Todd Hamilton (WHLF project manager) liaises with locals to carry out stoat and feral cat control. A network of 300 predator traps has meant a huge increase in kiwi chick survival.

Increasing chick survival is step one; our next challenge is to ensure the birds reach adulthood and survive. Road signs around the Whangarei Heads area highlight the danger that cars pose to kiwi on our roads at night. Uncontrolled dogs are the major threat to kiwi.

Some kiwi at Whangarei Heads are monitored. Daily behaviour is recorded by a radio transmitter fitted to the kiwi’s leg. The transmitter tells us what time the birds get up, how active they are, whether they are nesting and, unfortunately, if they die.

The more we know and understand about our kiwi, the more we can do to look after them.

“Kiwi are amazing creatures. A kiwi is a bird trying to be a mammal: they’re the only bird with no tail; tiny useless wings; marrow-filled bones; large ears; long whiskers; nostrils in the wrong place; and the girls, unlike any other bird, have two functioning ovaries.”

Todd Hamilton, Backyard Kiwi project

Todd Hamilton
Project Manager
Whangarei Heads Landcare Forum

m: 021 1145 385
e: todd@backyardkiwi.org.nz