Little Spotted Kiwi(Apteryx owenii)
They are also known as the Little Grey Kiwi. The little spotted kiwi has a length of 35-45 cm and the weight of the male is 0.88-1.36 kg and the female weighs 1-1.95 kg, making it the smallest species of kiwi. Their feathers are pale-mottled grey, with fine white mottling, and are shaggy looking. They lack aftershafts and barbules. They have large vibrissae feathers around the gape. They lack a tail, but have a small pygostyle. Their bill is ivory and long and their legs are pale.
Habitat
Little spotted kiwi are found in New Zealand, and in pre-European times occurred in both main islands. Today, these birds are restricted to a number of small offshore islands and mainland reserves protected by pest-exclusion fences. They live in broadleaf forests, rough grasslands, and shrublands. On the map next to this, the little spotted kiwi's habitat is the numbers and these are predator free islands, so they can live without fear that they will be preyed upon. The places that they inhabit are Hen island, Tiritiri Matangi and Motuihe islands, Red Mercury island, Kapiti island, Long Island and Karori Sanctuary.
Diet
They are omnivores and they tend to eat grubs and other small insects that are found underground, and occasionally eat berries. Using its sharp talons and long beak, it digs into the ground and then shoves its long beak down the softened ground. Since they can't fly to get to insects or food on trees and their eyesight is very poor, they depend on a keen sense of smell, long beak and talons. They are also nocturnal.
Breeding
Little spotted kiwi are monogamous and pairs generally mate for life. They nest in an excavated burrow, dug by both birds and sometimes line the nest with plant material. Eggs are laid from July to January. The clutch size is 1 to 2 eggs(15% have 2) which are incubated by the male for a period of 63-76 days. The chicks hatch precocial (fully-developed) and for the first few days feed on the yolk sac in the egg. They stay in the nest for 2-3 weeks and become reproductively mature at 3 years of age.
Population
According to the IUCN Red List, they are classed as Near Threatened(NT). The population is estimated to number at least 1,700 individuals in total, roughly equivalent to 1,400 mature individuals. The species is now confined to a few offshore predator free islets where the population is stable, and one predator free location on the mainland
Threats
Introduced predators except Weka are absent from all the islands where the kiwi occurs. There are conflicting reports as to the extent and effect of predation, although the little spotted kiwi's population appears to have grown from 5 birds in 1912 to reach carrying capacity at 1,200 birds in the presence of Weka. The island populations remain susceptible to accidental or deliberate introduction of mammalian predators.
Conservation
Conservation Actions Underway
Translocations to predator-free offshore islands have done much to secure the survival of A. owenii. More islands have been examined for further introductions, but given the health of the present island populations, and their geographical spread, there is limited need for additional island populations; however, other secure mainland sites are being investigated to allow people access to the species. The genetic diversity of the species is very low, having passed through a bottleneck of just five individuals (including at least two females), and there has been further loss of genetic diversity with each transfer from Kapiti Island. Research has shown that neither of the D'Urville Island birds placed on Long Island (Marlborough Sounds) with two Kapiti Island birds has left any descendants and so the entire population is derived from a single pair and is highly inbred. Two hybrid offspring from the little spotted kiwi and the okarito Kiwi pairings have been discovered in South Okarito forest since 1993, suggesting that the little spotted Kiwi must have been present in the area until the mid-1990s and so nearby reports of kiwi are being checked, and elsewhere in the South Island, young (i.e. small) Great spotted kiwi are critically examined in case a few little spotted kiwis persist on the South Island mainland. All populations are monitored using call-counts, and territory-mapping, and specially-trained dogs are used to locate banded birds.
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Conservation Actions Proposed
Continue regular monitoring of all island populations. Enforce measures to prevent the introduction of non-native mammals to occupied islands. Manage genetics by carrying out further translocations to achieve a minimum of 30, preferably 40, founders for each island/mainland population.