A Kiwi bloke

Ruapehu Bulletin, 3 August 1993, Page 1 (Supplement)

A Kiwi bloke

IHHr -rrt- " It's Conservation Week - time to think I about the things around us tfiat we want to preserve. One project that the Department | of Conserv-ation is working on with a subject of national importance is the Kiwi Recovery Project, which is going on right under our mountains. Conservation officer Rob McCallum (pictured at left with Kiwi friend "Tahi") has been helping zoology student Jonathan Miles on a research project to leam more about the kiwi populations in this area. They have been spending hours sitting around in the bush at night, listening for the call of the North Island brown Kiwi. They have been working to establish where the major populations are. Now * they are gathering data to compare two strongholds of the kiwis, one in the Tongariro State Forest and one in the Whakapapaiti Valley in the Tongariro National Park. "It involves sitting for hours in the freezing cold, calling in kiwis, then catching them so they can be weighed, sexed and measured, then individually banded," said Rob. A transmitter is fitted to the birds so they can be tracked to learn about their habits and movements, and to quickly find them later. _■ 0 4 - Turn to page 2

Kiwi Blokes

From page 1 "We want to find out the differences between the kiwis in the national park environment and the modified environment." , There are natural differences in the two habitats, for example the different altitudes, but Rob says they will learn about the effects on the kiwis in the Tongariro Forest, where logging has occurred, there are dogs, wild cats, stoats and gin traps. While the North Island brown kiwi is the most common type, they are still much smaller in number. Rob says it is hard work catching kiwis. "We've modified our techniques and we're getting better, but you need a lot of luck."

The team are keen to hear from people who have seen or heard kiwis. "We'd like to hear from people who see kiwi prints or probe holes, or hear calls." The prints are unique - three toed and quite large, and the probe holes look like someone has pushed a screwdriver into the ground ' and twisted it round and round. The male's call is a series of shrill cries (more than 10) and female's a dry rasping call. "The kiwi call is most often mistaken for one of the morepork's calls," said Rob. He said they have tapes available for anyone to hear so they can be sure of what to listen for. (Photo: Jonathan Miles).