A Kiwi egg hatches after being saved from the Pukenui Forest
A kiwi egg found "stone cold" and abandoned inside a log has successfully hatched into a warm fluffy chick.
After 70 days of sitting on two eggs the male kiwi named Sayyad decided to leave the log where the eggs were in the Pukenui Western Hills Forest.
Rangers Bevan Crampand Ben Lovell said they had been monitoring the kiwi closely when he suddenly abandoned the nest which could have been due to the drought conditions forcing the adult male kiwi from the nest in search of food and water.
"In an attempt to save the eggs we had to cut our way into the log which was as hard as concrete thanks to the hot weather. Once in we discovered the two eggs both of which were cold - not a good sign," Cramp said.
Proud dads: A kiwi chick hatched at the Whangārei Native Bird Recovery Centre after being saved from the Pukenui Forest by rangers Ben Lovell and Bevan Cramp with Robert Webb. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Sayyad was in the second batch of kiwi to be released into Pukenui Forest in March 2019.
It was the second clutch of eggs he had sat on this season and had basically gone from one to the next which is not that usual according to the experts.
Originally 12 birds were released into the Pukenui Western Hills Forest in March 2018.
The two recovered eggs were taken to Robert Webb at the Whangārei Native Bird Recovery Centre and put in an incubator on February 10. One was found to be infertile while the other flourished with the bird deciding to start pecking its way out on February 26.
A kiwi starting the hatching process. Photo / Robert Webb
Hatching is an tiring process that can take up to three days. With no egg tooth to help the process, the kiwi chick has the exhausting job of kicking and pecking its way out.
Webb said he had to hand-hatch the egg as the dry weather had also affected the egg embryo which was starting to dry up and had begun to shrink, effectively shrink wrapping the chick.
Webb could hear the chick calling inside the egg, tapping on the egg wanting to break out.
"It's the last thing you want to do is hatch them but if you don't they will die," Webb said.
Seeing the chick yesterday for the first time was an emotional for the two rangers who are passionate about saving the iconic New Zealand bird.
Breaking free - a kiwi chick breaks out of its egg. Photo / Robert Webb
"This is what it's all about, helping these birds out," Cramp said.
"We take it seriously it's not just fun and games for us but making this a huge success."
And for Lovell the hours spent in the forest were rewarded with the successful hatching.
"Every successful chick hatching is reward for al the work we do."
The chick will be moved into a brooding cage where he will be introduced to worms and finely sliced meat. All going well and the bird will be released back into Pukenui in about six weeks when he has gained enough weight.
