you are hoping to see one of our quirky national icons, you will have a much higher chance here. Due to the shorter nights and longer day time hours this far south, it’s not uncommon to spot kiwi during the day. I have heard stories of people on the Rakiura trek seeing kiwi wander out onto the path in front of them – in broad daylight! Another reason to put Rakiura on your bucket list.
After the sun has gone down, we meet our guide Dan and head out on our kiwi spotting adventure with Ulva’s Guided Walks. We are heading towards Lee Bay and the Mamaku Reserve. On the drive out, Dan brakes suddenly and we all hop out of the van to witness our first kiwi. It’s on the side of the road, casually having a feed. I can’t believe it. The tour hasn’t even really started yet and we have already seen a kiwi.
A single kiwi can consume as many as 200-250 worms in one evening! They use their sense of smell and vibrations to seek them out, probing the soil with their long beaks. She is very absorbed in her feeding and not at all aware of our presence. We are using red lights which apparently they can’t see. We watch her for a while and then she wanders into the bush. We pile into the van to carry on our journey.
We arrive at Lee bay and spend some time wandering around on the beach and the grassy area where Daniel and I had our picnic earlier that day. Dan knows where their burrows are so has taken us here to see if any of them are out feeding. We see tracks on the beach but no kiwi so we make our way up to the reserve and Dan lets us in through the gate.
Kiwi are one of the many flightless bird species we have in Aotearoa. Long ago, there were no natural predators in our country so they had no need to fly. They evolved, their wings became stumps, their bones became dense (not hollow like other flying birds) and their feathers changed to be more downy than aerodynamic. Fortunately, there aren’t many predators on Rakiura and the Stewart Island Kiwi is really flourishing here.
Kiwi lay huge eggs for their size and the incubation period is 90 days. When they hatch, they are fully formed, feathers and all. They are able to hunt for themselves but remain with their parents for 1 – 3 years depending on the species.
This is a tour that requires patience. There is a lot of standing still, listening to the night. The forest floor is squishy underfoot. It’s raining. We are standing in the open, getting quite wet, but it’s also thrilling. The anticipation of seeing more kiwi outweighs the discomfort of being wet and cold. We walk slowly, every step carefully taken so not to make too much noise.
Then, under our red light, along the fence line, we see two more kiwi. A male and a female. Dan tells us this is uncommon. While they share burrows, they feed alone. We feel very privileged to see two at once. There is a noticeable size difference, the female much larger. This was clearly visible when we saw them side by side.
But then, something unusual happens. The male kiwi lets out an almighty squawk that pierces the silence of the night. I just about leap out of my skin, it gives me such a fright. He has seen us, sent out a warning call and before we know it, he and the female have disappeared into the bush. Now, I know I said earlier that kiwi can’t see red light, and this is true, except for one male in the reserve who does seem to be able to see it. No one is sure why or how he can see it, but he can. It seems that this is the kiwi we have encountered tonight.
We continue standing in the dark waiting to see if they will reappear. Dan has a heat sensor that he uses to help spot kiwi. After some time, I hear a subtle rasping noise and then the female reappears – on her own this time. She isn’t bothered by us. We follow her along the fence line, she moves quickly, bouncing along. Dan explains that this is how they graze. As she moves she can sense if there is any food underneath so she doesn’t need to stop and poke around. She will only put her beak down when she knows something is there. We eventually lose track of her, she was moving very quickly.
Some more interesting information we learn is that on the couple of occasions they have seen the Southern Lights on the tour, they haven’t seen kiwi. Dan said that other local guides have reported this too. There are no studies on this, the kiwi do so well on Rakiura that conservation money goes to other projects. However, their theory is that the high geomagnetic activity keeps them tucked away in their burrows.
We make our way back to the beach but no sign of any more kiwi, we still all feel lucky to have seen 3. We head back to the town in the van but as we approach Horseshoe Bay, Dan makes a stop – he has seen another kiwi. It’s not even bothered by the van headlights. We watch it for a while before calling it a night.
We arrive home rather wet and ready for bed. We have been out on tours the last 3 nights. I am grateful we are here in April when the sun goes down a bit earlier. In the peak of summer, these tours don’t even depart until around 10 – 10:30pm.
Rakiura is a fantastic location for kiwi spotting. You could head out on your own to look for them, but being on a tour, you get the expert knowledge of a guide who can teach you so much about these curious birds. I highly recommend Ulva’s Guided Walks Day and Night Special. It covers 2 tours – kiwi spotting and a guided walk on Ulva Island, which I will be sharing about next week.
Sorry, no photos for this one. I am no good at taking night photos and didn’t want to risk a flash going off. Sometimes, it’s just best to take memory photos to tuck away in your mind. This is one of those occasions.
Exploring the Long White Cloud 