Island visitor Darren Markin recently captured this footage of a foraging kiwi pukupuku/ little spotted kiwi, while walking one night along Tiritiri Matangi’s Ridge Road. Being nocturnal by nature, footage of active kiwi is relatively uncommon, so his footage is a rare record of kiwi’s feeding behaviour.

Kiwi pukupuku/little spotted kiwi are the smallest of the 5 surviving kiwi species, with the larger females averaging 1350g/30cm. Once widespread in both the North and South Islands, human arrival in New Zealand saw them disappear from both islands and the species diminished to only a small population on Kapiti Island, the descendants of a small number translocated there in 1912.

Descendents of these survivors were first translocated to Tiritiri Matangi in 1993 when five pairs were transferred from the Okupe Valley, Kapiti Island to Tiritiri Matangi Island on 4 July 1993. Subsequent translocations have boosted their numbers on the island to the point that their calls are regularly heard and, as Darren’s video attests, seen by visitors walking at night. This video is particularly useful in showing how kiwi forage for food.

Kiwi use their bill to detect their prey (mostly small invertebrates such as earthworms and insect larvae) and are often observed moving through their habitat while gently tapping the end of their bill on the ground as they search for prey.

Recent studies have suggested they are using a process known as ‘remote touch’ where prey is located by micro-receptors located in pits found toward the end of their downwardly curved bill, which is particularly concentrated around a bulbous area located at the end of the upper bill (the premaxilla) which overlaps the lower bill. Detecting prey using sensory pits at the end of the bill is an attribute also found in shorebirds and ibis species.

Kiwi are unique in the avian world in that their nares/ nostrils are located near the end of their bill, rather than near the beginning leading to the belief that prey is detected by smell. However, recent studies are suggesting that although do have a well-developed sense of smell, it may be used more in social interactions and territorial boundaries rather than in foraging for food.**

Kiwi are a unique taonga well worth the huge amount of effort that has been dedicated to ensuring their survival.

*https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.2322

**https://www.aavac.com.au/files/2017-06.pdf

Video footage: Darren Markin

text: Jonathan Mower