Kiwi spotted running around Bay of Islands town Russell in rare urban sighting

Friday, 10 May 2019

A 'chubby' little kiwi was last thing Patrick Murphy expected to see when popping into his local Four Square for a bottle of milk. But see it he did.

The ferry driver was chatting to his mate by the wharf in Russell, Bay of Islands, after dark when he saw the brown kiwi 'fossicking around, poking his beak here and here' on the night of May 8.

'Only about three or four paces from us was this little fat kiwi! What a blessing.'

'He actually hopped up on the first step, as if he was going into the dairy, then hopped down again. He was poking in the crevices around the building.

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'Then he saw us, took fright and ran off toward York St. We spotted it again and I managed to get a little video of it.'

He posted the video to the Russell community Facebook page.

'It got quite a bit of talk around the town, just to think there is a kiwi hanging around at 7 o'clock in the evening!'

Several comments suggested Murphy had been mistaken and the bird was most likely a weka, since kiwi are widely considered to be much more shy around humans.

But Murphy was quick to dispel this notion.

Murphy said the sighting was a blessing.

'Not a chance. It was obviously a kiwi, I have weka running around my house often enough and it definitely wasn't one of them.

'It was a round, chubby wee thing - it was actually the first one in the wild I think I've ever seen.'

Russell is known for its thriving kiwi population.

Kiwi lover Eion Harwood said through extensive pest trapping and protection methods, the town's kiwi population had been increasing about 20 per cent per year.

He manages Russell Nature Walks and the Russell Kiwi Protection programme - which has about 16 kiwi-spotting cameras around the 3000ha Russell Peninsula.

He recently posted a video online of a kiwi that lives near him calling for his mate.

The protection programme also monitors kiwi numbers through annual kiwi call counts.

Though sightings in urban areas were rare, Harwood said this was not the first time New Zealand's national bird has been spotted in the town.

'A few years ago, a kiwi got stuck on the bowls green and had to be rescued in the morning.'

He estimated there were about 600-700 kiwi on the peninsula.

'You'll hear them calling all night, especially coming into breeding season.

'We reckon Russell has about the second highest kiwi population density in New Zealand; you've got kiwi coming right up to to people's back yards.'

Kiwi are a ground dwelling bird only found in New Zealand. They vary in population status from recovering to nationally critical.

Kiwi live mostly in forested area, are night dwellers and are rarely spotted in built-up areas such as towns and cities.