Great Spotted Kiwi(Apteryx haastii)
They are also known as Great Grey Kiwi and Roroa. They are the largest kiwi; the male is 45 cm tall, while the female is 50 cm tall. Bill length ranges from 9-12 cm, while weight ranges between 1.2-2.6 kg for males and 1.5-3.3 kg for females. The body is pear-shaped, while the head and neck is small with a long slender ivory bill. The great spotted kiwi, along with the other kiwi species, is the only bird with nostrils at the end of its bill. The eyes are small and do not see well, as it relies mostly on its sense of smell. The legs are short, with three toes per foot.
It has a plumage composed of soft, hair-like feathers, which have no aftershafts. The plumage can range from charcoal grey to light brown. They have large vibrissae around the gape, and they have no tail, only a small pygostyle. The common name of this bird comes from black spots on its feathers. They use their powerful legs and claws for defence against predators like stoats or ferrets. Kiwis are flightless birds, and hence lack hollow bones, lack a keel to which wing muscles anchor, and have tiny wings. This species also has a low body temperature compared to other birds. Average lifespan is 30 to 40 years.
Habitat
They once lived in numerous areas throughout the South Island, but because of predation by invasive species, the remaining kiwi are now restricted to three localities. These kiwi live in higher altitude areas. Populations are present from northwestern Nelson to the Buller River, the northwest coast (Hurunui River to Arthur's Pass), and the Paparoa Range, as well as within the Lake Rotoiti Mainland Island. The Southern Alps population is particularly isolated. They reside in complex, maze-like burrows that they construct. Up to fifty burrows can exist in one bird's territory. They will often move around, staying in a different burrow every day.
Bird's Nest Fungus sometimes grows in these burrows. Their habitat ranges in elevation from sea level to 1,500 m, but the majority are concentrated in a range from 700-1,100 m in a subalpinezone. These kiwis will live in tussock grasslands, scrubland, pasture, and forests. They live where the yellow colour is on the map.
Diet
In the ground, they dig for earthworms and grubs, and they search for beetles, cicada, crickets, flies, wētā, spiders, caterpillars, slugs and snails on the ground. They will also feed on berries and seeds. To find prey, the great spotted kiwi use their scenting skills or feel vibrations caused by the movement of their prey. To do the latter, a kiwi would stick its beak into the ground, then use its beak to dig into the ground. As they are nocturnal, they do not emerge until thirty minutes after sunset to begin the hunt. Kiwis will also swallow small stones, which aid in digestion.
Breeding
Great spotted kiwis are monogamous, with pairings sometimes lasting twenty years. Nests are made in burrows. The breeding season begins in June and ends in March, as this is when food is plentiful. Males reach sexual maturity at 18 months in captivity, while females are able to lay eggs after three years. In the wild, sexual maturity for both sexes is between ages three and five. Great spotted kiwi males chase females around until the females either run off or mate. The pair mates about two to three times during peak activity. The gestation period is about a month. Females do not eat during this period, as the eggs will take up a fourth of a kiwi's body mass. The yolk takes up 65% of the egg. In most bird eggs, the yolk takes up about 35-40% of the egg. This makes the kiwi egg the largest in proportion to the body. Females must rely on fat stored from the previous five months to survive. Because of the large size of the egg, gestation is uncomfortable for the female, and they do not move much. To relieve the pain, females soak themselves in water when they come out of the burrows by dipping their abdomens into puddles. The egg-laying season is between August and January. After the female lays the egg, the male incubates the egg while the female guards the nest. Males only leave the nest for a few hours to hunt, and during this time, the female takes over. It takes 75 to 85 days for the egg to hatch. The kiwi chick takes 2-3 days simply to get out of its egg. Kiwi chicks are superprecocial, and are abandoned by their parents after hatching. After ten days, chicks venture out of the burrow to hunt. Most chicks are killed by predators in the first six months of their life. Great spotted kiwis reach full size at year six. Unlike most birds, female great spotted kiwis have two ovaries. Most birds have only one. Great spotted kiwis are distinguishable from other kiwi species by the fact that they can only produce one egg a year, as it takes so much energy to produce the massive egg.
Population
According to the IUCN Red List, they are classed as Vulnerable(VU). This species is little known, but its population is estimated to number 15,000 individuals split across three or four isolated populations. This is roughly equivalent to 14,500 mature individuals. Introduced predators are suspected to be causing the species to decline rapidly overall.
Threats
Introduced predators are the greatest threat, in particular, mustelids, brush-tailed possum, cats, dogs and pigs. As a result, chick survival is likely to be very low like its congener, Brown Kiwi, with at least 94% of chicks not surviving to maturity, except in very wet upland area, perhaps because here low rodent prey density means predators are scarce. It is the only kiwi species that has no secure populations on islands. They also suffer from the disease feather mite.
Conservation
Conservation Actions Underway
Monitoring is intensive and nationally coordinated, and uses call-counts, radio-tracking studies, and 5-yearly territory mapping at a couple of sites (Saxon and North Hurunui) in which specially-trained dogs find banded birds whose territories are mapped from radio-tracking records. Several small populations in the eastern Southern Alps, Paparoa Range, Lake Rotoiti National Park and in the Arthur Range are managed intensively by controlling predators, and also by removing and incubating eggs and returning the subadults once they are large enough to fend off predators. The latter approach is known as Operation Nest Egg. Landscape-scale aerial 1080 operations of 10,000 - 200,000 ha are likely to be of great benefit to the species, judging by the high numbers of subadult birds found at such sites in the 2-3 years after such operations. Leg-hold traps for predators are routinely raised above the ground in kiwi areas to prevent accidental trapping.
Conservation Actions Proposed
Carry out large-scale 3-yearly aerial 1080 operations to benefit populations of >200 pairs in NW Nelson, North Westland, Paparoa Range and Southern Alps and potentially create a source for introductions into other areas. Encourage community groups to carry out predator trapping at other sites. Intensively manage at least three (preferably four) populations to secure a minimum of 200 pairs within each managed population. Use ONE in a few accessible sites or where nests are threatened by mining activities. Undertake population modelling to determine regional variation in population dynamics . Investigate landscape-scale remote monitoring techniques for sparse populations. Promote legislative and policy changes to protect populations and encourage high-quality advocacy at all levels. Educate and inform the public and encourage community involvement in Kiwi conservation.