KIWIS SEEKING KIWIS

Forest and Bird, Issue 268, 1 May 1993, Page 34

KIWIS SEEKING KIWIS

New Zealand's national bird is in trouble. Surveys by the Department of Conservation show an alarming decline in many populations. But JUDITH DOYLE looks at one population of kiwi that appears to be doing fine.

OU MAY HAVE tramped New Zealand bush tracks from one end of the country to the other. You may be an enthusiast for our flora and fauna, but chances are you've never seen a kiwi in the wild. Heard them, yes. But few Kiwis have seen their namesakes except in artificial environments. And that is why the kiwi-spotting trips

run by fisherman, Phillip Smith, on Stewart Island are so popular, despite the unpredictability of wind and weather and the necessity to brave the elements at night in order to see the nocturnal kiwi. On only one occasion, did his group fail to see kiwi, he claims. (He doesn’t give the same guarantee in regard to the weather — a good strong westerly can put paid to his best-laid plans and the trips have to be cancelled at these times.)

The secret of his kiwi-spotting success is seeking them on an isolated beach where their dark feathers are visible against the white sands, even at night. The birds come out on the beach to forage for sandhoppers which they find beneath the washed-up kelp. The tours start at twilight from Golden Bay which is over the hill from Oban — Stewart Island’s main settlement. After crossing Paterson Inlet, that large slice of water that nearly divides the island, the kiwi-spotters head for a bay at the base of a narrow peninsula called The Neck. Early last century sealers and whalers settled just north of this area, joining a long-established Maori community. But humans have long departed and the bush and the silence has reclaimed its own. Often it is the kiwi that pierces this silence with its plaintive shrill call. Phillip Smith frequently hears them from the boat before he ties up. There is a sizeable wharf here, used in the early days as a

"heave-down" for whaling and sealing craft that required repair work. The wharf is a godsend for the kiwispotting groups as they disembark in neardarkness and, with the help of their torches, tackle the 10-minute walk over the hill to the wide sands and dunes of Ocean Beach — the area over which DoC has granted a trial concession. Visitors must be quiet as kiwi have good hearing. They can also smell humans, says Smith — those nostrils at the tip of the kiwi’s bill are one of its more bizarre features, but they are very effective.

Their sight, however, is poor. And the food source on the beach is good. Which keeps them busy enough to be relatively unconcerned by the presence of humans. Smith uses a torch, sparingly, on the beach and he asks that no-one else use either a torch or a camera flash. The sand provides a light background, so the kiwi are not too difficult to pick out, once people’s eyes have adjusted to the darkness. They dart about, poking their long bills into the kelp. But the kiwi has more serious business on hand and that nimble bill goes up and down, up and down, to catch the sandhoppers that jump about underneath. "T make sure the group stays on the beach," says Smith, ""That’s where they’ll see kiwi and anyway, it’s safer. It’s extremely difficult to find kiwi in the blackness of the bush at night — there are few tracks — and I would be nervous of losing someone! Especially after one incident when a tourist went looking in the bush and we took ages finding him."

N RETURNING to the boat, Smith gives some background information on the kiwi over hot drinks and cake. He believes they are increasing on Stewart Island, unlike the worrying decreases being reported elsewhere. "The Stewart Island kiwi is quite different from other kiwi found throughout New Zealand," says Smith. "It has larger eggs, slightly greyer feathers and a longer beak than its more northern cousins, and females are generally bigger than males." The Stewart Island birds are also unusual in being active both at night and during the day. Scientists believe this may be because, unlike other kiwi, parent birds share incubation, requiring one of them to feed during the day. Or it may be due to a comparatively poorer food supply, forcing birds to forage longer to attain breeding condition. He prides himself on disturbing the birds as little as possible and this must be

working — they often come up and pick at his boots. Andy Roberts of the Department of Conservation reports healthy populations of the bird in several areas of the island, as well as Ocean Beach. "It’s the healthiest kiwi population in New Zealand," he said. "That is in numbers and in actual condition. At Mason Bay (on the opposite coast to Ocean Beach) where we did a kiwi study, we haven’t lost any birds that have been banded over the last five years.

"They are stroppy little birds. They seem to be able to cope with the feral cats on the island and thankfully we have no stoats or weasels — they were not introduced in the early days as the island had no rabbits." He thinks the trips to Ocean Beach may well be scaring off these wild cats, while they do not seem to be affecting the kiwi who know a top class feeding area when they find one. At a rough estimate, he gauges the

population of kiwi on the island at 20,000 from counts that have been made in different areas. Philip Smith is helping with a kiwi count by keeping records each night of the number he sees on his trips. During late winter, the kiwi seem more numerous as they become more vocal — this is the start of their mating season when their calls get more insistent. But by then the number of tourists in Stewart Island have dropped off. One enthusiastic tourist, a fellow-guest in the lodge where I was staying, had been on a kiwi-spotting trip the night before. He spoke of his delight at seeing five adult kiwi and one chick. His only regret was that flash could not be used to photograph the birds in case it disturbed them and he had no photos to take back to the States. Perhaps if more New Zealanders gained an appreciation of kiwi in the wild, then they would press for action needed to save kiwi on the mainland. Sensitive nature tourism opportunities such as Phillip Smith’s show the potential that can be realised if this country’s wildlife is able to thrive in accessible areas rather than be confined on off-shore island museums. %

Judith Doyle is a Welling-ton-based freelance writer.

A kiwi concession

HILLIP SMITH operates his tours under a concession from the Department of Conservation. Leonie Hishon at DoC’s Invercargill office says that no problems have emerged with the kiwispotting trips, as the numbers of birds are, if anything, increasing. But Phillip’s concession is currently up for renewal. Before it can be confirmed on a more permanent basis, questions such as optimum numbers, photographic restrictions plus long-term impact need to be monitored. However, DoC has not yet put in the monitoring work to assess risks and determine a total carrying capacity for visitors. A planned monitoring programme over summer never happened.

There is no indication that the population has declined, but the information is based on Phillip’s records. There is also no information on breeding success before and after the tours started. There are a number of other operators interested in kiwi tours to Ocean Beach and other parts of the island such as Mason Bay, and DoC will need to decide on the total number to be granted concessions. Forest and Bird feels that DoC needs to be more organised and rigorous before issuing concessions in relation to protected species. The department should also require concessionaires to carry out an interpretation programme as part of the concession. At present there are no such requirements.