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‘NORTH ISLAND BROWN KIWI – NEW ARRIVAL’
Paintings and story by Wildlife Artist Marie-Claire Colyer
The North Island brown kiwi is endangered
– approximately 94% of chicks die before
breeding in areas where mammalian pest
control is not carried out.
The egg averages 20% of the female’s
bodyweight, one of the largest egg-to-body
weight ratios of any bird. The female brown
kiwi leaves the male to incubate the egg once
she has laid it, and she feeds to rebuild her
condition. In other Kiwi species, males and
females share the incubation.
A second egg is usually laid several weeks
later. By that time the male has developed a
brood patch on its lower belly and spends
about 20 hours each day covering the egg.
He covers the burrow entrance carefully with
vegetation before foraging each night.
MORE FROM THE ARTIST:
“
As an artist and writer,
I specialise in lifelike wildlife and nature-inspired
paintings and drawings, plus poetry and novels.
“My professional career began in NZ, where I resided
from 2006 to 2015. Originally from Sydney, we moved
to Whangaparaoa for my husband’s work.
“Family eventually enticed us back to Australia, but NZ
is always in our hearts and minds. I have visited the
Coromandel Peninsula and
always wished to spend
more time in its surrounds.”
See
www.mccolyer.com.away foraging for most of the night, returning
to the nest during the day. At 20 days they
leave the burrow for good.
The incubation period of the eggs is around
80 days. Kiwi chicks lack the egg tooth found
in other birds and hatch by kicking at the
tough egg shell. The hatching success rate is
around 25%, and only about half those chicks
survive to leave the nest. On average Kiwi
pairs fledge only one chick every 2 years.
Unlike other birds, Kiwi chicks aren’t blind
and naked, but hatch as miniature versions of
the adult. The chick emerges wet, unable to
stand, and with a belly distended with yolk.
This sustains them for the first week, while
their feathers dry.
During this period they are primarily brooded
by the male and occasionally by the female.
After 5 or 6 days the chicks emerge from the
burrow for the first time. By 10 days they are