Kiwi might not be easily seen, but they can certainly be heard.
Two kiwi-listening training workshops have been organised for later this month, in Russell on Saturday week (May 26) and at Waimate North the next day, in a bid to recruit listeners for the annual kiwi count in June and July.
Local community conservation groups are on the lookout for potential
kiwi-listeners, and anyone who would like to contribute will be very welcome at either of the workshops, where they will be taught to recognise the birds' calls and to record them.
"The kiwi-listening training workshops will be a great chance to meet other keen kiwi-listeners over a cuppa and to learn what all those night-time calls are," said Helen Ough Dealy, DoC community ranger at the Pewhairangi/Bay of Islands office.
"You'll learn how to tell a possum scream from a morepork/ruru call, as well as how different the male kiwi sounds from the female."
Steve McManus will at both venues, with his kiwi dog, to pass on his more than 20 years of knowledge about kiwi and kiwi-listening.
